January 2013 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Experts warn of epidemic of head and neck tumors caused by sexually-transmitted HPV infections and obesity

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: staff While cancer rates continue to drop, two new increasingly common causes of cancer could lead to an epidemic of head and neck cancer, experts warn. Obesity and the human papillomavirus, or HPV, are the next wave of cancer threats, according to a report released Monday with data from the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. Baby boomers already infected with HPV will likely develop cancers from the virus in coming years and the youger generation is not being vaccinated against it at anything close to the recommended rate. And a third of cancer cases have been linked to obesity, which is a growing health concern with little done to combat it. The report was published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. From 2000 to 2009 cancer death rates dropped steadily by 1.8 per cent among children and men and 1.4 per cent among women. Cancer diagnosis rates were stable for women, dipped slightly among men, and went up a tiny 0.6 per cent among children under 14. 'The fact that people are not dying of cancer is clear evidence of progress,' Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society told MSNBC. 'But could have a much lower death rate from cancer if we simply got serious about doing all the things that work. 'Over the next 10 years, a combination of high caloric intake and low physical activity [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:52:16-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Study to assess lubricant that stops HPV transmission

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff A new study at McGill University will test the ability of a personal lubricant with a special form of carrageenan gel to prevent the transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV). The large-scale, double-blind human trial is called CATCH, an acronym for Carrageenan-gel Against Transmission of Cervical HPV, and will involve tracking HPV infections in more than 400 female volunteers for a one-year period. Divine 9, a carrageenan-based personal lubricant from the company Divine, was the only personal lubricant selected for the trial due to earlier laboratory studies by the National Cancer Institute that showed it to be a strong inhibitor of HPV transmission, according to the firm. Oropharyngeal cancer is the second-most diagnosed of cancers associated with HPV, according to a reportlast year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 26,000 new cancers attributable to HPV occur each year: 18,000 among females and 8,000 among males, including an estimated 11,500 cervical cancers and 7,400 oropharyngeal cancers, the CDC found.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:37:54-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

HPV-related cancers on the rise

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: Drbicuspid staff The rising incidence of cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) shows a need to increase HPV vaccination coverage levels, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (January 7, 2013). Despite the decline in cancer death rates in the U.S., the rate of HPV-associated cancers has increased, the report noted. The American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries annually provide updates on trends in cancer incidence and death rates in the U.S. This year's report highlighted trends in incidence rates for HPV-associated cancers and HPV vaccination coverage levels. Two HPV vaccines (bivalent and quadrivalent) have been shown to protect against most cervical cancers in women and one vaccine (quadrivalent) also protects against genital warts and cancers of the anus, vagina, and vulva. However, the report had no data available on the vaccine's efficacy for preventing HPV-associated cancers of the oropharynx. To assess trends in HPV-associated cancer incidence rates and HPV vaccination coverage levels, ACS researchers looked at trends in age-standardized incidence and death rates for all cancers combined and for the leading cancers among men and women. They also analyzed HPV vaccination coverage levels during 2008 and 2010. Nationally, 32% of females ages 13 to 17 years received three doses of the HPV vaccine in 2010, showing the necessity for increased efforts to increase HPV vaccination coverage, the report said. HPV vaccination efforts should [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:28:54-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Chicago ENT head and neck surgeons using VELscope Vx to enhance oral cancer surgery success rate

Source: www.menafn.com Author: press release LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. subsidiary LEDDental announced today that its VELscope Vx enhanced oral assessmentdevice will now be used by Chicago Otolaryngology Associates for oralmucosal abnormality assessment and when performing surgery on oral cancer patients. According to Chicago Otolaryngology Associates' Howard Kotler, MD,FACS, "We pride ourselves on embracing state-of-the-art technologies that allow us to provide the best patient care possible. The VELscopeVx may significantly enhance our ability to see the entire cancerous or precancerous lesion that needs to be excised, allowing us to minimize risk of additional unnecessary surgery." The VELscope Vx's fluorescence visualization technology is the first approved by the FDA and Health Canada to help surgeons determine the surgical margins when excising cancerous and precancerous tissues. The technology is also approved to help dental and medical professionals discover cancerous and precancerous tissue that might not be apparent to the unaided eye. The vast majority of the nearly 12,000 VELscope devices in use around the world are used by dental practices. Typically, when a suspicious lesion is detected by a dentist, the patient is referred to an oral surgeon or a periodontist for a surgical biopsy, which is then evaluated by an oral pathologist. If the biopsy sample is determined to be cancerous or precancerous, the patient is usually referred to an ENT head and neck surgeon for consultation and likely excision. VELscope technology was developed to address the problem of detecting all abnormal tissue, including that beneath the surface, as well as making [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:25:49-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Another Side Effect Of Chemotherapy: ‘Chemo Brain’

Source: NPR Date: December 28, 2012 Author: Patti Neighmond It's well-known that chemotherapy often comes with side effects like fatigue, hair loss and extreme nausea. What's less well-known is how the cancer treatment affects crucial brain functions, like speech and cognition. For Yolanda Hunter, a 41-year-old hospice nurse, mother of three and breast cancer patient, these cognitive side effects of chemotherapy were hard to miss. "I could think of words I wanted to say," Hunter says. "I knew what I wanted to say. ... There was a disconnect from my brain to my mouth." Before getting treated for cancer, Hunter led a busy, active lifestyle. But the effects of chemotherapy on her brain made it difficult for her to do even the most basic things. "I couldn't even formulate a smile. I had no expression," she says. "I might feel things on the inside, but it didn't translate to the outside. ... It literally felt like you were trying to fight your way through fog." Some cancer patients call this mental fog "chemo brain." And now researchers are trying to quantify exactly what chemo brain really is. Oncologist Jame Abraham, a professor at West Virginia University, says about a quarter of patients undergoing chemotherapy have trouble processing numbers, using short-term memory and focusing their attention. Using positron emission tomography, or PET, scans to measure blood flow and brain activity, Abraham looked at the brains of 128 breast cancer patients before they started chemotherapy and then again, six months later. On [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-01-10T13:00:01-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

DNA adducts linked to oral cancer in smokers

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: Sarah Guy, medwireNews Reporter Having a high susceptibility to certain types of DNA damage caused by tobacco smoking could significantly increase the risk for oral cancer, show results of a Taiwanese study. Levels of BaP 7,8-diol 9,10-epoxide (BPDE) - a metabolite of Benzo[a]pyrene, an important carcinogen found in cigarette smoke - correlated positively with smoking status in a cohort of individuals with oral cancer, report the researchers. The findings also indicate a significantly increased risk for oral cancer among individuals with high DNA adduct levels compared with their peers with low levels. "Based on our finding, we suggest that detected BPDE-like DNA adducts could be used as a biomarker for oral cancer risk," write Huei Lee (Taipei Medical University) and colleagues in the Archives of Oral Biology. The team analyzed BPDE-DNA adduct levels in oral tissue samples from 158 oral cancer patients and 64 individuals without cancer (controls), using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results of these assays significantly and positively correlated , so that immunohistochemistry-negative patients did not have detectable DNA adduct levels using ELISA and vice versa. DNA adduct levels also positively correlated with smoking status among the cancer patients, note the researchers, with significantly higher adduct levels among smokers than nonsmokers, at 93.18 versus 0.04 adducts per 108 nucleotides. Lee and co-workers also observed that cancer patients had significantly higher DNA adduct levels than controls, at a range of 0-358.00 versus 0-39.50 adducts per 108 nucleotides. Indeed, DNA adduct level was an [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-05T15:32:56-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|