monoclonal antibodies – Oral Cancer News

Distinct subtypes and potential treatment options found in analysis of head and neck cancers

Source: www.cancernetwork.com Author: Matthew Fowler Data published in the journal Cancer Cell presented possible new treatment options and elaborated on the contributions of key cancer-associated genes, phosphosites, and signaling pathways in human papillomavirus (HPV)–negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC).1 The data systematically recorded information regarding the disease, with multi-omic analysis determining 3 distinct subtypes with high potential for treatment with respective available therapeutics. “This study extends our biological understanding of HPV[-negative] HNSCC and generates therapeutic hypotheses that may serve as the basis for future preclinical studies and clinical trials toward molecularly guided precision treatment of this aggressive cancer type,” wrote the investigators.2 The first subtype, called CIN for “chromosome instability”, was determined to have the worst prognosis. It was associated with the larynx, a history of smoking, and increased instability of chromosomes. The research team suggested that this cancer type would respond best to CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment given its relation to aberrations of the CCND1 and CDKN2A genes as well as a high activity of the CDK4 and CDK6 enzymes. The investigators analyzed a number of protein elevations of basal factors in the second subtype discovered, which was in turn called Basal. These represent the most basic proteins necessary for gene transcription activation. The subtype had both high activity in the EGFR signaling pathway and high expression of the AREG and TNFA molecules. This led the investigators to suggest that treatment with monoclonal antibodies targeting EGFR would best treat this subtype. Immune, the final subtype, was discovered among [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-02-03T10:49:17-07:00February, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer: Novel treatment approaches

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: staff Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S, and Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc., board members of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, share insight into the role of novel treatment approaches like immunotherapy, robotic surgery and de-escalation in the management of cancers of the head and neck. Transcript: Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S: Dr. Brook, traditionally the treatment for head and neck cancer has been surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or some combination of those three. But there are some new and emerging treatment approaches to head and neck cancer along with many other cancers. Can you tell us a little bit about immunology? What is immunotherapy in the care of the head and neck cancer patient? Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc.: Most days, we don’t get cancer because our immune system is like the police department of our body. They detect cancer early and eliminate it. Unfortunately, in the case of cancer, the cancer cells can fool the immune system, and they go undetected and cause the disease. The main advantage of immunotherapy is that we are using the body’s defenses, the immune system, to kill the cancer in a much better way than the chemotherapy. Chemotherapy destroys the cancer cells, but it also affects the body cells. Immunotherapy is more precise. It is directed only to the cancer cells, so the rest of the body stays unscathed. That’s the beauty of immunotherapy. So, immunotherapy is an evolving field in cancer. They have many, many new drugs in the pipeline, and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-09-04T12:56:32-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

NYU Expert Says Cancer Pain Varies by Tumor Type

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Jane de Lartigue, PhD Brian L. Schmidt, DDS, MD, PhD, is a specialist in head and neck cancers whose research focus includes an exploration of the biological and molecular mechanisms of pain related to cancer and associated treatments. He is the director of the New York University (NYU) Oral Cancer Center and of the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research, and a professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the NYU School of Dentistry. In June 2016, the National Institutes of Health awarded Schmidt and colleagues a $1.2 million grant to study gene therapy for the treatment of patients with oral cancer pain. Schmidt talked to OncLive about the difficulties of studying cancer pain and developing new drugs. OncLive: How has our understanding of the mechanisms of cancer pain changed in the past decade? Schmidt: The field was developed probably in about 1999. That’s the first publication that I’m aware of that looked at mechanisms in terms of using preclinical models, and by that I mean animal models. Before that time we really had no understanding of basic mechanisms, so there’s been significant advancement over the last 10 years. Could you briefly describe our current understanding of how cancer pain develops? Let me tell you what it’s not, because I think that’s important. For many years, people were writing about it but we weren’t testing the possible mechanisms, and what people were writing turned out probably not to be true. It was initially thought that the pain was [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-08-05T16:30:08-07:00August, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer presentation highlights

Source: www.dailyrx.com Author: Travis Giddings The field of head and neck cancer from ASCO 2012 A recent presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology expanded on several molecular breakthroughs concerning head and neck cancers, and a team of doctors gave an overview of recent conclusions from their respective fields. The newly identified molecular pathway for cancers of the head and neck that involves the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) led to developments of highly effective drugs specific for the cancerous cells, EGFR inhibitors. Soon afterwards, scientists discovered the increasingly important role that the human papillomavirus (HPV) played in the development of cancers in the head and neck. Following the explosion of research in the field of molecular pathways involved in head and neck cancers, doctors quickly found that the cancer was a lot more complicated than previous believed. Additional research continues as scientists try to make sense of the data. Approaching the treatment of head and neck cancer from their perspectives from surgery, radiology, and oncology, doctors on the panel discussed the difficulties the field currently faced. The director of Johns Hopkins' Head and Neck Cancer Research department, oncologist David Sidransky, MD, opened the meeting. “The genetic and epigenetic alterations in human tumors are becoming increasingly important for devising and implementing personalized oncology approaches,” said Dr. Sidransky. “Unlike in some other cancers, in head and neck cancer the common mutations that have been identified have not been very helpful for treatment.” The chair of the conference was held by [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-06-08T07:56:18-07:00June, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Targeting Cancer Treatment

Source: Medical News Today Cancer treatment is depending more and more today on specific factors of a patient's tumor, including gene mutations, or proteins that are commonly typical of certain cancer cells, rather than focusing on where in the body the cancer started. Before, treatment was based on finding where in the body the cancer originated, such as the breast or lung. Targeted therapy is all about the cancer's genes, tissue environment that contributes the tumor's growth and survival, and its proteins. Nowadays, cancer therapy is designed to interfere with a signal that tells the cancer cells not to die or tells it to divide, while before, chemotherapies had the goal of interfering with cancer cells as division was already underway, when the cells were dividing into new ones. The human body is made of various types of cells, including skin cells, brain cells, or blood cells. Each one has a specific function. Cancer occurs when healthy cells change and start growing out of control; they eventually form a tumor - a mass. A benign tumor is noncancerous, whereas a malignant one is cancerous, it can spread to other parts of the body. Cancer cells either divide too quickly or do not die when they should do Specific genetic mutations within a cell change the way it behaves. When the genes that control cell division mutate (change), they can multiply too quickly; the cell has become cancerous. Cells are genetically programmed to die, when the specific genes that tell the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-13T09:47:33-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Monoclonal Antibody Drugs for Cancer Treatment

Source: www.newswise.com Author: staff The strategy of using monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment was first described in the late 1970s with the promise that they could be developed into therapies that were highly specific to cancer cells, killing them with few or no side effects. For several types of cancer, monoclonal antibodies have already offered this advantage to patients. For other cancer types, they have provided an additional therapeutic weapon, but with smaller benefits and sometimes new side effects. "The first efforts for monoclonal antibody cancer therapy were to find antibodies that would home in on tumors and bind to proteins on the surface of cancer cells," explained physician-scientist David A. Scheinberg. "We looked for unique proteins that were specific only to cancer cells. The idea was that the antibody would be used to stimulate an immune response in the body, which would kill the cancer cell." Dr. Scheinberg, who is Chair of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Experimental Therapeutics Center and the Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program within the Sloan-Kettering Institute, developed an antibody called M195, which targets a protein on leukemia cells, when working as a research fellow in collaboration with Memorial Sloan-Kettering immunologist Lloyd Old in the 1980s. This approach further evolved when researchers realized they could use the antibody as a carrier to deliver a radioactive isotope or a toxic drug directly to the cancer cell, where it would kill the cell while sparing nearby healthy tissue. Antibodies are proteins that help the immune system to identify foreign substances [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-05T11:28:05-07:00April, 2009|Oral Cancer News|