November 2012 – Oral Cancer News

Food preservatives don’t preserve oral cancer

Source: bigkingken.wordpress.com Food preservatives are a common part of everyday life for those Americans who don’t go to extremes to avoid them. Twinkies will be around for thousands of years despite the dissolution of Hostess and I’m pretty sure there’s an unspoiled Big Mac somewhere that’s been hanging out for several decades. Besides grossly keeping the hamburger on the left untarnished for more than a decade, food preservatives might be an untapped resource in the fight against cancer. In short, food preservatives work by killing off any and all microbial life forms that come along to munch on the food before us humans have a chance to send it down to our bellies. Now, if these food preservatives are so effective at killing off unwanted bacteria in our food supplies, could they perhaps also be effective at killing off other unwanted life forms? This is a question being asked by a lot of medical researchers at the moment, with at least one group finding an answer in the affirmative. Recently, researchers at the University of Michigan found that the common food preservative Nisin also does an excellent job of holding off – and even shrinking – the most common and deadly form of oral cancer, squamous cell head and neck cancer (HNSCC). HNSCC is a particularly nasty form of cancer, seeing as it accounts for more than 90 percent of oral cancers yet hasn’t had its mortality rates improved in the past several decades. On the other side, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-30T06:02:23-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

High school gamers are better than medical residents at robotic surgery

Source: killscreendaily.com Author: Joseph Bernstein Science Daily reports: Both high school sophomores who played video games on average two hours per day and college students who played four hours of video games daily matched, and in some cases exceeded, the skills of the residents on parameters that included how much tension the subjects put on their instruments, how precise their hand-eye coordination was and how steady their grasping skills were when performing surgical tasks suck as suturing, passing a needle or lifting surgical instruments with the robotic arms. "The inspiration for this study first developed when I saw my son, an avid video game player, take the reins of a robotic surgery simulator at a medical convention," said Dr. Sami Kilic, lead author of the study and associate professor and director of minimally invasive gynecology in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UTMB. "With no formal training, he was immediately at ease with the technology and the type of movements required to operate the robot." Kilic came up the idea for the study during a demonstration of the robotic da Vinci Surgical System. A company representative was giving surgeons turns manipulating the da Vinci, and one user was doing particularly well. Kilic, impressed, walked over to the operations console to see who the ace was. "It was my 10-year-old son," Kilic says. Kilic's son, and most of the test subjects, were shooting game buffs. Kilic says that the hand eye coordination and response time for people of his son's [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-30T05:52:07-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Ten year results of landmark neck cancer trial published

Source: www.modernmedicine.com Author: Gabriel Miller The latest data from a trial that opened in 1992 confirm that for locally advanced laryngeal cancer, sequential and concomitant chemoradiotherapy each produce similar survival rates, but the concomitant approach more often allows the larynx to be preserved. When the results of RTOG 91-11 were first published in 2003. "they changed the standard of care treatment for preserving the larynx from the sequential use of chemotherapy then radiotherapy to giving both together," said lead investigator Dr. Arlene Forastiere of Johns Hopkins University in an email to Reuters Health. "The results have held up over the last decade," she said, "...and this exact treatment remains the standard of care today because on average, 15% will ultimately require laryngectomy with the concomitant approach, compared to double that, or 30%, with either giving chemotherapy and radiation in sequence or giving radiotherapy alone." "There's no question that this study has changed the way we approach and treat this disease, so it is truly a landmark study," said Dr. Chris Holsinger, a head and neck cancer surgeon at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas who wasn't involved in the research. Between 1992 and 2000, 547 patients were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: induction chemotherapy followed by radiation; concomitant chemoradiotherapy; and radiotherapy alone. The induction group received up to three cycles of cisplatin 100 mg/m2 on day one and fluorouracil 1,000 mg/m2 per day for five days, every three weeks. Responders then received up to 70 Gy of radiotherapy [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-30T05:39:25-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Global burden of cancer: opportunities for prevention

Source: The Lancet, Volume 380, Issue 9856, Pages 1797 - 1799, 24 November 2012 In The Lancet, Isabelle Soerjomataram and colleagues report that about 169 million years of healthy life were lost due to cancer worldwide in 2008 alone, based on a summary measure (disability-adjusted life-years [DALY] lost) that combines years lived with disability and years of life lost because of premature death. By contrast with mortality rates and counts, which emphasize deaths occurring at old ages, DALY give more weight to deaths occurring at young ages at which people are more likely to be working, raising children, and supporting other family members. Worldwide, the highest DALY rates were noted in eastern African countries (eg, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia) in women and in several high-income and middle-income countries (eg, Hungary and Uruguay) in men. Despite the substantial limitations inherent in the modeling of sparse cancer registry data and various assumptions about the natural history of every disease and related variables, these findings emphasize the growing burden of cancer in economically developing countries. This burden is partly due to the ageing and growth of the population and marketing-driven adoption of unhealthy lifestyles such as tobacco use and consumption of high-calorie food, as well as limited progress in reduction of infection-related cancers.2 Opportunities exist to reduce these major risk factors and the associated cancer burden through broad implementation of proven interventions specific to every country's economic development level. These interventions include tobacco control, improvement of opportunities for physical activity and healthier dietary patterns, [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-11-28T11:10:26-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Larry Hagman dies of throat cancer, ‘Dallas’ co-stars pay tribute

Source: www.newstank.co.uk Dallas star Larry Hagman, who played the scheming oil tycoon J.R. Ewing in the television soap opera, passed away last Friday, at the age of 81. The Dallas actor was suffering from throat cancer. Larry Hagman’s sudden death is being mourned by friends and family alike. After receiving the shocking news of Larry Hagman’s death, his Dallas co-stars Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal and Ken Kercheval paid tribute to the actor. Brenda Strong was quoted as saying to E! News, “Being able to work with one of my childhood idols was a dream come true. He was one of the most resilient and positive people I’ve ever known. Larry’s tremendous talent and contribution as an artist is only surpassed by his gigantic heart and how beloved he was by his friends, especially Patrick and Linda.” Larry Hagman rose to fame in 1965 when he was cast in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie as astronaut Major Anthony Nelson. He then went onto become famous for his villainous role as J.R. Ewing on Dallas from 1978 to 1991. Larry Hagman had once laughed off the idea of retiring, when he said, “I’d like to die onstage, so to speak. I love acting and I’ve had a wonderful career.” Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman’s I Dream of Jeannie co-star said, “I still cannot completely express the shock and impact from the news that Larry Hagman has passed…I can honestly say that we’ve lost not just a great actor, not [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-28T10:32:46-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

PET/MRI detects head/neck lymph node metastases

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff PET/MRI outperformed diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI-MRI) for detecting lymph node metastases in the staging of head and neck cancer patients, according to a study presented November 25 at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago. Researchers from the University of Düsseldorf found that PET/MRI achieved accuracy of 93%, compared with 88% for DWI-MRI. PET/MRI also reached sensitivity of 72%, compared with 36% for DWI-MRI. Lymph node status has prognostic value in head and neck cancer because patients with metastases need neck dissection and adjuvant treatment. Therefore, precise lymph node staging is a necessity, noted lead author Christian Buchbender, MD. "Currently available imaging modalities are restricted in their diagnostic performance for lymph node metastases detection," he added. "For example, CT and MRI fall short in sensitivity when compared to FDG-PET or FDG-PET/CT. On the other hand, FDG-PET/CT suffers from a large amount of false-positive results." Thus, new modalities or a combination of modalities are needed to improve lymph node metastases detection in these cancer patients, he said. The prospective study included 14 head and neck cancer patients with a mean age of 67 years. Prior to surgery, the patients received both FDG-PET/CT and 3-tesla MRI, including diffusion-weighted imaging. The patients then underwent bilateral neck dissection. Using image fusion software, the researchers created two sets of images. One set consisted of PET/MR images, which were created by fusing FDG-PET results with contrast-enhanced, T1-weighted, fat-saturated MR images. The second set consisted of DWI-MR images, created [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-28T10:25:22-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Do fruits and veggies offset tobacco/alcohol cancer risks?

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff Consuming fresh fruits and vegetables has been shown to reduce the risk of oral cancer, and now a new study suggests that these "protective effects" may impede the negative effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption with regard to cancer risk (Nutrition and Cancer, November 2012, Vol. 64:8, pp. 1182-1189). For the study, researchers from the University of São Paulo assessed the association between frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables and the risk of oral cancer, comparing results between nonsmokers and smokers and nondrinkers and drinkers. Their case-control study involved 296 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma attended in three major hospitals in São Paulo, paired with 296 controls recruited from outpatient units of the same hospitals. The researchers found that eating both fruit and vegetables was associated with prevention of the disease in light (odds ratio [OR] = 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.27-0.78) and heavy (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.14-0.65) smokers. For nonsmokers, no fruit (OR = 50; 95% CI = 0.22-1.12) or vegetable (for tomato, OR = 0.53; 95% CI = 0.31-0.93) was associated with reduced risk of oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Similar results were found with regard to drinking status, with OR = 0.51 (95% CI = 0.30-0.87) and 0.18 for fruits (95% CI = 0.07-0.45), respectively, for light and heavy drinkers. "This observation suggests that the protective effect of fruit and salad intake may modulate the deleterious effects from tobacco and alcohol," the researchers concluded.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-28T10:18:37-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Seed planted in cancer research

Source: www.ivanhoe.com A cancer diagnoses usually means radiation therapy that will not only affect the tumor, but healthy cells as well. New approaches to cancer treatment have been tested and, according to data, one approach is working. The new procedure for treating solid tumors with radiation was highly effective and minimally toxic to healthy tissue in a mouse model of cancer. Brachytherapy is a technique for treating solid tumors, including prostate cancer, which involves the surgical implantation of radioactive seeds within a patient’s tumor. The seeds expose the tumor cells to high level of radiation while minimizing the negative side effects. However, brachytherapy has its limitations, said Wenge Liu, M.D., Ph.D., and associate research professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University in Durham, NC. “The most prominent factor is the need for survival implantation and removal of the seeds.” So the doctor and his team set out to eliminate the need for surgery. They did this by generating an injectable substance called a polymer that was attached to a source of radioactivity and spontaneously assembled into a radioactive seed after being injected into the tumor. “We believe that this approach provides a useful alternative to existing brachytherapy, which requires a complicated surgical procedure to implant the radioactive seeds,” Liu said. “Moreover, these injectable seeds degrade after the radiation is exhausted so they do not need to be surgically removed.” The tumors were eradicated by a single injection in 67 percent of the mice that received the treatment after being transplanted [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-20T19:16:41-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

ONS Connections: External lymphedema scale developed for head and neck cancer

Source: www.oncologynurseadvisor.com Author: Kathy Boltz, PhD Lymphedema in patients with head and neck cancer can be described through an instrument that has been developed and validated, in research that was reported at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Connections: Advancing Care Through Science conference. Aggressive multi-modality treatment regimens for locally advanced head and neck cancer often lead to a damaged lymphatic system. Then, patients are at risk for developing secondary lymphedema. Assessing head and neck lymphedema had received little attention prior to this work. These researchers sought to develop a scale to grade external lymphedema in patients with head and neck cancer. They used a conceptual framework of the continuum from fibrosis to lymphedema to direct the study, which had two phases. The first phase of the study generated a proposed scale for head and neck external lymphedema. This scale came from the study conceptual framework, a literature review, and analysis of their previous study, which had compared and contrasted four current lymphedema scales to grade external lymphedema in patients with head and neck cancer. Then, they used expert feedback to revise the proposed scale. The second phase of the study tested the revised scale by physically examining 30 patients with head and neck cancer and facial swelling. The patients had a mean age of 57.67 years (standard deviation 6.54 years), and 40% had oropharyngeal carcinoma. The interrater reliability of the Head and Neck External Lymphedema Scale (HN-LE) was acceptable, since exact agreement on grading lymphedema severity occurred 83% of the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-20T19:11:43-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Study examines surgical outcomes after head and neck cancer at safety-net hospitals

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: staff Safety-net hospitals appear to provide head and neck cancer surgical care to a vulnerable population, without an increase in short-term mortality, morbidity, or costs, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. "Safety-net hospitals provide a disproportionate amount of care to those who are uninsured or underinsured, including Medicaid beneficiaries and other vulnerable populations, compared with the average hospital," according to background information in the article. To determine the association between safety-net hospital care and short-term outcomes following head and neck cancer surgery, Dane J. Genther, M.D., and Christine G. Gourin, M.D., M.P.H., of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, reviewed data from adults who underwent an ablative procedure (a surgical removal or excision) for a malignant oral cavity, laryngeal (larynx; or voice box), hypopharyngeal (hypopharynx; area where the larynx and esophagus meet), or oropharyngeal (oropharynx; oral part of the pharynx) neoplasm in 2001 through 2008. Safety-net burden was calculated as the percentage of patients with head and neck cancer who had Medicaid or no insurance. Overall, 123,662 patients underwent surgery from 2001 through 2008, and were included in the analysis. The authors found that high safety-net burden hospitals were associated with an increase in length of stay but were not associated with an increase in costs of care, after controlling for all other variables, including hospital volume status. Additionally, safety-net burden was not associated with in-hospital mortality, acute medical complications or surgical complications, after controlling for all other [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-20T19:06:44-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|