chewing – Oral Cancer News

Healthy diet may avert nutritional problems in head, neck cancer patients

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign At least 90 percent of head and neck cancer patients develop symptoms that affect their ability or desire to eat, because of either the tumor itself or the surgery or radiation used to treat it. These problems, called nutrition impact symptoms, have wide-ranging negative effects on patients' physical and mental health and quality of life. However, patients who eat foods high in antioxidants and other micronutrients prior to diagnosis may reduce their risks of developing chronic nutrition impact symptoms up to one year after being diagnosed with head or neck cancer, according to a recent study led by researchers at the University of Illinois. The scientists analyzed the dietary patterns of 336 adults with newly diagnosed head and neck cancers and these patients' problems with eating, swallowing and inflammation of the digestive tract. This painful inflammatory condition, called mucositis, is a common side effect of radiation treatment and chemotherapy. The mitigating effects of a healthy diet were particularly significant in people who had never smoked and in patients who were underweight or normal weight at diagnosis, who often experience the greatest eating and digestive problems during treatment, said Sylvia L. Crowder, the paper's first author. Crowder is a research fellow in the Cancer Scholars for Translational and Applied Research program, a collaborative initiative of the U. of I. and Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois. "While previous work has established that the presence of nutrition impact symptoms is associated with decreased food [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2020-01-11T08:01:15-07:00January, 2020|Oral Cancer News|

Early detection, treatment helps conquer oral cancer

Source: www.newsbug.info Author: Bob Moulesong According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, almost 50,000 cases of oral cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2018. The American Cancer Society reports that 10,000 people will die from the disease this year. Half of all people diagnosed with oral cancer will be alive in five years, according to both sources. While those are disquieting statistics, Region physicians say routine checkups and early diagnosis improve the odds. Oral cancer Oral cancer includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheeks, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, saliva glands, and throat. “People we see usually come to us for a lesion or ulcer found in the mouth or throat,” says Dr. Akta Kakodkar, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Community Healthcare System. “Some of them experience no pain but notice a growth or patch of discolored tissue in their mouth, cheek or gum.” Kakodkar, who with her husband and fellow Community ENT physician, Dr. Kedar Kakodkar, treats oral cancer patients, is quick to point out that not every lesion, ulcer or mouth sore is cancer. “We see hundreds of nervous patients who have bacterial or fungal infections,” she says. “Treatment with antibiotics or antifungal medications clear up many of these lesions. There are also many white and red patches that clear up on their own.” The only way to know is a thorough examination. Types and risk factors “Most cases of oral cancer are linked to use of tobacco, alcohol and betel [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-01-04T20:02:56-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Heading back to the office following head and neck cancer

Source: blogs.biomedcentral.com Author: Daniel Caley In Cancers of the Head & Neck launching today publishes the first study looking at disability and employment outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer related to the human papillomavirus (HPV). Dr Shrujal Baxi, Section Editor for survivorship and patient related outcomes and author of this study, explains more about their work in this Q&A: The rates of patients diagnosed with HPV-related head and neck cancer is rising annually. By 2020, there will be more cases of HPV-related head and neck cancer than HPV-related cervical cancer in the United States. Numerous studies have shown that most patients with this diagnosis are likely to be cured of their disease, placing an increased emphasis on quality of life and non-cancer outcomes in this population of survivors. The majority of patients diagnosed with HPV-related head and neck cancer are working-age adults and employment is a serious issue both financially and psychologically. How can treatment for head and neck cancer impact employment? Treatment for head and neck cancer often involves a combination of chemotherapy and radiation given over a six to seven week period, often known as concurrent chemoradiation or combined modality chemoradiation. This process is considered toxic and can impact a patient’s ability to function normally including speaking, chewing, breathing and swallowing. Many patients require numerous supportive medications to get through treatment including narcotics for pain and anti-nausea medications. Patients can lose on average 10-15% of their weight within a few months and can suffer from severe [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-06-05T09:53:53-07:00June, 2016|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|

Mouthing off against oral cancer

Source: www.marketwatch.com Author: staff April Is Oral Cancer Awareness Month According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 30,000 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year, and more than 8,000 deaths occur annually. The five-year survival rate for oral cancers is roughly 50 percent. In observance of Oral Cancer Awareness Month, the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) recommends that patients receive a dental exam from a general dentist every six months. Dental exams not only help to decrease a patient's risk of oral diseases, such as cavities and periodontal (gum) disease, but they also may help to diagnose other, sometimes life-threatening, medical conditions, such as oral cancer. "The next time you visit your dentist, ask about an oral cancer screening," says AGD spokesperson Seung-Hee Rhee, DDS, FAGD. "Your dentist will feel for lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, cheeks, and oral cavity and thoroughly examine the soft tissues in your mouth, specifically looking for any sores or discolored tissues. Although you may have already been receiving this screening from your dentist, it's a good idea to confirm that this screening is a part, and will remain a part, of your regular exam." Although oral cancer is sometimes difficult to self-diagnose, warning signs may include bleeding sores; sores that do not heal; lumps; thick, hard spots; soreness or feeling that something is caught in the throat; difficulty chewing or swallowing; ear pain; difficulty moving the jaw or tongue; hoarseness; and numbness of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-03-30T05:19:13-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

IMRT provides better QOL in head and neck cancers

Source: www.oncologyreport.com/ AUthor: Miriam E. Tucker Intensity-modulated radiotherapy is more expensive than 3-D–conformal radiotherapy is and has not been shown to improve standard outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer. But it results in better quality of life. These findings from two studies presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium raise the question: Does improved quality of life justify the greater expense of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), which has been rapidly adopted for the treatment of head and neck cancer? Because IMRT spares surrounding tissues, it reduces the likelihood of developing xerostomia, noted Dr. Nathan C. Sheets, who presented data on billing charges associated with IMRT, compared with 3-D–conformal radiotherapy (CRT). IMRT is reimbursed at a substantially higher level than CRT, however, and it is unclear how to assess this cost relative to other aspects of care in this population, said Dr. Sheets, a radiation oncology resident at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A separate study presented by Dr. Allen M. Chen compared quality of life in patients who received IMRT vs. CRT. "There’s very little data to suggest IMRT is better than non-IMRT using traditional end points. But the question is: How do you define ‘better’?" said Dr. Chen, director of the radiation oncology residency training program at the University of California, Davis in Sacramento. "IMRT might not particularly involve better cure rates, but it could make a difference in terms of other end points, such as quality of life, which we all know [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-02-12T09:20:40-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Incidence of oral cancer in relation to nickel and arsenic concentrations in farm soils in Taiwan

Source: 7thspace.com Author: staff Purpose: To explore if exposures to specific heavy metals in the environment is a new risk factor of oral cancer, one of the fastest growing malignancies in Taiwan, in addition to the two established risk factors, cigarette smoking and betel quid chewing. Methods: This is an observational study utilized the age-standardized incidence rates of oral cancer in the 316 townships and precincts of Taiwan, local prevalence rates of cigarette smoking and betel quid chewing, demographic factors, socio-economic conditions, and concentrations in farm soils of the eight kinds of heavy metal. Spatial regression and GIS (Geographic Information System) were used. The registration contained 22,083 patients, who were diagnosed with oral cancer between 1982 and 2002. The concentrations of metal in the soils were retrieved from a nation-wide survey in the 1980s. Results: The incidence rate of oral cancer is geographically related to the concentrations of arsenic and nickel in the patients'residential areas, with the prevalence of cigarette smoking and betel quid chewing as controlled variables. Conclusions: Beside the two established risk factors, cigarette smoking and betel quid chewing, arsenic and nickel in farm soils may be new risk factors for oral cancer. These two kinds of metal may involve in the development of oral cancer. Further studies are required to understand the pathways via which metal in the farm soils exerts its effects on human health. Notes: 1. Authors: Che-Chun SuYo-Yu LinTsun-Kuo ChangChi-Ting ChiangJian-An ChungYun-Ying HsuIe-Bin Lian 2. Source: BMC Public Health 2010, 10:67

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-13T10:17:43-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Chewing tobacco may cause mouth cancer rise

Source: www.dentistry.co.uk Author: staff Tobacco chewing is causing an ‘alarming' rise in cases of mouth cancer in east London, health chiefs warned today. Chewing paan, a mixture of tobacco and areca nut, is leading to a high number of patients in the Bangladeshi community in the London borough of Tower Hamlets being diagnosed, experts at Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry in Whitechapel have revealed. The findings emerged in a screening programme in the East End, led by Bart's, when 1,300 people were tested for early signs of mouth cancer. Most were from the Bengali community. One in 15 people were referred for further investigation. The findings come in the same week that figures suggest that, nationally, alcohol is largely to blame for the rise in the rate of oral cancers among men and women in their forties. The figures, released by Cancer Research UK, showed that since the mid-1990s, rates of oral cancers have gone up by 28% for men in their forties and 24% for women. Anand Lalli, a clinical lecturer in oral surgery, said: ‘In parts of south Asia where paan usage is widespread, oral cancer is one of the commonest causes of death from all cancers. If oral cancer is caught early on, there is a good chance of curing it. But it becomes far less easy to treat the longer it is left.' A team from the Centre for Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences used a mobile dental unit to tour areas [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-08-19T06:03:17-07:00August, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Aspiration, weight loss, and quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors

Source: Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004;130:1100-1103 Authors: Bruce H. Campbell, MD et al. Objective: To determine associations between objective assessments (swallowing function and weight change) and subjective quality-of-life (QOL) measures. Design: Observational case series using clinical testing and questionnaires. Setting: University hospital-based tertiary clinical practice. Patients: Convenience sample of 5-year survivors of head and neck cancer (62 nonlaryngectomy survivors were studied). Interventions: Objective testing included examination, weight history, videofluoroscopic swallow studies (VFSS), and oropharyngeal swallowing efficiency (OPSE). Subjective testing included QOL questionnaires (University of Washington Quality-of-Life [UWQOL] Scale, Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients [PSS-HN], Functional Assessment of Cancer Treatment–General [FACT-G] Scales, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Head and Neck [FACT-H&N] Scale). Main Outcome Measures: Aspiration (identified by VFSS), weight change, and QOL measures. Results: Aspiration was associated with the decreased QOL scores in chewing, swallowing, normalcy of diet, and additional concerns of the FACT-H&N Scale. No association was found between aspiration and willingness to eat in public, subjective understandability, or any of the FACT-G scales. Of the nonlaryngectomy survivors, 27 (44%) demonstrated some degree of aspiration during VFSS. Associations were found between aspiration, primary tumor T stage, weight change, and OPSE. Aspirators lost a mean of 10.0 kg from precancer treatment weight, while nonaspirators gained a mean of 2.3 kg (P

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-20T09:37:36-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|