Centers for Disease Control – Oral Cancer News

CDC reveals no drop in smokeless tobacco use among U.S. workers

Source: philly.comAuthor: Margaret Steele, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, June 5, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Cigarette smoking continues to decline among Americans who work, but use of smokeless tobacco -- a known cause of cancer -- has held steady since 2005, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. Certain types of jobs -- construction and mining, especially -- are hotbeds of smokeless tobacco use, according to a study conducted by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Looking at tobacco use over five years, the researchers found a decline in cigarette smoking among working adults -- from about 22 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2010. But use of smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco and snuff inched up slightly -- from 2.7 percent in 2005 to 3 percent in 2010."These findings can help health professionals direct assistance to working men and women to stop using smokeless tobacco, a known cause of oral, esophageal and pancreatic cancer," the researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The CDC called on employers to try to snuff out all forms of tobacco use. New smokeless tobacco products such as snus (finely ground moist snuff) and candy-flavored dissolvable tobacco, combined with increased marketing, might explain smokeless tobacco's steady use, the CDC authors said. However, snus and some other products weren't included in the questionnaire so it's possible smokeless tobacco use is underestimated, study author Dr. Jacek Mazurek, of the division of respiratory disease studies, and colleagues noted. Chewing tobacco and snuff aren't safe, research has shown. [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-06-06T10:47:15-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Allentown woman who lost jaw to cancer shares anti-smoking message

Source: LehighVallyLive.com People often stare at Christine Brader. Sometimes strangers ask the Allentown woman what happened to her. She tells them, "I used to smoke." Tobacco users flinch when they hear her response, Brader says. Smoking led to oral cancer, which eventually cost the 49-year-old all of her teeth and part of her lower jaw.Brader has had three bouts with the disease since her first diagnosis five years ago, but is now cancer free. "I have to go through life disfigured, all because I made a bad decision and smoked," she says. Brader doesn't want others to follow in her footsteps, so she is working with Tobacco Free Northeast Pennsylvania to spread the word about the dangers of smoking. The organization serves a 10-county area, including Lehigh and Northampton, spokeswoman Alice Dalla Palu said. Brader recently shared her story in a radio advertisement broadcast during the week of World No Tobacco Day, which was May 31. In the ad -- part of the Centers for Disease Control "Tips from Former Smokers" campaign -- she describes preparing liquid meals and consuming them through a feeding tube. Last year, Brader appeared in a TV commercial for Truth, a national smoking prevention campaign that targets youth. BREAK THE HABIT: Call 1-800-784-8669 or visit tobaccofreene.com to get help quitting smoking. She started smoking at 16 to fit in with her peers and continued for 28 years. Brader quit cold turkey at 44 after learning in June 2007 that the growth inside her cheek was cancer. [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-06-18T10:03:27-07:00June, 2012|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

E-Cigarette Controversy

Source: The New York Times If you want a truly frustrating job in public health, try getting people to stop smoking. Even when researchers combine counseling and encouragement with nicotine patches and gum, few smokers quit. Recently, though, experimenters in Italy had more success by doing less. A team led by Riccardo Polosa of the University of Catania recruited 40 hard-core smokers — ones who had turned down a free spot in a smoking-cessation program — and simply gave them a gadget already available in stores for $50. This electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette, contains a small reservoir of liquid nicotine solution that is vaporized to form an aerosol mist. The user “vapes,” or puffs on the vapor, to get a hit of the addictive nicotine (and the familiar sensation of bringing a cigarette to one’s mouth) without the noxious substances found in cigarette smoke. After six months, more than half the subjects in Dr. Polosa’s experiment had cut their regular cigarette consumption by at least 50 percent. Nearly a quarter had stopped altogether. Though this was just a small pilot study, the results fit with other encouraging evidence and bolster hopes that these e-cigarettes could be the most effective tool yet for reducing the global death toll from smoking. But there’s a powerful group working against this innovation — and it’s not Big Tobacco. It’s a coalition of government officials and antismoking groups who have been warning about the dangers of e-cigarettes and trying to ban their sale. The controversy [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-08T13:22:07-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Oral sex is a major risk factor for oral cancer in men

Source: AOL News Rates of oral cancer are on the rise among men, and researchers say the culprit isn't the devil you might think. The rising rates of oral cancer aren't being caused by tobacco, experts say, but by HPV, the same sexually transmitted virus responsible for the vast majority of cases of cervical cancer in women. Millions of women and girls have been vaccinated against HPV, or human papillomavirus, but doctors now say men exposed to the STD during oral sex are at risk as well and may have higher chances of developing oral cancer. John Moore, Getty Images About 65 percent of oral cancer tumors were linked to HPV in 2007, according to the National Cancer Institute. And the uptick isn't occurring among tobacco smokers. "We're looking at non-smokers who are predominantly white, upper middle class, college-educated men," Brian Hill, the executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation, told AOL News by phone. Tobacco use has declined over the past decade, but rates of HPV infections have risen and affect at least 50 percent of the sexually active American population, according to the Centers for Disease Control. HPV-16, the strain of the virus that causes cervical cancer in women, has become the leading cause of oral cancer in non-smoking men, Hill said, citing research in the New England Journal of Medicine. "When the No. 1 cause of your disease goes down [tobacco use], you would expect that the incidence of disease would go down, but that hasn't happened," he said. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-21T13:48:09-07:00April, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

New Discovery May Offer Cure for Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --Tamir Biotechnology, Inc. (Pink Sheets: ACEL) (formerly Alfacell Corporation) announced today that scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported test results confirming two of our lead compounds showed excellent in vitro antiviral activity and no cellular toxicity at dose levels tested for Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Testing was performed using the HPV 11 strain, which along with HPV type 6, is responsible for ninety percent of genital or anal warts. According to the scientist performing the test, the results were among the top one to two percent seen by the researcher for testing of HPV type 11. The report states the following: "Excellent antiviral activity and no cellular toxicity at doses tested." Within the last several months, we have reported significant results for our compounds against Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, SARS, CMV, and now HPV. We are on the cusp of building an impressive antiviral portfolio that will be targeting viruses where there is currently an unmet need. Besides the fact that our drugs have shown significant antiviral activity against the viruses mentioned above, equally impressive is the fact that very low concentrations of our drugs were needed in order to show this significant antiviral activity. It is important to realize that Onconase®, our lead compound, has been in clinical studies for other oncology indications and has proven itself to be well tolerated in over 1,000 patients treated to date. We cannot stress enough how significant our drug [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-06T11:50:03-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Wart virus caused 25,000 cancers in 5 years – CDC

Source: www.reuters.com Author: Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Will Dunham and Philip Barbara The human wart virus HPV caused 25,000 cases of cancer in the United States between 1998 and 2003, including not only cervical cancer but also anal and mouth cancers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday. The study suggests a broad need for screening both men and women for human papillomavirus, or HPV, another team of researchers, who did a similar survey, said. HPV includes about 100 different viruses, and they are the leading cause of cervical cancer. The viruses, transmitted sexually and by skin-to-skin contact, can also cause anal and penile cancers, as well as cancers of the mouth and throat. HPV also causes common warts. Both Merck and Co. and GlaxoSmithKline make vaccines against some of the strains of HPV most strongly linked with cervical cancer. They are recommended for girls and young women who have not begun sexual activity. "This gives us baseline data to measure the impact of HPV vaccine and cervical cancer screening programs in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer and other HPV-associated cancers and precancers," the CDC's Dr. Mona Saraiya, who led the study, said in a statement. Dr. Maura Gillison of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who has studied the link between HPV and oral cancers, said the findings suggest a wider use of the cervical cancer vaccines may be justified. "Currently available HPV vaccines have the potential to reduce the rates of HPV-associated [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-12-23T20:01:22-07:00December, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Storylines featuring cancer, violence and HIV among finalists for 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Source: Annenberg News (annenberg.usc.edu) Author: staff Hollywood, Health & Society, a joint project of the Norman Lear Center at USC Annenberg and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced 13 finalists for the Sentinel for Health Awards on Sept. 15. In its ninth year, the Sentinel for Health Awards recognizes exemplary achievements of television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives. Six categories of storylines will be recognized – daytime drama, primetime drama, primetime comedy, primetime drama minor storyline, Spanish-language telenovela and children’s programming. The 13 finalists received the highest scores in a field of 31 eligible entries that were reviewed by topic experts at the CDC and partner organizations. Health topics addressed in the storylines include lung cancer, teen sexual health, HIV and pregnancy, drug addiction, gang violence, oral cancer, sexual abuse, and alcoholism. All finalists will be recognized in an awards ceremony followed by a panel discussion with the writers on Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Writers Guild of America, West, in Los Angeles. "We're delighted to shine a spotlight on television writers and producers who both entertain viewers and at the same time provide them with accurate information," says Martin Kaplan , holder of the Norman Lear Chair in Entertainment and director of the Lear Center. "Our hope is that the storylines we honor with this award will spur other TV writers to recognize and use responsibly the awesome power they wield." Hollywood, Health & Society works [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-09-20T07:52:57-07:00September, 2008|Oral Cancer News|