carcinogens – Oral Cancer News

E-cigarette users show cancer-linked genetic changes

Source:news.usc.edu Author: Leigh Hopper If you think vaping is benign, think again. While studies have indicated that vaping can help smokers quit, USC researchers say the health consequences of using a e-cigarettes may be worse than widely believed. (Photo/Pixabay) A USC study in 93 people shows that e-cigarette users develop some of the same cancer-related molecular changes in oral tissue as cigarette smokers, adding to the growing concern that e-cigarettes aren’t a harmless alternative to smoking. The research, published this week in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, comes amid a mushrooming e-cigarette market and mounting public health worries. On a positive note, recent research found vaping is almost twice as effective as other nicotine replacement therapies in helping smokers quit. But among adolescents, vaping now surpasses smoking, and there’s evidence that e-cigarette use leads to nicotine addiction and future smoking in teens. “The existing data show that e-cig vapor is not merely ‘water vapor’ as some people believe,” said Ahmad Besaratinia, an associate professor at Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study’s senior author. “Although the concentrations of most carcinogenic compounds in e-cig products are much lower than those in cigarette smoke, there is no safe level of exposure to carcinogens.” E-cigs and cancer: Early warning in oral cells Besaratinia emphasized that the molecular changes seen in the study aren’t cancer, or even pre-cancer, but rather an early warning of a process that could potentially lead to cancer if unchecked. The researchers looked at gene [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-15T14:06:43-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

E-cigarettes ‘could give you mouth cancer by damaging your DNA’

Source: metro.co.uk Author: Zoe Drewett Researchers say vaping could lead to an increased risk of developing mouth cancer. A study carried out by the American Chemical Society found evidence to suggest using e-cigarettes raises the level of DNA-damaging compounds in the mouth. If cells in the body are unable to repair the DNA damage after vaping, the risk of cancer can increase, the study claims. The long-term effects of e-cigarettes are not yet known but researchers say they should be investigated further (Picture: PA) The researchers admit the long-term health effects of using electronic cigarettes are still unknown. Researcher Dr Romel Dator said: ‘We want to characterize the chemicals that vapers are exposed to, as well as any DNA damage they may cause.’ Since they were introduced in 2004, e-cigarettes have been marketed as a safer alternative to smoking. But the team carrying out the study claim genetic material in the oral cells of people who vape could be altered by toxic chemicals. E-cigarettes work by heating a liquid – which usually contains nicotine – into an aerosol that the user inhales. It is often flavoured to taste like fruit, chocolate or bubblegum. ‘It’s clear that more carcinogens arise from the combustion of tobacco in regular cigarettes than from the vapor of e-cigarettes,’ Silvia Balbo, the project’s lead investigator said. ‘However, we don’t really know the impact of inhaling the combination of compounds produced by this device. ‘Just because the threats are different doesn’t mean that e-cigarettes are completely [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-08-22T12:57:31-07:00August, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless tobacco use on the rise among high school athletes

Source: kimt.com Author: Jeron Rennie A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report shows a trend they don’t want to see. A Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) shows that from 2001-2013, smokeless tobacco use increased significantly among high school athletes, but not with non-athletes. The report also found there was lower use of combustible tobacco products among athletes than non-athletes. The CDC said that could be due, in part, to an awareness of the negative consequences on athletic performance. However, they say the use of smokeless tobacco suggests they find those products as being harmless. “When you see it in the media and you see all those athletes that you’re looking up to as a younger student and trying to reach some of the goals that they’ve reached,” said Freeborn County Drug-Free Coalition Prevention Coordinator Lana Howe. “It definitely plays a large impact on you as a youth.” The CDC said using smokeless tobacco can, however, adversely impact athletic performance and lead to disease and early death since they contain nicotine, toxins and carcinogens. Several athletes with a history of smokeless tobacco use have been diagnosed with, or died from, oral cancer.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-09-13T15:20:13-07:00September, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

Great American Spit Out warns of new tobacco lures

Source: www.orlandosentinel.com Author: Kate Santich, Orlando Sentinel As anti-tobacco advocates celebrate today's Great American Spit Out — the "chew" equivalent of the Great American Smoke Out — health officials warn that new dissolvable and flavored varieties of smokeless-tobacco products are targeting teens in a mission to get them hooked. Newly released data from state health researchers show that, while cigarette smoking among Florida youth has reached an all-time low, smokeless tobacco use has been virtually unchanged for the past decade: roughly 5.5 percent among high school students statewide. And it's nearly 9 percent in some counties, including Lake. "The tobacco industry is targeting us," said Magi Linscott, a Pensacola-area 18-year-old named National Youth Advocate for 2014 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "They're trying to get a new generation of addicts." Recent product developments include colorfully packaged, kid-friendly flavors of tobacco-infused candy, mints, gum, breath strips and flavored toothpicks — all containing nicotine. Depending on the type, they are designed to be held in the mouth, chewed, or sucked until they dissolve and the juices swallowed. Along with more traditional chew, snuff and a teabag-like pouch of finely ground tobacco called snus ("snoose"), smokeless products may lure users with a false sense of safety. Shannon Hughes, Tobacco Free Florida bureau chief, said young people — and their parents — may not realize the dangers of the products, which increase the risk of oral cancer by 80 percent. "Adults think, 'Well, at least they're not smoking,'" Hughes said. "Yes, cigarettes do [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2015-02-21T08:34:54-07:00February, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

Baseball, youth, and smokeless tobacco

Source: businesswest.com Authors: Richard Pieters, M.D. & Anthony Giambardino, D.M.D. The headlines first came with baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. His all-too-early death at 54 was attributed to the long-term use of smokeless tobacco. Now it’s former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who revealed on Aug. 20 that he was diagnosed in February with mouth cancer. “I do believe without a doubt, unquestionably,” said Schilling when making his condition public, “that chewing [tobacco] is what gave me cancer … I did it for 30 years. It was an addictive habit.” His physician agreed. Many of us who grew up with the game are used to seeing players chewing tobacco, but a new generation of children watching in the stands and on television may be seeing smokeless tobacco used for the first time. They are the ones most influenced by what baseball players do both on and off the field. And that behavior by professional athletes can be more powerful in shaping behavior than any advertising campaign by the tobacco industry. Although cigarette smoking in the U.S. continues to decline, a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the use of smokeless tobacco has held steady over the past nine years. CDC says 14.7% of high-school boys, and 8.8% of all high-school students, reported using smokeless products in 2013. The CDC further states that smokeless tobacco contains 28 carcinogens, which can cause gum disease, stained teeth and tongue, a dulled sense of taste and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-09-24T06:55:44-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

The National Academies of Science supports Report on Carcinogens assessments – formaldehyde still causes cancer

Source: switchboard.nrdc.orgAuthor: Jennifer Sass The National Academies of Science (NAS) issued its assessment of the cancer risks from formaldehyde, a common and highly toxic chemical found in our furniture, home building materials, and clothing. The National Academies conducted a thorough and rigorous scientific review, and concluded that it posed a threat to humans for three types of cancer: nasopharyngeal cancer; sinonasal cancer; and myeloid leukemia. And, in 2009 the World Health Organization also confirmed the science that formaldehyde causes cancer in people. What makes this NAS review novel is not the cancer findings, because those had already been identified by various international and national government scientific assessments. No, this review was politically motivated, the result of a campaign by the chemical industry and its allies in Congress to protect formaldehyde and styrene, another common chemical linked to cancer. Part of that effort has been a vicious attack on government scientific assessments, to distort and discredit any evidence linking toxic chemicals to diseases, disabilities, or death. In a “kill the messenger” campaign, the Report on Carcinogens – the prestigious biennial government report that alerts the public to chemicals that may cause cancer in people – was compelled to undergo review by the National Academies after it listed formaldehyde and styrene as “known” and “reasonably anticipated” to cause cancer, respectively. This NAS formaldehyde report, along with the recent NAS styrene report are the strongest possible statement from the scientific community that: the Report on Carcinogens got it right the first time; formaldehyde - and styrene – may cause cancer in humans; and our [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-12T15:46:52-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer cases higher in developing countries

Source: pakobserver.net Author: staff Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer reported globally with roughly two thirds of these reported in developing countries, according to a report. Regardless of nationality, roughly half of long-term smokers will die from the effects of tobacco smoking, be it oral cancer, lung cancer or cardiovascular disease. In India 20 deaths per 100,000 are caused by oral cancer as compared to 10 deaths per 100,000 in the US and two deaths per 100,000 in the Middle East. Oral cancer, as well as updates in maxillofacial reconstruction, microneurosurgery, oral trauma, and facial cosmetic and orthognathic surgery, will be reviewed at the 2nd Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Congress to be held in Dubai from May 1-5. Organised by Imedex in association with Arab Health, this year’s meeting will provide a number of new features that explore the rapidly reshaping field of oral and facial surgery. “The main causes of oral cancer have classically been related to smoking tobacco products and the Middle East has a higher rate of tobacco consumption then many other countries and this includes the use of the Shisha or Hookah,” said Dr Eric J Dierks, Clinical Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University, USA and director of the Fellowship in Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery based at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon, who will be speaking at the congress. “There is a myth that smoking through a Shisha pipe is safer than smoking cigarettes but this [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-04-24T12:23:56-07:00April, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

The FDA’s power over cigars

Source: www.latimes.com/health Author: editorial The 2009 federal law that required the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationto begin regulating cigarettes also gave it the option of regulating cigars. Now two bills, one in each chamber of Congress, would remove the agency's authority over "traditional" cigars — the regular size that you're used to, not the ones the size of cigarettes. It's true that cigarettes are the far bigger health scourge in the United States, accounting for nearly one in five deaths each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Traditionally, cigars have not been popular among young people, which is significant because preventing smoking among youth is one of the key reasons for regulating tobacco. But there's nothing good to be said about the health effects of cigar smoking levitra de 20 mg xifaxan médicament. Even though cigar lovers don't typically inhale the smoke, their lung cancer rates are higher than those of nonsmoking Americans — though lower than those of cigarette smokers. According to the National Cancer Institute, cigars have higher levels of tar, toxins and carcinogens than cigarettes and cause cancers of the mouth, lips, throat and esophagus. They also produce more secondhand smoke. The rate of cigar smoking have been increasing for the last two decades, and cigars can now be found in fruit and candy flavors, including chocolate — the same kind of flavor tweaking that got many teenagers hooked on cigarettes. That was why the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-06-07T18:59:24-07:00June, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Researchers identify a gene that predicts recurrence in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/ Author: press release Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck—which typically arises from thin, flat cells that line moist surfaces inside the mouth, nose and throat—is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide, and it has a relatively low five-year survival rate and a high recurrence rate. Recently, the disease has become even more prevalent among adults 40 years of age or younger. These statistics underscore the need for a greater understanding of the molecular underpinnings of this form of cancer. Toward this goal, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have identified a gene that predicts disease recurrence in individuals with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The new findings, which will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Monday, April 2, show that patients with one common variant of a gene which encodes the cytochrome P450 (CYP1B1) protein are likely to have a longer time-to-recurrence than those with the more typical form of the gene. "This is the first study to look at the association between CYP1B1 variants and time-to-recurrence in head and neck cancer, and the findings could lead to personalized treatment strategies for patients with this type of cancer," says Fox Chase study author Ekaterina Shatalova, Ph.D., research associate in the lab of Margie L. Clapper, Ph.D., also senior investigator on the study. Shatalova, Clapper and their colleagues focused on CYP1B1 because this enzyme is known to produce carcinogens by metabolizing tobacco smoke and alcohol—substances that increase the risk of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-04-03T09:09:51-07:00April, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer-causing chemical found in smokeless tobacco

Source: www.foxnews.com Author: staff A chemical in smokeless tobacco products has been found to cause cancer, according to a new study in animals. The chemical was a strong inducer of oral tumors, the study showed. While use of smokeless tobacco products has been strongly linked to the development of cancer, no specific chemical in the products had been identified as a strong oral-cancer causing agent until now, the researchers say. The chemical, called (S)-N'-nitrosonornicotine, or (S)-NNN, "is the only chemical in smokeless tobacco known to cause oral cancer," study researcher Silvia Balbo, a cancer researcher at the University of Minnesota, said in a statement. The finding may explain how smokeless tobacco products cause cancer, Balbo said. Balbo said the findings are an affirmation that tobacco products should be avoided. Smokeless tabacco products are already required to carry warning labels saying the products can cause mouth cancer or are not a safe alternative to cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration says. The most common type of smokeless tobacco product is moist snuff placed in the mouth. Previous studies have suggested that a group of chemicals called nitrosamines, of which (S)-NNN is a member, cause various types of cancer in animals, but no study has looked at the carcinogenicity of (S)-NNNspecifically, the researchers say. Balbo and colleagues administered (S)-NNN to 24 rats. The rats were given (S)-NNN or tap water. The total dose was approximately equivalent to the amount of (S)-NNN to which a smokeless tobacco user would be exposed from [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-04-03T08:59:01-07:00April, 2012|Oral Cancer News|