‘How I knew I had throat cancer’: Four survivors share their symptoms

Source: www.mdanderson.org Author: Cynthia Demarco For high school football coach Mark Teague, the only symptom of throat cancer he noticed was a small lump beneath his jaw. “I’d been aware of it for a while,” says Teague, who was diagnosed with HPV-related throat cancer at age 49. “But I’d had sinus problems all my life, so I didn’t think anything of it. I just assumed it was another swollen lymph node.” George Brownfield had a similar experience. “I found a little lump on my neck one day while shaving,” says the senior systems analyst, who was diagnosed with the same disease at age 48. “I remember thinking, ‘Hey, why does that side of my neck look so puffy?’ and going to my general practitioner. He told me it was probably an infection and prescribed some antibiotics.” The most common throat cancer symptoms: painless neck lumps and swollen lymph nodes Mark and George’s experiences are not unusual. Most people with throat cancer don’t have any symptoms. But when they do, a swollen lymph node or a painless lump in the neck are among the most common. Why? “Lymph nodes are essentially tiny little sieves that capture dangerous particles circulating around our bodies,” explains head and neck cancer surgeon Miriam Lango, M.D. “Sometimes, cancer cells get caught in there and start growing in place. Eventually, they form tumors that can get big enough to grow out of the lymph nodes.” Other throat cancer symptoms, including (rarely) pain Other MD Anderson patients have [...]

Can lymph nodes boost the success of cancer immunotherapy?

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: from University of California, San Francisco Cancer treatment routinely involves taking out lymph nodes near the tumor in case they contain metastatic cancer cells. But new findings from a clinical trial by researchers at UC San Francisco and Gladstone Institutes shows that immunotherapy can activate tumor-fighting T cells in nearby lymph nodes. The study, published in Cell, suggests that leaving lymph nodes intact until after immunotherapy could boost efficacy against solid tumors, only a small fraction of which currently respond to these newer types of treatments. Most immunotherapies are aimed only at reinvigorating T cells in the tumor, where they often become exhausted battling the tumor's cancer cells. But the new research shows that allowing the treatment to activate the immune response of the lymph nodes as well can play an important role in driving positive response to immunotherapy. "This work really changes our thinking about the importance of keeping lymph nodes in the body during treatment," said Matt Spitzer, Ph.D., an investigator for the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology and senior author of the study. Lymph nodes are often removed because they are typically the first place metastatic cancer cells appear, and without surgery, it can be difficult to determine whether the nodes contain metastases. "Immunotherapy is designed to jump start the immune response, but when we take out nearby lymph nodes before treatment, we're essentially removing the key locations where T cells live and can be activated," Spitzer said, [...]

Oral cancer pain linked to disease spread

Source: www.docwirenews.com Author: Robert Dillard Oral cancer is more likely to spread in patients who experience high levels of pain, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. When oral cancer spreads to lymph nodes in the neck, a patient’s chance of survival is cut by half, the researchers noted. However, it’s often unclear through imaging and physical assessment if oral cancer has spread, leaving surgeons struggling with whether to preemptively perform prophylactic neck dissection to remove the cancer when research shows that up to 70% are unnecessary. Researchers documented the pain experienced by 72 oral cancer patients before surgery by way of an oral cancer pain questionnaire developed by the investigators. While most patients reported some pain, researchers observed that patients with the most pain were more likely to have cancer that spread to lymph nodes in the neck. This observation suggests that patients with less pain are at low risk of metastasis, and will rarely benefit from a neck dissection. “I have been investigating the underlying cause of oral cancer pain for two decades. This is the first time that we have demonstrated a correlation between a patient’s pain and the clinical behavior of the cancer,” said Brian L. Schmidt, DDS, MD, PhD, director of the NYU Oral Cancer Center and one of the study’s authors via a press release. Aditi Bhattacharya, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at NYU College of Dentistry added: “While we need to undertake a [...]

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month: Self-exams, early detection can save lives

Source: www.prnewswire.com Author: press release Because early detection of oral cancer offers a greater chance of a cure, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) is reminding the public during Oral Cancer Awareness Month of the importance of performing monthly self-exams. AAOMS promotes self-exams and screenings every April with the Oral Cancer Foundation, which predicts about 53,000 new cases of oral cancer will be diagnosed in 2019 in the United States – leading to more than 9,000 deaths. "A monthly self-exam takes only minutes and could potentially save your life," said AAOMS President A. Thomas Indresano, DMD, FACS. "If done on a regular basis, you're increasing the chances of identifying changes or new growths early. The survival rate for oral cancer is between 80 and 90 percent when it's found at early stages of development." Oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMSs) encourage a six-step oral cancer self-exam that involves looking and feeling inside the mouth for suspicious sores and feeling the jaw and neck for lumps. Using a bright light and a mirror: First remove any dentures. Look and feel inside the lips and the front of the gums. Tilt the head back to inspect and feel the roof of the mouth. Pull the cheek out to inspect it and the gums in the back. Pull out the tongue and look at its top and bottom. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of the neck, including under the lower jaws. Oral cancer symptoms may include [...]

The rise of HPV-related cancers in men

Source: www.tmc.edu Author: Alexandra Becker Scott Courville admired his full beard and round belly in the mirror: He was ready for the upcoming holiday season. It was November 2015 and Courville, who plays Santa Claus in Lafayette, Louisiana, was too excited about his favorite time of year to worry much about the pain developing in his jaw. By February, though, the ache had worsened and was accompanied by new symptoms: white spots on his right tonsil, difficulty swallowing and lumps in his throat. He finally made his way to a walk-in clinic where he was diagnosed with tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics. “They sent me home and said, ‘In two weeks everything should clear up,’” Courville recalled. But his symptoms only worsened. Courville made an appointment with a local ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist who also diagnosed Courville with tonsillitis. The doctor prescribed more antibiotics and steroids, but two weeks later there were no improvements. Courville was referred to a dentist—“In case they see something we don’t”—but that, too, was a dead end. Courville’s dentist insisted he return to his ENT, where he ultimately had a CT scan that revealed a mass in his throat. That was June 6, 2016. Two days later, Courville underwent a biopsy. When he awoke from the surgery, his doctor was standing over him. Courville always gets choked up retelling this part of his story. “The hardest part for me is always remembering when the doctor said, ‘I’m sorry, but you’ve got cancer.’” Courville was [...]

Study provides new guidelines for assessing severity of head and neck cancers

Source: eurekalert.org Author: press release Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai investigators have developed a new, more accurate set of guidelines for assessing the severity of head and neck cancers and predicting patient survival. The new guidelines, outlined in a study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, center around counting the number of malignant lymph nodes found in each patient. "The greater the number of malignant lymph nodes, the less favorable the patients' chances of survival," said Allen S. Ho, MD. Ho is director of the Head and Neck Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai and lead author of the study. "This new approach could dramatically simplify staging systems." For decades, doctors have determined the stage and predicted the progression of head and neck cancers based primarily on nodal size, location and how far the cancer has spread beyond the lymph nodes, but they have given less importance to the number of cancerous nodes. As a result, staging and treatment recommendations, based on current national guidelines, "are the same whether a patient has two or 20 positive lymph nodes," said Zachary S. Zumsteg, MD, assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at Cedars-Sinai and the study's senior author. With the new system, based on the number of cancerous lymph nodes, patients are separated into similarly sized groups with distinct outcomes, Zumsteg said. "Our study demonstrated a better way to assess cancer severity, which will improve our ability to predict outcomes and give patients more personalized treatment." The Cedars-Sinai [...]

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 [...]

Penn surgeons become world’s first to test glowing dye for cancerous lymph nodes

Source: www.phillyvoice.com Author: Michael Tanenbaum, PhillyVoice Staff Surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania have achieved a global first with the use of a fluorescent dye that identifies cancerous cells in lymph nodes during head and neck cancer procedures. The study, led by otorhinolaryngologist Jason G. Newman, seeks to test the effectiveness of intraoperative molecular imaging (IMI), a technique that illuminates tumors to provide real-time surgical guidance. More than 65,000 Americans will be diagnosed with head and neck cancers in 2017, accounting for approximately 4 percent of all cancers in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. About 75 percent of these cancers are caused by tobacco and alcohol use, followed by human papillomavirus (HPV) as a growing source for their development. Common areas affected by these cancers include the mouth, throat, voice box, sinuses and salivary glands, with typical treatments including a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Lymph nodes, which act as filters for the immune system, are often among the first organs affected by head and neck cancers as they spread or resurface. Initial surgeries may leave microscopic cancerous cells undetected in the lymphoid tissue, heightening the risk that a patient's condition will return after the procedure. “By using a dye that makes cancerous cells glow, we get real-time information about which lymph nodes are potentially dangerous and which ones we can leave alone,” Newman said. “That not only helps us remove more cancer from our patients during surgery, it also improves our ability to spare [...]

Why men need to start caring about HPV

Source: www.refinery29.com Author: Sarah Jacoby The human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of very few STIs that we have a vaccine for. And — bonus! — that vaccine prevents cancer. But a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released last month indicated that although we've made some improvements in the vaccination rates, they still aren't where we want them — especially for boys. This is despite the fact that pretty much everyone who's sexually active will get the virus at some point and men are at risk for their own unique set of HPV-related health consequences. Let's start with the basics: "HPV is a virus that’s sexually transmitted, but it’s incredibly common," explains Kathleen Schmeler, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Up to 80% of people get it at some point in their lives, she says, which is why some doctors refer to it as the "common cold" of STIs. For most people, the virus goes away on its own, without causing symptoms or needing treatment. Some people develop genital warts that can be treated with medication. But in some rare instances, the virus can go on to cause more serious health issues — including some types of cancer. "The problem is we don't know who’s going to clear it and who won’t," Dr. Schmeler says. Most notably, HPV is known to cause cervical cancer. In fact, nearly all cases of cervical cancer are attributed to HPV. In 2013, the most recent [...]

2016-09-11T06:23:50-07:00September, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

HPV is changing the face of head and neck cancers

Source: www.healio.comAuthor: Christine Cona A drastic increase in the number of HPV-associated oropharynx cancers, particularly those of the tonsil and base of tongue, has captured the attention of head and neck oncologists worldwide. In February, at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz., Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, professor and Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University in Columbus, presented data that showed that the proportion of all head and neck squamous cell cancers that were of the oropharynx — which are most commonly HPV-positive cancers — increased from 18% in 1973 to 32% in 2005. Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University, said screening for HPV in the head and neck is years behind cervical screening for HPV.   In addition, studies from the United States, Europe, Denmark and Australia indicate that HPV-positive patients have a more than twofold increased cancer survival than HPV-negative patients, according to Gillison. With the rising incidence of HPV-related oropharynx cancers, it will soon be the predominant type of cancer in the oral or head and neck region, according to Andy Trotti, MD, director of radiation oncology clinical research, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, in Tampa, Fla. “We should be focusing on HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer because it will dominate the field of head and neck cancers for many years,” he said during an interview with HemOnc Today. “It is certainly an important population for which to continue to [...]

2016-06-03T11:11:05-07:00June, 2016|Oral Cancer News|
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