marijuana

How Marijuana Accelerates Growth of HPV-related Head and Neck Cancer Identified

University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers have identified the molecular mechanism activated by the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the ingredient that causes people to feel the euphoria or “high” associated with cannabis — in the bloodstream that accelerates cancer growth in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. “HPV-related head and neck cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the United States. While at the same time, exposure to marijuana is accelerating. This is a huge public health problem,” said Joseph A. Califano III, MD, senior author and professor and vice chief of the Division of Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. These cancers begin in the cells that line the mucous membranes inside the mouth, nose and throat. Approximately 30 percent of cases of this disease are related to HPV infection, and it is these cases, in particular that are on the rise. Califano suggested increased marijuana use may be a driving factor. Previous studies have linked daily marijuana exposure to an increased prevalence of HPV-related throat cancer. However, a mechanism linking cannabis exposure to increased growth of the cancer was unknown. Reporting in the January 13, 2020 online edition of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, researchers outline how the presence of THC in the bloodstream activates the p38 MAPK pathway, which [...]

Charlotte Parker2020-01-16T15:44:42-07:00January, 2020|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer a risk when consuming cannabis, warns orthodontist

Source: www.cbc.ca Author: staff Eating or smoking pot can pose some deadly health risks, according to the president of the Essex County Dental Association. "One of the more common ones that you hear about is oral cancer," said Dr. Mark Parete, adding cannabis contains known carcinogens, similar to what's found in tobacco. He said the ingestion of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient, into a person's blood stream weakens their immune system and leaves gums and teeth prone to infection. "Just like nicotine, it actually causes a generalized inflammation which ultimately breaks down collagen and bone — which is the support system of your teeth," said Parete. Full disclosure between patients and medical professionals is extremely important in treating heath events. Parete said people shouldn't be shy of revealing cannabis use to their dentist or orthodontist. "When the patients come in, we always update our medical history ... Inform us if you have any new medications, including using marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes," he said. Indirect health impacts can occur through cannabis use, Parete warns. He said when the "munchies" come calling, cannabis users aren't usually making the best choices in terms of their oral health. "It's probably not your healthy fruits and vegetables. So, if you can, we really advise our patients to swish your mouth some water after eating just to make sure you're flushing any kind of sugars off the teeth to prevent dental cavities."

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-10-19T08:48:06-07:00October, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Youth vaping has soared in 2018, new data show

Source: www.wsj.com Authors: Betsy McKay and Jennifer Maloney Number of high schoolers who used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days has risen some 75% in 2018 Teen use of e-cigarettes has soared this year, according to new research conducted in 2018 that suggest fast-changing youth habits will pose a challenge for public-health officials, schools and parents. The number of high-school students who used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days has risen roughly 75% since last year, according to a person who has seen new preliminary federal data. That would equate to about three million, or about 20% of high-school students, up from 1.73 million, or 11.7% of high-school students in the most recently published federal numbers from 2017. Nearly a third of 13-to-18-year-olds who responded to a separate survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal with research firm Mercury Analytics said they currently vape. The new numbers offer a rare look at evolving teen vaping habits. Sales of e-cigarettes are expected nearly to double this year over 2017, and researchers have wondered how much of that increase is because of teen use. But there can be a long lag time between the collection of data and public reports. Most of the teens who vape said they are doing it for reasons other than to quit smoking, according to the Journal’s survey conducted in 49 states in May. More than half said they do it because they like the flavors that e-cigarette liquids come in and they think vaping is fun. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-09-21T08:57:52-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

E-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco can put you at a greater risk of oral cancer, says study

Source: www.thehealthsite.com Author: Sreemoyee Chatterjee Not just cigarette smokers, those smoking e-cigarettes as well as consuming smokeless tobacco like chewing tobacco and more are at greater risk of developing oral cancer, shows a recent study conducted by University of California. In case you think only cigarette smokers are at a higher risk of getting oral cancer, you are widely mistaken. A recent study has found that a wide majority of non-cigarette tobacco users as well those using electronic cigarettes are exposed to considerable level of carcinogen, as much as a cigarette user is exposed to. Not just that, shockingly smokeless tobacco users were found at a greater exposure to tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA). The study has been conducted by the scholars from University of California, San Francisco. Starting from cigarettes to cigar, waterpipes, pipes, marijuana containing cigar to smokeless products like moist snuff, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, snus and other nicotine replacement products can increase your chance of getting oral cancer, revealed the study. What is Oral cancer? Belonging to the head and neck cancer group, oral cancer is a type of cancer that grows in mouth or throat tissues and mostly hit the squamous cells of your mouth, tongue and lips. Oral cancer can of several types – lip cancer, tongue cancer, cancer in the inner lining of your cheek, gums, floor of the mouth and hard and soft palate. It is important to go to a dentist for a biannual check-up for early detection of oral cancer, experts say. Due [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-07-30T06:12:38-07:00July, 2018|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|

Study: smoking marijuana found non-carcinogenic

Source: americanlivewire.com Author: staff Smoking marijuana does not appear to increase the risk of lung cancer or head-and-neck malignancies, even among heavy users, researchers reported here. “We expected that we would find that a history of heavy marijuana use, more than 500 to 1,000 uses, would increase the risk of cancer from several years to decades after exposure to marijuana, said Donald Tashkin, M.D., of the University of California in Los Angeles. But in fact, they reported at the American Thoracic Society meeting here, marijuana use was associated with cancer risk ratios below 1.0, indicating that a history of pot smoking had no effect on the risk for respiratory cancers. Studies have shown that marijuana contains many compounds that when burned, produce about 50% higher concentrations of some carcinogenic chemicals than tobacco cigarettes. In addition, heavy, habitual marijuana use can produce accelerated malignant change in lung explants, and evidence on bronchial biopsies of pre-malignant histopathologic and molecular changes, Dr. Tashkin said. The investigators had also previously shown that smoking one marijuana cigarette leads to the deposition in the lungs of four times as much tar as smoking a tobacco cigarette containing the same amount of plant material. Marijuana cigarettes are not filtered and are more loosely packed than tobacco, so there’s less filtration of the tar. In addition, pot smokers hold the smoke in their lungs about four times longer than tobacco smokers do, Dr. Tashkin pointed out. For the population-based case-control study, they identified cancer cases among people from [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-11-25T09:01:35-07:00November, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Moderate lifetime marijuana use associated with reduced risk of head and neck cancer, study says

Source: www.enewspf.com Author: staff The moderate long-term use of marijuana is associated with a reduced risk of head and neck cancers, according to the results of a population-based case-control study published online by the journal Cancer Prevention Research. Investigators at Rhode Island's Brown University, along with researchers at Boston University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Minnesota assessed the lifetime marijuana use habits of 434 cases (patients diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma from nine medical facilities) compared to 547 matched controls. Authors reported, "After adjusting for potential confounders (including smoking and alcohol drinking), 10 to 20 years of marijuana use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma ... [as was] moderate weekly use." Subjects who smoked marijuana and consumed alcohol and tobacco (two known high risk factors for head and neck cancers) also experienced a reduced risk of cancer, the study found. "Our study suggests that moderate marijuana use is associated with reduced risk of HNSCC," investigators concluded. "This association was consistent across different measures of marijuana use (marijuana use status, duration, and frequency of use). ... Further, we observed that marijuana use modified the interaction between alcohol and cigarette smoking, resulting in a decreased HNSCC risk among moderate smokers and light drinkers, and attenuated risk among the heaviest smokers and drinkers. ... Despite our results being consistent with the point estimates from other studies, there remains a need for this inverse association to be confirmed by further work, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-08-26T09:02:33-07:00August, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

State rules marijuana smoke is a carcinogen, may require dispensaries to post warnings

Source: www.mercurynews.com Author: April Dembosky Joints and baggies sold at California's medical marijuana dispensaries will soon carry a new warning label. Next to tags like "Purple Haze" and "White Widow" will be the advisory: Contents may cause cancer when smoked. On Friday, California added marijuana smoke to its official list of known carcinogens, joining the ranks of arsenic, asbestos and DDT. Pot brownies, lollipops and other non-inhalables are not affected by the new ruling. Scientists found the pungent smoke shares many of the same harmful properties as tobacco smoke, warranting its inclusion on the Proposition 65 warning list. The law requires the state to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, and businesses and government agencies must post warnings when they use such chemicals or sell products containing them. "Marijuana smoke is a mixture of different chemicals, and a number of those were already on the Prop. 65 list," said Allan Hirsch, chief deputy director of the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which made the designation. From a health perspective, pot advocates say the ruling was unsurprising, given the state's track record on documenting the harmful effects of all kinds of smoke inhalation. However, some are worried by its political implications as advocates attempt to legalize recreational use of marijuana. "I definitely have concerns about law enforcement and politicians who aren't in favor of medical marijuana or law reform, who would use this designation to further restrict access," said Allen St. Pierre, executive [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-06-21T06:05:56-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|