2017 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Top cancer doctors have some advice about alcohol

Source: www.newser.com Author: staff Name things that increase your risk of cancer. Cigarettes and tanning beds might quickly come to mind. But how about alcohol? A recent survey of 4,016 adults by the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that only 30% knew alcohol is a risk factor for cancer, reports the New York Times. ASCO, which includes many leading cancer doctors, had yet to voice its own thoughts on the topic. That changed this month, with the Nov. 7 publication of a statement in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that begins by calling the link between the two "often underappreciated" and noting that "addressing high-risk alcohol use is one strategy to reduce the burden of cancer." "Despite the evidence of a strong link between alcohol drinking and certain cancers, ASCO has not previously addressed the topic of alcohol and cancer." In the statement they cite outside research they've found to be sound, like an estimate that 5.8% of global cancer deaths in 2012 were attributable to alcohol, and evidence that drinking can increase the risk of mouth, throat, voice box, liver, breast, esophageal, and colorectal cancers. So what's the upshot? It's not "Don't drink," lead statement author Dr. Noelle LoConte tells the Times. "It's different than tobacco where we say, 'Never smoke. Don't start.' This is a little more subtle"—drink less, essentially. (Though the statement does contain the line, "People who do not currently drink alcohol should not start for any reason.") So what's Wine Spectator's response? [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-11-21T07:39:50-07:00November, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Immokalee health clinic earns national award for vaccination rate

Source: www.naplesnews.com Author: Liz Freeman The public health department in Immokalee set a goal for getting children vaccinated against cancer and brought home a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention award for its high success rate. The Florida Department of Health in Collier County, specifically the Immokalee location, was named the regional winner of the 2017 HPV Vaccine Award because of its 76.2 percent vaccine series completion rate among 13 to 15 year olds. A point-in-time survey in August found 560 children aged 13 to 15 in Immokalee had been vaccinated against HPV, according to a health department spokeswoman. In the last four years, the Immokalee clinic took on an ambitious campaign in the farmworker community to boost HPV vaccination rates, starting with ensuring that all staff members who have contact with clients are knowledgeable about the virus and the vaccine. The virus is common and can cause certain cancer of the genitals, head and neck. There are about 31,000 new cases of cancer a year caused by the virus, according to the CDC. Controversy is attached to the HPV vaccine by some groups who argue that getting kids vaccinated may promote early sexual interaction with others. State governments that have authority over school vaccination requirements have faced debate over requiring it and over the cost State Surgeon General and DOH Secretary Dr. Celeste Philip said she was proud of the Immokalee clinic and its success rate for the vaccinating young people against the virus. “Their commitment to preventing [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-11-07T14:02:01-07:00November, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Know what’s worse than the risks of getting the HPV vaccine? Getting an HPV-related cancer. Trust me

Source: www.statnews.com Author: Michael D. Becker In an era of $500,000 cancer treatments, you’d expect a vaccine series that costs about $300 and helps prevent several types of cancer to be popular with physicians, insurers, and consumers. It’s not, and, as a result, people are dying. I should know — I’m one of them. The human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause changes in the body that lead to six cancers: cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancer in women; penile cancer in men; and anal cancer in both women and men. It can also cause oropharyngeal cancer — cancer in the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils — in both sexes. In the U.S., approximately 30,000 new cancers attributable to HPV are diagnosed each year. In 2006, the first vaccine became available to protect against HPV infection. I was 38 years old at the time, well above the upper age limit of 26 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for getting the vaccine. Ideally it should be given before the teen years, but can be given up to age 26. Uptake of the HPV vaccine in the U.S. is abysmal, with just 49 percent of girls and 37 percent of boys having received the recommended HPV vaccination series. Individuals who oppose the use of vaccines argue that safety concerns should preclude the use of the HPV vaccine. I disagree. The safety and effectiveness of this vaccine to protect against cancer-causing strains of the HPV virus [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-11-07T13:53:49-07:00November, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

The Unforgiving Math That Stops Epidemics

Author: Tara C. Smith Source: www.quantamagazine.org Date: October 26, 2017 As the annual flu season approaches, medical professionals are again encouraging people to get flu shots. Perhaps you are among those who rationalize skipping the shot on the grounds that “I never get the flu” or “if I get sick, I get sick” or “I’m healthy, so I’ll get over it.” What you might not realize is that these vaccination campaigns for flu and other diseases are about much more than your health. They’re about achieving a collective resistance to disease that goes beyond individual well-being — and that is governed by mathematical principles unforgiving of unwise individual choices. When talking about vaccination and disease control, health authorities often invoke “herd immunity.” This term refers to the level of immunity in a population that’s needed to prevent an outbreak from happening. Low levels of herd immunity are often associated with epidemics, such as the measles outbreak in 2014-2015 that was traced to exposures at Disneyland in California. A study investigating cases from that outbreak demonstrated that measles vaccination rates in the exposed population may have been as low as 50 percent. This number was far below the threshold needed for herd immunity to measles, and it put the population at risk of disease. The necessary level of immunity in the population isn’t the same for every disease. For measles, a very high level of immunity needs to be maintained to prevent its transmission because the measles virus is possibly the most contagious [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-02-06T14:58:52-07:00November, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

FDA Cracks Down on Marijuana Cancer Treatment Claims

Author: Anna Edney; Jennifer Kaplan Source: www.bloomberg.com Date: November 1, 2017 U.S. officials sent a warning to the marijuana industry, alerting online sellers they cannot market their products as a treatment for cancer. The Food and Drug Administration sent letters to four companies on Tuesday, warning them about unsubstantiated claims that their marijuana-derived products can combat tumors and kill cancer cells. The firms sell products including oils and capsules made from cannabidiol, also known as CBD, a component of the marijuana plant that doesn’t cause the mind-altering effects of the other main component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The agency told the companies they cannot make claims to treat or cure a disease when a product has never been studied as a treatment. Curbing the sale of CBD products with health claims could put a damper on the medical-marijuana market. Producers that are required to nix references to medical ailments may move toward the recreational side of the legal cannabis industry. Eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized pot for recreational use. Twenty-one additional states have legalized for medical purposes. “We don’t let companies market products that deliberately prey on sick people with baseless claims that their substance can shrink or cure cancer and we’re not going to look the other way on enforcing these principles when it comes to marijuana-containing products,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. The crackdown could also have a wider impact on the pharmaceutical industry. CBD is being researched in labs as potential treatment for certain diseases. [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-02-06T15:02:17-07:00November, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Understanding personal risk of oropharyngeal cancer: risk-groups for oncogenic oral HPV infection and oropharyngeal cancer

Author: G D’Souza, T S McNeel, C Fakhry Date: October 19, 2017 Source: Academic.oup.com Abstract Background Incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal cancer is increasing. There is interest in identifying healthy individuals most at risk for development of oropharyngeal cancer to inform screening strategies. Patients and methods All data are from 2009 to 2014, including 13 089 people ages 20–69 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), oropharyngeal cancer cases from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER 18) registries (representing ∼28% of the US population), and oropharyngeal cancer mortality from National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Primary study outcomes are (i) prevalence of oncogenic HPV DNA in an oral rinse and gargle sample, and (ii) incident oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer. Results Oncogenic oral HPV DNA is detected in 3.5% of all adults age 20–69 years; however, the lifetime risk of oropharyngeal cancer is low (37 per 10 000). Among men 50–59 years old, 8.1% have an oncogenic oral HPV infection, 2.1% have an oral HPV16 infection, yet only 0.7% will ‘ever’ develop oropharyngeal cancer in their lifetime. Oncogenic oral HPV prevalence was higher in men than women, and increased with number of lifetime oral sexual partners and tobacco use. Men who currently smoked and had ≥5 lifetime oral sexual partners had ‘elevated risk’ (prevalence = 14.9%). Men with only one of these risk factors (i.e. either smoked and had 2–4 partners or did not smoke and had ≥5 partners) had ‘medium risk’ (7.3%). Regardless of what other risk factors participants had, oncogenic oral HPV prevalence [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-02-06T14:59:06-07:00October, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

3 Lessons From An Alarming Case Of Mistaken Cancer Gene Test Results And Surgery

Date: October 28, 2017 Source: Forbes.com Author: Elaine Schattner A horrifying story broke last week about a 36-year-old Oregon woman who had elective surgery to remove her uterus and breasts. Elisha Cooke-Moore underwent a prophylactic total hysterectomy and bilateral mastectomy, with nipple-sparing reconstruction and implants, after medical practitioners informed her she had cancer-causing genes. Only later, she learned she didn’t have the abnormality about which she’d been informed. There’s a lawsuit. As reported in The Washington Post, Cooke-Moore expressed concerns to a doctor about her family’s cancer history before getting tested for mutations in BRCA-1, BRCA-2 and related genes in 2015. A nurse practitioner reviewed the results and erroneously told her she had Lynch syndrome because of an MLH1 mutation. BRCA testing was “negative.” It’s not clear if any doctor directly reviewed the lab report. An obstetrician-gynecologist informed Cooke-Moore that her chances of developing breast cancer were 50% and for uterine cancer up to 80%. In 2016, at least two surgeons operated. Cooke-Moore discovered the mistake while looking over her medical records: The MLH1 result was “negative,” she noted in 2017. “I am damaged for the rest of my life,” Cooke-Moore told The Washington Post. Never mind the specifics. While it sounds like the plaintiff received egregious care, and I am sympathetic, I see this as a larger story of confusion over genetic test results leading to irreversible harm. My aim here is not to probe Cooke-Moore’s results or the circumstances of her decisions, but to consider the lessons for other patients and doctors. This case [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-02-06T15:02:34-07:00October, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Number of metastatic nodes a predictor for survival in oral cancer

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Jason Harris The presence of metastatic lymph nodes was directly correlated with poorer survival in patients with oral cancer. Mortality risk rose continuously with the number of metastatic nodes without plateau, according to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Investigators found that the effect was most pronounced with up to 4 lymph nodes (hazard ratio [HR], 1.34; 95% CI, 1.29-1.39; P < .001). Extranodal extension (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.20-1.65; P <.001) and lower neck involvement (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06-1.27; P <.001) were also predictors for increased mortality. Citing the need for more precise staging metrics and treatment stratification, the investigators assessed the effect of quantitative metastatic nodal burden in a large population of patients with oral cavity cancer. Researchers selected oral cavity cancers because of their surgical treatment paradigm with more complete pathologic nodal data. “Metastatic nodal burden is a central predictor of mortality in patients with oral cavity cancer, with each additional metastatic lymph node conferring escalated risk of mortality,” first author Allen S. Ho, MD, Department of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and co-investigators wrote. “Classic factors such as lymph node size and contralateral nodal metastasis lack independent prognostic value when accounting for number of metastatic nodes.” “Our data suggest that deeper integration of quantitative nodal burden could better calibrate the wide spectrum of risk that staging systems presently capture. Such adjustments would be a promising means to more effectively articulate patient prognosis, tailor clinical trial design, and ultimately advance clinical decision [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-10-25T14:05:01-07:00October, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Oral sex increases men’s risk of cancer, new study finds

Source: www.deccanchronicle.com Author: staff An alarming new study found men who have performed oral sex on five or more partners are at risk of head and neck cancer related to HPV, according to a report by the Daily Mail. Johns Hopkins researchers warn men may not be aware of this risk, particularly if they smoke. "Among men who did not smoke, cancer-causing oral HPV was rare among everyone who had less than five oral sex partners, although the chances of having oral HPV infection did increase with number of oral sexual partners, and with smoking," lead author Dr Amber D'Souza, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told the Daily Mail. For the study, data was analysed of 13,089 people part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and tested for oral HPV. That information was compared to data with federal figures on oropharyngeal cancer diagnoses. The results indicated that men had a higher risk of developing the disease compared to women. The new study's findings suggest it is crucial for boys to get the HPV vaccine. While there are 100 different kinds of HPV, only few cause cancer. HPV strains 16 and 18 trigger most cervical cancer. HPV16 also causes oropharyngeal cancer. Identifying who is at risk is will help curb the disease. "For these reasons, it would be useful to be able to identify healthy people who are most at risk of developing oropharyngeal cancer in order to inform potential screening strategies, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-10-20T08:11:22-07:00October, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

7 million American men carry cancer-causing HPV virus

Source: www.nytimes.com Author: Nicholas Bakalar The incidence of mouth and throat cancers caused by the human papilloma virus in men has now surpassed the incidence of HPV-related cervical cancers in women, researchers report. The study, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that 11 million men and 3.2 million women in the United States had oral HPV infections. Among them, 7 million men and 1.4 million women had strains that can cause cancers of the throat, tongue and other areas of the head and neck. The risk of infection was higher for smokers, for people who have had multiple sex partners, and for men who have sex with men. Frequent oral sex also increased the risk. The rate was higher among men who also had genital HPV. (Almost half of men aged 18 to 60 have a genital HPV infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) Neither age nor income made a difference in high-risk oral infection rates, but rates among non-Hispanic blacks were higher than other races and ethnicities. HPV vaccination is recommended starting at age 11 or 12 and is effective, said the senior author, Ashish A. Deshmukh, an assistant professor at the University of Florida, and “it’s crucial that parents vaccinate boys as well as girls.” The lead author, Kalyani Sonawane, also at the University of Florida, said that behavioral change is important, too, particularly smoking cessation. “The difference in oral HPV infection between smokers and nonsmokers is staggering,” she said.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-10-17T07:31:08-07:00October, 2017|Oral Cancer News|