November 2016 – Oral Cancer News

Mouth cancer rates soar over 20 years

Source: www.sciencedaily.com Author: staff A new Cancer Research UK analysis reveals that rates of mouth (oral) cancer have jumped by 68 per cent1 in the UK over the last 20 years. The figures -- released during Mouth Cancer Action Month -- reveal the cancer is on the rise for men and women, young and old, climbing from eight to 13 cases per 100,000 people over the last two decades. For men under 50, the rate has jumped by 67 per cent in the last 20 years2 -- going up from around 340 cases to around 640 cases each year. For men aged 50 and over, rates have increased by 59 per cent climbing from around 2,100 cases to around 4,400 cases annually. Oral cancer is more common in men, but there have been similar increases women3. In women under 50, oral cancer rates have risen by 71 per cent in the last 20 years, with annual cases climbing from around 160 to around 300. Rates for women over 50 have also gone up by 71 per cent, with cases increasing from around 1,100 to around 2,200. Around nine in 10 cases are linked to lifestyle and other risk factors. Smoking is the biggest avoidable risk factor, linked to an estimated 65 per cent of cases. Other risk factors include alcohol, diets low in fruit and vegetables, and infections with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Oral cancers include cancer of the lips, tongue, mouth (gums and palate), tonsils and the middle [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-11-29T07:10:47-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Why the FDA Wants More Control over Some Lab Tests

The FDA finds that many so-called laboratory-derived tests may actually harm patients By Charles Schmidt | Scientific American December 2016 Issue Every year in the U.S., doctor's offices and hospitals order billions of laboratory tests to measure everything from cholesterol levels in the blood to the presence of a gene thought to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Physicians and patients typically assume that they can trust the results of these tests. And most of the time they can. But not all lab tests are equally reliable, and faulty ones can have serious consequences. Sometimes they fail to detect life-threatening conditions. Other times they indicate a problem that does not exist, which can lead to unneeded, perhaps even dangerous treatments. Through a quirk of regulatory history, many such tests are not subject to the same medical standards as other tools used to identify risk for disease or to definitively diagnose a condition. These are called lab-developed tests, or LDTs, defined as tests that are manufactured and interpreted by the same individual lab that designed them—in contrast to, say, a quick strep test meant to be used and understood by a wide variety of personnel in doctor's offices everywhere. Most people first encounter an LDT during a checkup when the physician is faced with a diagnostic dilemma that cannot be resolved by widely available blood tests. The trouble is, experts believe many of these tests are not useful, and some may even cause harm by convincing too many people that [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-11-28T10:49:07-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

For this cancer, ‘stage 4’ isn’t as bad as it sounds

Source: www.omaha.com Author: Steve Hendrix - The Washington Post Hearing the word "cancer" in a doctor's office is bad enough. Hearing "stage 4" invokes even more dread. When I learned I had stage 4 HPV-related oral cancer, I didn't know exactly what it meant, but I knew there wasn't a stage 5. Doctors use the standardized staging system to describe the location, size and extent of a cancer and its spread throughout the body. Using data on the treatment and survivability of each particular kind of cancer, clinicians combine these factors to produce a number from stage 1 (a small tumor confined to one spot) to stage 4 (a cancer that has spread, either to a single adjacent lymph node or to distant organs). My cancer was stage 4A, a small tumor at the base of my tongue that had spread to a single lymph node in my neck. My doctor immediately tried to soften the blow. There were problems with the staging rules as they applied to this kind of cancer, he said. HPV oropharyngeal cancers, while potentially fatal, were far more treatable than other oral cancers, particularly the ones related to tobacco and alcohol use that were used to define the staging standards. He was right. A study published in the Lancet early this year found that the current guidelines lead to needless panic for the newly diagnosed. "At the present time, most patients with HPV+ oropharyngeal cancer are told they have (stage 4) disease, but the reality [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-11-21T10:00:30-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

E-cigarettes ‘just as harmful as tobacco’ for oral health

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: Honor Whiteman Electronic cigarettes are often marketed as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes. When it comes to oral health, however, new research suggests vaping may be just as harmful as smoking. Researchers suggest vaping may be equally - if not more - harmful for oral health than smoking. In a study published in the journal Oncotarget, researchers found that the chemicals present in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) vapor were equally as damaging - in some cases, more damaging - to mouth cells as tobacco smoke. Such damage can lead to an array of oral health problems, including gum disease, tooth loss, and mouth cancer. E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices containing a heating device and a cartridge that holds a liquid solution. The heating device vaporizes the liquid - usually when the user "puffs" on the device - and the resulting vapor is inhaled. While e-cigarette liquids do not contain tobacco - a highly harmful component of conventional cigarettes - they do contain nicotine and other chemicals, including flavoring agents. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the use of e-cigarettes has increased in recent years, particularly among young people. In 2015, 16 percent of high-school students reported using the devices, compared with just 1.5 percent in 2011. E-cigarettes are considered by many to be safer than conventional smoking, but because the devices are relatively new to the market, little is known about the long-term effects of vaping on health. In particular, study leader [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-11-18T07:33:06-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Curbing oral cancer

Source:.businessmirror.com.ph Author: Henrylito D. Tacio “Cancer is the third leading cause of death in the country today. Most of it can be prevented since its risk factors are lifestyle and environmentally related. Early detection of cancer is a crucial key to the survival and recovery of its victims. The earlier you detect the malignancy the higher the survival rate of the patient.” —Dr. Vic Fileto Chua of Movement for Early Detection of Cancer What's the leading cause of oral cancer? Is it smoking or heavy drinking? Although smoking and drinking may cause oral cancer, the leading cause is oral sex, a sexual act that involves the stimulation of the genitalia using the mouth. Studies have shown that 64 percent of cancers of the oral cavity, head, and neck in the United States are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which is commonly spread via oral sex. The more oral sex you have – and the more oral sex partners you have – the greater the risk of developing these potentially deadly cancers. “An individual who has six or more lifetime partners—on whom they’ve performed oral sex—has an eightfold increase in risk compared to someone who has never performed oral sex,” explained Dr. Maura Gillison, an oncologist at Ohio State University. Gillison headed a team of researchers who examined 271 throat-tumor samples collected over 20 years ending in 2004. They found that the percentage of oral cancer linked to HPV surged to 72 percent from about 16 percent. The study, which was [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-11-17T12:44:14-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

HPV and mouth cancer

Source: www.hippocraticpost.com Author: Thea Jourdan Mouth cancer kills nearly 2000 people in the UK each year. The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) of which there are over 100 different types, is more commonly associated with cervical cancer and genital warts, but it can also cause oral cancer, particularly of the back of the tongue and tonsils. The virus incorporates itself into the cell’s DNA and causes the cell to multiply out of control, leading to cancer. In Britain, the number of mouth and throat cancers have increased by 40 per cent in just a decade, to 6,200 cases a year. According to Cancer Research UK, the HPV virus, which is transmitted to the mouth region from the genitals during oral sex, may be key to the ‘rapid rise’. Statistics also show that the more sexual partners you have the greater your chance of acquiring mouth cancer. “There is now scientific evidence that a proportion of mouth and throat cancers are linked to HPV infection,” says Hazel Nunn, head of health information at Cancer Research UK. “We know that HPV is found in the mouth but we do not yet know how it gets there – whether through oral sex or otherwise. HPV virus has been found on the fingers and elsewhere on the body. It is possible that oral sex is having an impact but more research needs to be done into the kinds of behaviour that leads to this infection.” “HPV has been causing mouth cancer for decades but the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-11-07T08:10:14-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco is OUT! A third of all Major League Baseball stadiums to be free of tobacco

Source: www.dailyastorian.com Author: American Heart Association News With the end of this baseball season, so ended the long intertwined history of tobacco and baseball at more than one-third of all Major League stadiums. The unhealthy coupling started unraveling when it became evident that chewing tobacco resulted in deadly consequences for some players, such as legendary San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn who died of mouth cancer in 2014. Just months after Gwynn’s death, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announced he was being treated for oral cancer. Although Major League Baseball and the players’ union could not agree to take action, several cities have. Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco all have passed laws prohibiting tobacco use of any kind at sports venues. A statewide law in California will take effect before the 2017 season begins. This week, the Washington, D.C. City Council gave final approval to a measure that would end the use of all tobacco products – including smokeless tobacco like chew, dip and snuff – at all organized sporting events within the city, including Nationals Park. Councilmember Yvette Alexander said the move is needed to help protect children, who often look to sports professionals as role models, from taking up the habit. The measure will now be sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser to sign into law. Additionally, on Oct. 20, St. Petersburg, Florida, City Council Vice Chair Darden Rice introduced a proposal to ban smokeless tobacco products from the city’s athletic venues. The proposal [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-11-06T12:23:57-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

We Now Know Exactly How Many DNA Mutations Smoking Causes

Every 50 cigarettes you smoke gives you one extra DNA mutation per lung cell. Source: The Verge Author: James Vincent A common tactic for people trying to give up smoking is to quantify exactly how much damage — financial or physical — each cigarette or pack of cigarette does. How much does smoking cost you per month, for example, or how much shorter is your life going to be for each drag you take? Well, a new study into the dangers of smoking now lets us measure this damage right down to the number of mutations in your DNA. A research team led by scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory compared tissue samples from 1,063 non-smokers and 2,490 smokers, examining each individual's DNA to look for mutations. They found that for every 50 cigarettes smoked, there is one extra DNA mutation for each cell in the lungs. Over the course of a year, this means that someone who smokes a pack a day (20 cigarettes) has 150 extra mutations per cell in the lung, 97 per larynx cell, 23 per mouth cell, 18 per bladder cell, and six per liver cell. These changes to the cells aren’t dangerous in themselves, but each one has the potential to turn into a cancerous growth. "Smoking is like playing Russian roulette: the more you play, the higher the chance the mutations will hit the right genes and you will develop cancer," Ludmil Alexandrov, the co-lead author of the study, told the New Scientist. [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-11-04T09:43:28-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|