June 2015 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Pembrolizumab immunotherapy effective in recurrent, metastatic head and neck cancer

Source: www.cancertherapyadvisor.com Author: Debra Hughes, MS Pembrolizumab immunotherapy is effective for patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), results of the KEYNOTE-012 trial presented at the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting have shown. At a fixed dose of 200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks, pembrolizumab “was well tolerated and demonstrated a clinically meaningful overall response rate of 24.8% in patients with recurrent/metastatic SCCHN,” reported Tanguy Y. Seiwert, MD, an assistant professor of medicine, and associate HNC program leader at The University of Chicago in Chicago, IL. However, “it is important to note that response rate may underestimate the rate of benefit in patients, and ultimately we need to assess survival,” said Dr. Seiwert in an ASCO press release. “We know from other diseases where the experience with immunotherapy is larger, that patients who have disease stabilization or even initially experience disease progression upon receiving immunotherapy ultimately may derive significant benefit that can translate into longer survival.” Pembrolizumab (MK-3475), a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks interaction of PD-1 with its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, promotes activity of tumor-specific effector T cells. Previously, the KEYNOTE 012 study had demonstrated clinical activity of pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks in patients with recurrent/metastatic SCCHN enriched for PD-L1–positive tumors. Response rate was 20%. Dr. Seiwert reported on the study's larger SCCHN expansion cohort, irrespective of PD-L1 expression or HPV status, using a 3-weekly fixed dose. The primary end point was overall response rate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-06-03T06:53:18-07:00June, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

Marathoner Harriette Thompson, 92, runs to her own inspiring rhythm

Source: http://espn.go.com/ Author: Lynn Olszowy Harriette Thompson has found a clever way to pass the time when she runs marathons. The classically trained concert pianist imagines her favorite pieces of music. "When I'm in a place that might be pretty boring, I run to some music in my mind," she explained. "I hardly know I'm running when I'm thinking about that." Over the weekend, musical thoughts helped Thompson run into the history books for the second year in a row. Last year, she broke the marathon record by a woman over 90 by more than two hours. On Sunday, she became the oldest woman to ever complete a marathon at the age of 92 years, 65 days. Two days later, she had a spring in her step. "I feel like a million dollars right now," Thompson said Tuesday from her home in a Charlotte, North Carolina, retirement community. "I think it must do something to your life system or something that makes you feel up on top of the world after you've done a marathon." Throughout her 7 hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds of running, she had Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and his Prelude in D Major keeping her company. "It's fun to just think about it because I think it's one of his most beautiful preludes," she said over the phone Tuesday. But there was something else that occupied Thompson's mind while she ran the 26.2 miles of Sunday's San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. "I also think [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-06-03T06:48:53-07:00June, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

A Disorder That’s Hard to Swallow

Source: www.usnews.comAuthor: Anna Medaris Miller Ed Steger’s last meal was a bowl of soup in Las Vegas. “I remember it all too clearly, as if it were yesterday,” he says. But it wasn’t yesterday – it was 2006. “Life is very different” now, says Steger, a 63-year-old former program manager in Houston. Steger was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2005. In addition to 36 rounds of radiation and eight regimens of chemotherapy, he underwent six surgeries, including one that replaced a portion of his pharynx and removed parts of his left jawbone, tongue, epiglottis and soft palate. “The part that makes it odd is that I’m alive after having four recurrences,” Steger says. The part that makes it distressing is that he can’t eat solid foods. “There are many case studies I’ve seen where patients have said [their] swallowing disorder is the worst part of their disease – and I believe this to be true,” says Steger, who’s president of the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders. His daily diet consists of four 8-ounce cans of the nutritional drink Boost Plus, along with two to four bottled Starbucks Frappuccinos, which he buys at his local supermarket. “It’s a very boring diet that allows me to maintain my weight,” says Steger, who’s 5 feet 10 inches tall and 155 pounds. It’s unknown how many people have dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, but the condition can be caused by any one of 30 diverse health events, Steger says. While his dysphagia is a result of surgery, other people [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-06-02T16:23:17-07:00June, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

Merck immunotherapy appears effective in head and neck cancer – study | Reuters

Source: www.firstpress.comAuthor: Bill Berkrot A Merck & Co drug that helps the immune system fight cancer was about twice as effective as the current standard therapy for patients with recurrent or advanced head and neck cancers, according to study data released on Friday. A quarter of the 132 patients who received the drug, Keytruda (pembrolizumab), saw their tumors shrink by at least 30 percent. Fifty-six percent of patients experienced at least some tumor shrinkage in the ongoing single drug Phase I study dubbed Keynote-012, researchers reported. "This is remarkable because we don't usually see this level of activity with new agents. We have a track record of failure," said Dr. Tanguy Seiwert, lead investigator of the study from the University of Chicago. Advanced head and neck cancer is currently treated with Eli Lilly's Erbitux, known chemically as cetuximab, which typically has a response rate of 10 percent to 13 percent. "The only thing that works is cetuximab and this looks at least twice as good," said Seiwert, who was presenting the Keytruda data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. ADVERTISING Merck shares rose more than 1 percent to $60.43 on the New York Stock Exchange. Keytruda and Opdivo from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co are at the forefront of a promising new class of drugs called PD-1 inhibitors that block a mechanism tumors use to evade the immune system. Keytruda is approved to treat advanced melanoma and awaits a decision for use in lung cancer. It is being [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-06-02T11:56:50-07:00June, 2015|Oral Cancer News|