oncology – Oral Cancer News

Deintensification of Treatment in HPV-Associated Cancers Holds Promise, But With Caveats

Source: Targeted Oncology Date: May 17th, 2020 Author: Tony Berberabe De-escalating therapy has the potential to dramatically reshape the treatment of patients with HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers, but only if a number of key trials come back with positive long-term data with 3 cycles of cisplatin at 100 mg/m2 times 3, given every 3 weeks, Sue Yom, MD, PhD, a professor in the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery atthe University of California, San Francisco, said in an interview with Targeted Therapies in Oncology (TTO). Sure, there were some minor variations over the years, small alterations made on a case-by-case basis. “But long story short, that’s fundamentally what was happening: 70 Gy with 3 cycles of high-dose cisplatin,” Yom said. The story began to change a little over a decade ago, with the introduction of a variable that could potentially change the course of therapy for a large percentage of patients with head and neck cancers. Today, the operative word remains potentially. In 2008, Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues found that whether head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tumors were associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) turned out to be a major prognostic indicator.1 “When that finally came to be reported, there was a very, very striking result,” said Barbara Burtness, MD, a professor of medicine (medical oncology), Disease-Aligned Research Team leader of the Head and Neck Cancers Program, and coleader of Developmental Therapeutics at Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, [...]

Charlotte Parker2020-05-26T12:41:45-07:00May, 2020|Oral Cancer News|

Oral HPV DNA Persistence After Head and Neck Cancer Treatment Linked to Disease Progression

Source: genomeweb Date: May 2, 2019 Author: Staff Reporter NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Persistent traces of human papilloma virus DNA after treatment for HPV-positive head and neck cancer is linked to an increased recurrence risk, a new study has found. Head and neck cancers affect some 53,000 people in the US each year, according to the National Cancer Institute, and HPV has been implicated in many of those cases. In general, patients with HPV-positive tumors have higher survival rates than those with HPV-negative tumors. A team of MD Anderson Cancer Center-led researchers collected oral rinse samples from nearly 400 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas at diagnosis and as their treatments progressed. As they reported today in JAMA Oncology, the researchers found that viral load in patients' oral samples broadly decreased as they underwent therapy. But some patients' viral loads persisted despite treatment, which was linked to an increased risk of cancer recurrence and death, the researchers reported. "Our data suggest that a subset of patients with HPV-positive HNSCC at high risk for locoregional recurrence can be identified by detection of persistent, oral HPV after treatment," MD Anderson's Maura Gillison and her colleagues write in their paper. The researchers enrolled 396 patients with oral cavity, oropharyngeal, or unknown primary HNSCC in their study. They tested the patients' tumors for the presence of 13 high-risk HPV types using an mRNA expression test and found 202 patients had HPV-positive tumors. At the same time, the researchers collected oral rinse samples from patients [...]

Charlotte Parker2019-05-06T10:20:43-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Expert Asserts Pembrolizumab to Play Important Role in Head and Neck Cancer Treatment

Source: www.targetedonc.com Author: Laura Panjwani The FDA approval of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a treatment for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in August 2016 was extremely significant for this patient population, which previously had limited options following progression on a platinum-based chemotherapy. The approval was based on the phase Ib KEYNOTE-012 study, which demonstrated that pembrolizumab had an overall response rate (ORR) of 18% and a stable disease rate of 17% in patients with recurrent/metastatic HNSCC. Several other studies are further evaluating the immunotherapy agent in HNSCC.Preliminary results of the phase II KEYNOTE-055 study—which included 92 evaluable patients who received pembrolizumab after failing platinum and cetuximab therapies—were presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. In an interview with Targeted Oncology, lead study author Joshua M. Bauml, MD, an assistant professor of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Veteran's Administration Medical Center, discusses the impact of pembrolizumab’s success in HNSCC, the results of the KEYNOTE-055 study, and what he sees on the horizon for the PD-1 inhibitor in this field. TARGETED ONCOLOGY: What role do you envision pembrolizumab having in this patient population? Baumi: It is going to play a critical role in head and neck cancer. The other agents that are available have limited efficacy, and are associated with significant toxicities. This is a clear improvement for our patient population with limited options. TARGETED ONCOLOGY: What were the key takeaways from KEYNOTE-055? Baumi: Patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer that [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-09-22T14:29:26-07:00September, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

ASCO Urges Aggressive Efforts to Increase HPV Vaccination

Source: www.medscape.comAuthor: Zosia Chustecka Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have now been available for 10 years, but despite many medical professional bodies strongly recommending the vaccine, uptake in the United States remains low. Data from a national survey show that about 36% of girls and 14% of boys have received the full schedule of HPV vaccines needed to provide protection (Vaccine. 2013;31:1673-1679). Now the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has become involved, and in a position statement issued today the organization calls for aggressive efforts to increase uptake of the HPV vaccines to "protect young people from life-threatening cancers." "With safe and effective vaccines readily available, no young person today should have to face the devastating diagnosis of a preventable cancer like cervical cancer. But unless we rapidly increase vaccination rates for boys and girls, many of them will," ASCO President Julie M. Vose, MD, said in a statement. "As oncologists, we see the terrible effects of these cancers first hand, and we have to contribute to improving today's alarmingly low vaccination rates," she added. The new policy statement is published online April 11 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The statement notes that HPV vaccination has been previously recommended by many US medical societies, including the American Cancer Society, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Committee, the American Dental Association, the American Head and Neck Society, the American Nurses Association, the American Pharmacists Association, the Association of Immunization Managers, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-18T13:12:04-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Merck Says FDA Accepts Its SBLA For Keytruda For Treatment Of Head & Neck Cancer

Source: www.finchannel.comAuthor: Fin Channel News Editorial Staff The FINANCIAL -- Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, on April 13 announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), the company’s anti-PD-1 therapy, for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. The application is seeking approval for KEYTRUDA as a single agent at a dose of 200 mg administered intravenously every three weeks. The FDA granted Priority Review with a PDUFA, or target action, date of Aug. 9; the sBLA will be reviewed under the FDA’s Accelerated Approval program, according to Merck. “Starting in the early days of our development program, we have explored the role of KEYTRUDA for patients with head and neck cancer, a difficult-to-treat and debilitating disease with very few treatment options,” said Roger Dansey, M.D., senior vice president and therapeutic area head, oncology late-stage development, Merck Research Laboratories. “We are encouraged by the data emerging from our program in this type of cancer, and welcome today’s news as this is an important step toward making KEYTRUDA available to these patients.” Merck currently has the largest immuno-oncology clinical development program in head and neck cancer and is advancing multiple registration-enabling studies with KEYTRUDA as a single agent and in combination with chemotherapy. *This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-13T11:58:01-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Why can’t doctors tell cancer patients the truth?

Source: SALON.com By: Mary Elizabeth Williams Medical journals and physicians underplay what treatment is really like. And it hurts patients (Credit: Henk Vrieselaar via Shutterstock) Everyone appreciates a bright perspective, especially in grim circumstances. But you know what’s a really poor arena for downplaying the bad news? Medicine. A new report in the Annals of Oncology this week reveals that in two thirds of breast cancer studies, side effects were downplayed – including serious ones. And, as Reuters reports, it’s a field-wide problem in the health care industry: Last fall, cardiology journal editors warned authors to “watch their language” in reporting, and pediatrics researchers warned of “spin and boasting” in their journals. Aside from the ethical issues of publishing misleading information, the habit of rushing to make it all seem better has serious consequences. Because the sunnyside talk doesn’t stop at the journals. It trickles over to doctors, who then minimize what a patient’s real experience is going to be like. And even without overly optimistic literature to inspire them, doctors and their lack of understanding can be an issue. A 2007 study in the journal Drug Safety found that over 60 percent of patients who complained of side effects to a particular drug said “their doctors did not appreciate the impact the symptoms had on their quality of life.” At the time, health policy professor Albert W. Wu told American Medical News that doctors “have the bad habit of discounting patients’ complaints. In our desire not to worry [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-01-11T15:03:36-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Quebecers waiting longer for surgery

Source: CTV.ca Canadians who needed surgeries or other treatments in 2011 had to wait longer than they have in close to two decades, says a new report from the Fraser Institute, and the average waiting time for Quebecers has grown to the longest it's been since 2003. The think-tank, which has been tracking wait times since 1993, says that the median wait time for surgery in 2011 jumped to 19 weeks, from 18.2 weeks in 2010. In Quebec the average time in 2011 grew to 19.9 weeks. The previous year patients waited 18.8 weeks, while in 2009 the average waiting time was 16.6 weeks. Despite the growth in waiting times, Quebec patients were the third quickest in the country at getting the operations they needed. The survey suggests the main reason for delays in Quebec was the time between seeing a specialist after getting a referral from a General Practitioner, which at 10.7 weeks is above the national average. The wait for second step of the process -- actually getting the operation -- had actually decreased in Quebec from 9.9 weeks to 9.2 weeks. Only in Ontario, B.C., and Manitoba were patients faster at moving into the operating room after an initial visit with a surgeon. Life-threatening cases always treated quickly Surgery is not a first-come, first-served affair. Doctors at the Jewish General Hospital say priority is always given to life-threatening cases. "There are patients walking around with hernias, for example, that are not symptomatic, that they've had for 15 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-13T10:25:29-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

High Interest in HPV and EGRF When Referring to Head and Neck Cancer

Source: MedScape Today May 12, 2011 (London, United Kingdom) — The hottest topic in head and neck cancers is the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the disease, although there is also a lot interest in treatment with EGRF inhibitors, especially the second-generation products, according to an expert here at the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 11th Biennial Conference. HPV has only been associated with head and neck cancer in the last few years, but it is now clear that patients who are positive for the virus have a better prognosis, said Cai Grau, MD, DMSC, professor of oncology at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. He chaired a session during which both hot topics were discussed. "These patients have a better prognosis, irrespective of treatment, and their risk of a second cancer is virtually zero," added session participant Lisa Licitra, MD, medical oncologist at the Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori in Milan, Italy. However, there is a difference between patients in the United States and those in Europe with regard to risk, she told meeting attendees. For American patterns, Dr. Licitra cited the analysis published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine (2010;363:24-35), which reported a risk model for death from oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma on the basis of HPV status, pack-years of tobacco smoking, and tumor and nodal stage. In this 266-patient cohort, 43% were low risk, 30% were intermediate risk, and 27% were high risk. Dr. Licitra reported that when [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-12T10:12:51-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV link comes as a shock to male cancer patients

By ANIKA CLARK Stanley Sikora of Fall River and Tom Souza of Swansea clearly remember when they started their battles with cancer — life-changing moments while raking leaves or shaving, when they touched their necks and felt a lump. It's a common experience thanks to a disease that, between the suffering of friends, families and ourselves, has become nearly universal. But then came news neither expected. Tumors from both men tested positive for human papillomavirus, an often sexually transmitted virus that is increasingly being linked to cancers of the head and neck. At Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Head and Neck Cancers, "it's something that we see practically on a daily basis," said Dr. Lori Wirth, medical director for head and neck oncology, who said in an email that, although there are not-fully-understood co-factors, there's strong data that about 60-65 percent of all cancers of the oropharynx (the rear of the mouth, including the back of the throat, tonsils and the base of the tongue) are HPV-related. "Our awareness that HPV is associated with oropharynx cancers is something that has been emerging over the last 5-10 years," she said. "Ten years ago, we didn't even look for (it)." Upon learning of his HPV diagnosis, "I honestly felt creepy about myself," said Sikora, 59, albeit somewhat reassured when he found out how easily it's transmitted. "Already I was shocked that I got cancer. Now it's from HPV," he said. "So I'm thinking 'I can't be going around telling people I got [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-04T14:41:03-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Study IDs dysphagia risk after head/neck cancer treatment

Source: www.DrBicuspid.com February 28, 2011 -- A team of Danish researchers has developed a predictive model for determining which head and neck cancer patients are at risk of developing dysphagia (swallowing disfunction) following intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Hanna Rahbek Mortensen, PhD, and colleagues presented results from a large prospective trial, the DAHANCA 6 & 7 study, at last week's International Conference on Innovative Approaches in Head and Neck Oncology in Barcelona, Spain. "We followed 1,476 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, and found out the existence of factors related to the cancer itself, to the patient and to the treatment influencing the development of dysphagia," Mortensen said in a press release. Dysphagia may be acute or late. Risk factors for developing severe acute dysphagia were large tumors, spreading of cancer cells to the lymph nodes, swallowing problems at the time of diagnosis, six treatments per week, and tumor location other than the vocal cords, the researchers noted. Risk factors for developing late dysphagia were large tumors, swallowing problems at the time of diagnosis, and tumor location other than the vocal cords. Although 83% of all head and neck cancer patients develop some kind of dysphagia, this predictive model will have a major impact on patient quality of life, the researchers noted. "These results are very important," said Dr. J.A. Langendijk from the University Medical Center of Groningen. "Today, with the increasing use of IMRT, the dose to the salivary glands is reduced, resulting in lower risks on xerostomia. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-02-28T16:49:12-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|