April 2011 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Oral sex is the number one cause of oral cancer in men

Source: The Village Voice We've mentioned before that oral sex had become a leading cause of oral cancer among men. The evil virus known as HPV, or the human papillomavirus, which is the main cause of cervical cancer in women, is, according to the Daily News, now leading to "epidemic proportions" of oral cancer in the U.S. among "mostly white, male, non-smokers in their late 30s and early 40s." This means that HPV via oral sex is causing more oral cancer in guys than either smoking or drinking. HPV is evil, indeed. The spike is greatest among men who've had more than five or six sexual partners, which is, let's be honest, a large percentage of the global single population. Women can also get the virus from men, though the chances are lower through oral sex. While the slut-shamers (be they male or female) may jump on this as a chance to say, if you're promiscuous, you will get cancer, that is not true. (Nor does 5 or 6 partners equal promiscuous, unless it's, say, all in one day.) Clearly, cancer sucks. But the surprisingly bright side about this is that suddenly HPV is less of a "dirty secret" that only affects women, that women are supposed to keep quiet and feel ashamed about. In fact, "nearly all sexually active Americans will come in contact with HPV, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation and the National Institutes of Health." Time we started talking about it. FYI: HPV is passed through [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-29T12:41:08-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Potential of cancer breath test studied

Source: www.nhs.uk Author: staff “A breath test that can detect cancer with an ‘electronic nose’ has been developed by scientists,” reported the Daily Express. The newspaper said the device detects microscopic chemical changes that are emitted in the breath of people with head and neck tumours. The news report is based on a small study that looked at breath samples from 62 people using the Na-Nose, 16 of whom had head and neck cancer, 20 had lung cancer and 26 were healthy. The test was able to distinguish between these individuals by looking at the presence and levels of certain chemicals in their breath samples. Only two healthy individuals were falsely suggested to have head and neck cancer. This small study has promising results, but the findings will need to be confirmed in much larger samples, representative of the different types and stages of head and neck cancer. If the results are favourable, then the Na-Nose would need to be trialled against existing standards of care to assess its potential benefits and risks. A non-invasive breath test for various cancers is an appealing option, particularly for those cancers that are difficult to detect in other ways. Undoubtedly, this is an area that will receive much more research in the future. As the Daily Express reports, it would probably be many more years before a breath test could be available in a clinical environment. Where did the story come from? The study was carried out by researchers from Technion – The [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-20T21:22:02-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Scientific website features research on inflammation, oral and systemic disease, and antioxidants

Source: dentistrytoday.com Author: staff Inflammation, oral disease and systemic disease. The popular press—newspapers, magazines, TV, and the Internet— as well as professional medical and dental publications are tracking the subject and the number of articles is increasing with each passing day. To keep up with the proliferation of research studies and publications, a new website, dentalANTIOXIDANTS.com provides background information and current research. In response to the heightened interest in the high-potential topic, the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health (AAOSH) was recently organized. Declaring 2011 as “The Year of the Mouth,” the AAOSH writes on its website, “In recent years the studies have been piling up connecting poor oral health to the deadliest of diseases including heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. Oral health problems have also been shown to have close connections to many other serious health concerns like Alzheimer’s, arthritis, pneumonia and pregnancy complications.” The role of antioxidants A primary focus of dentalANTIOXIDANTS.com is the role of antioxidants in controlling inflammation and oral disease. The sections within the dentalANTIOXIDANTS.com website include: The Oral/Systemic Link, Oxidative Stress and Oral Health, Free Radicals in the Oral Cavity, and Antioxidants and Oral Health. Specific areas of interest on the site include the relationships between oral and systemic health, between infection and chronic inflammatory disease, and between cardiovascular disease and inflammation, as well as the specific connection between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease. The site will also feature research in biochemistry regarding the sources and uses of antioxidants, their reactivity with other [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-20T21:02:11-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Oral sex is a major risk factor for oral cancer in men

Source: AOL News Rates of oral cancer are on the rise among men, and researchers say the culprit isn't the devil you might think. The rising rates of oral cancer aren't being caused by tobacco, experts say, but by HPV, the same sexually transmitted virus responsible for the vast majority of cases of cervical cancer in women. Millions of women and girls have been vaccinated against HPV, or human papillomavirus, but doctors now say men exposed to the STD during oral sex are at risk as well and may have higher chances of developing oral cancer. John Moore, Getty Images About 65 percent of oral cancer tumors were linked to HPV in 2007, according to the National Cancer Institute. And the uptick isn't occurring among tobacco smokers. "We're looking at non-smokers who are predominantly white, upper middle class, college-educated men," Brian Hill, the executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation, told AOL News by phone. Tobacco use has declined over the past decade, but rates of HPV infections have risen and affect at least 50 percent of the sexually active American population, according to the Centers for Disease Control. HPV-16, the strain of the virus that causes cervical cancer in women, has become the leading cause of oral cancer in non-smoking men, Hill said, citing research in the New England Journal of Medicine. "When the No. 1 cause of your disease goes down [tobacco use], you would expect that the incidence of disease would go down, but that hasn't happened," he said. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-21T13:48:09-07:00April, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

HPV is now the leading cause of oral cancer in the US: learn the facts.

Source: New York Daily News HPV, otherwise known as the human papillomavirus, is a leading cause of cervical cancer for women but the nasty virus is now causing a spike in oral cancer and ravaging an entirely different group: men. Cases of oral cancer resulting from exposure to the HPV-16 strain of the virus are hitting epidemic proportions in the U.S., doctors say. Though the mention of oral cancer evokes images of gravely-voiced chain-smokers, the disease now has a new face: mostly white, male, non-smokers in their late 30s and early 40s. The tumors forming on the back of their tongues and tonsils have nothing to do with nicotine – they are directly linked to engaging in oral sex with multiple female partners. "If you've had more than five or six sexual partners, you are at a higher risk," Dr. Eric M. Genden, professor and chair of head and neck surgery at Mount Sinai Medical center told the Daily News. "We're only now beginning to see the beginning of a bell curve." Women can get it from men as well although their chances are lower, according to doctors. The human papillomavirus (HPV), a nasty bug with strains that causes genital warts and cervical cancer in women, is now the top cause of oral cancer in men, beating out smoking and drinking, according to reports from the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of Oncology as well as other research and treating institutions. The number of smokers in the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-21T13:52:00-07:00April, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

After a long battle with 3 different types of cancer, a footloose Orlando man takes on a 2,650-mile hike

At 68, John Casterline has beaten advanced-stage lung cancer, prostate cancer and throat cancer. Last month, he finished radiation treatments. Just one week ago, his doctors pronounced him cancer-free. So what is he doing to celebrate? Forget Disney World. Starting April 28, this Orlando retiree will be hiking 2,650 miles, from Canada to Mexico, along the Pacific Crest Trail — a route that will climb above 13,000 feet elevation and require him to average 20 miles a day. "I expect that I will experience weather that is too cold, too hot, too wet, too dry and too perfect," he wrote in his journal a year ago, when he began training seriously for the hike. "I will encounter rattle snakes, bears, and maybe even mountain lions. … The mosquitoes will be horrendous at times, the hills steep, the rocks sharp, the trail blocked, the wind very strong. [Sleep will be] occasionally fitful and I'll be carrying a backpack with 30-plus pounds." But if you have to ask why he's doing it, he wrote, you wouldn't understand. It is not simply that he hopes to raise $26,500 for the dramatically underfunded battle against lung cancer, a disease expected to claim the lives of 160,000 Americans this year — more than colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. Nor is it about creating some kind of legacy. Though followers can read his ongoing exploits on lungcancerhike.org, the website is intended to give fellow cancer survivors hope — and to collect donations for the American [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-21T13:49:22-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Blueberries contain vital polyphenols that could contribute to a decline in obestiy

Source: Medical News Today Last week it was reported that strawberries may help treat throat cancer, now a new study shows how blueberries may aid in curbing obesity. Plant polyphenols have been shown to fight adipogenesis, which is the development of fat cell, and induce lipolysis, which is the breakdown of lipids and fat. The study was done to evaluate whether blueberry polyphenols play a role in adipocyte differentiation, the process in which a relatively unspecialized cell acquires specialized features of an adipocyte, an animal connective tissue cell specialized for the synthesis and storage of fat. Polyphenols occur in all plant foods and contribute to the beneficial health effects of vegetables and fruit. Their contribution to the antioxidant capacity of the human diet is much larger than that of vitamins. The total intake in a person's diet could amount to 1 gram a day, whereas combined intakes of beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E from food most often is about 100 mg a day. Phenolic acids account for about one third of the total intake of polyphenols in our diet, and flavonoids account for the remaining two thirds. Flavonoids are further subdivided into several categories. Shiwani Moghe, a graduate student at Texas Woman's University said: "The promise is there for blueberries to help reduce adipose tissue from forming in the body I wanted to see if using blueberry polyphenols could inhibit obesity at a molecular stage. We still need to test this dose in humans, to make sure there are [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-21T13:48:47-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

American Dental Association encourages public to get screened for oral cancer

Source: www.prnewswire.com Author: press release The American Dental Association (ADA) and the Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF) encourage people to take part in Oral Cancer Awareness Month in April by visiting a dentist for a free oral cancer screening. So far, more than 1,250 sites across the nation have registered their screening events with the OCF. "Although many dentists perform oral cancer screenings as a routine part of dental examinations, the ADA encourages dentists to go out into their communities during the week of April 11-15 to provide free oral cancer screenings to people who might not regularly visit a dentist," said ADA Spokesperson Sol Silverman, D.D.S., a professor of oral medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "Early detection is critical in increasing survival rates for patients who have developed an oral cancer; and recognizing and managing precancerous lesions is extremely important in prevention," he said. Mr. Brian Hill, OCF executive director and an oral cancer survivor, also stressed the importance of early detection and the important role that dentists play. "Early detection is important because it reduces treatment-related morbidity and improves survival rates," he said. In 2010, the National Cancer Institute estimated that approximately 36,540 people were diagnosed with oral cancer and approximately 7,880 people died of oral cancer. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) estimates that the five-year survival rate for people diagnosed early, when the disease has not spread beyond the original location, is approximately 83 percent compared to a 20 percent survival [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-11T20:25:42-07:00April, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer: How discovery devices assist screenings

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Nick Efthimiadis, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, LED Dental Inc. As the intense media attention surrounding Michael Douglas’s illness clearly demonstrated, oral cancer is increasingly in the news these days. With the unfortunate growth in the number of relatively young people contracting the disease due to exposure to the sexually-transmitted human papilla virus — specifically, the HPV-16 strain — oral cancer will only become a bigger concern for both patients and dental practices over time. In fact, the Oral Cancer Foundation recently announced that HPV-16 has now replaced tobacco as the leading cause of this disease. Sadly, one North American dies every hour of every day from oral cancer, and many of those who survive the disease are forced to deal with lengthy, painful treatment and permanent disfigurement. The main problem is that oral cancer is typically discovered in late stages, when the five-year survival rate is only around 30%. The good news: when discovered early, the survival rate leaps to 80%-to-90%. The key to early discovery is the dental practice. Ideally, each and every practice should be conducting a two-step oral cancer screening on all adult patients as part of their annual or semi-annual hygiene checkup. The first step consists of a conventional “white light” exam comprising visual inspection and palpation. The second step consists of examination with an adjunctive screening device. Fortunately, the two steps should take no more than five minutes combined. For the past several years, the adjunctive device that has [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-10T17:42:46-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Alcohol linked to 10% of cancer cases, study finds

Source: www.irishtimes.com Author: Dr. Muiris Houston Reducing alcohol intake would reduce the number of cancer cases in the Republic, the Irish Cancer Society has said. It was responding to the results of a major European study, published online by the British Medical Journal, which found that up to one in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 in women could be caused by drinking. Researchers concluded that drinking above recommended alcohol limits was likely to be responsible for the majority of cancer cases linked to alcohol, although for some people even a small consumption may increase the risk. They analysed data from eight European countries, involving more than 360,000 men and women who were aged between 35 and 70 at the beginning of the study. The research is part of the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer, one of the largest ever studies into the links between diet and cancer. Some 17 per cent of bowel cancers in men were linked to drinking, as were 4 per cent of cases in women. And 5 per cent of cases of breast cancer in women were also linked to drinking, the study showed. Overall, more than 18 per cent of cancers in men were down to drinking more than 24g of alcohol a day. In women, 4 per cent of cancers were due to drinking more than 12g of alcohol daily. Naomi Allen, from Oxford University, one of the researchers, said: “This research supports existing evidence that alcohol causes cancer and that [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-10T17:30:05-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|