Oral cancer prognostic signature identified

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: press release Researchers in Brazil have identified a correlation between oral cancer progression and the abundance of certain proteins present in tumor tissue and saliva. The discovery offers a parameter for predicting progression of the disease - whether cervical lymph node metastasis is present, for example - and points to a strategy for overcoming the limitations of clinical and imaging exams. It could also help guide the choice of an ideal treatment for each patient. The study began in the discovery phase with a proteomic analysis of tissue from different tumor areas using 120 microdissected samples. In the verification phase, prognostic signatures were confirmed in approximately 800 tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and in 120 samples by targeted proteomics. The study was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP and conducted at the National Energy and Materials Research Center (CNPEM) in partnership with the São Paulo State Cancer Institute (ICESP), the University of Campinas's Piracicaba Dental School (FOP-UNICAMP), the Institute of Computing from the same university, the University of São Paulo's Mathematics and Computer Science Institute (ICMC) in São Carlos, and the Dental School of the West Paraná University (UNIOESTE), in addition to other institutions in Brazil and abroad. "The data led to robust results that are highly promising as guides to defining the severity of the disease. We suggested potential markers of the disease in the first phase of the study and verified these markers in the second phase, enhancing the reliability of the findings and [...]

2018-12-06T12:27:03-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Expert says Nivolumab Poised to Change Standard of Care in SCCHN

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Laura Panjwani Nivolumab (Opdivo) is a game-changing agent for the treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), according to Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD. “Recent findings have shown us that this agent is really the new standard-of-care option for all platinum-refractory patients with head and neck cancer,” says Ferris, vice chair for Clinical Operations, associate director for Translational Research, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. “This is regardless of whether patients are PD-L1–positive or negative or whether they are HPV-positive or negative.” The PD-L1 inhibitor received a priority review designation by the FDA in July 2016 based on the CheckMate-141 study, which demonstrated a median overall survival (OS) with nivolumab of 7.5 months compared with 5.1 months with investigator's choice of therapy (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.51-0.96; P = .0101) in patients with recurrent or metastatic SCCHN. The objective response rate (ORR) was 13.3% with nivolumab and 5.8% for investigator's choice. The FDA is scheduled to make a decision on the application for the PD-1 inhibitor by November 11, 2016, as part of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. Ferris was the lead author on an analysis that further evaluated preliminary data from CheckMate-141, which was presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. In an interview with OncLive, he discusses the findings of this study, potential biomarkers for nivolumab, and questions that remain regarding the use of the immunotherapy in SCCHN. OncLive: What [...]

2016-08-24T13:28:58-07:00August, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer patient has his mouth and tongue rebuilt using tissue from arm

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: Madlen Davies When David Barwell was diagnosed with the advanced mouth cancer, he feared he would never speak or eat again. But now, British surgeons have rebuilt his entire oral cavity using tissue from his arm, in a 15-hour operation. They had to remove a tumour the size of a plum from his throat, forcing them to cut away the bottom of his mouth and tongue. But medics were able to use skin and blood vessels from his arm to rebuild the oral cavity, and re-model his tongue. The operation will allow him to eat, drink and one day speak again, they hope. British-born Mr Barwell, who was living in Poland when he was diagnosed, travelled across Europe in a campervan to come back to Britain for treatment. Now recovering from the operation, he and his wife of 28 years, Barbara, have praised the NHS and its staff as 'incredible'. Mrs Barwell, a 67-year-old mother-of-one, was fought back tears as she thanked the NHS for its work. She said: 'These people are amazing. After working for 15 hours to save David's life and rebuild his mouth the surgeon, Mr McVicar, called me personally to tell me the operation had worked, and I could not believe it. I have never seen treatment so good, not anywhere in Europe.' Mrs Barwell, who grew up in Poland but moved to Nottingham in the 1980s to study, added: 'We used to make plans, both as a family and a business, but now we just can't. [...]

Detecting cancer’s biochemical ‘fingerprint’ for early diagnosis

Source: www.siliconrepublic.com Author: Claire O'Connell Detecting cancer in its early stages could help to make treatment more effective. Claire O’Connell found out from Dr Fiona Lyng about Cervassist, an emerging technology that uses spectroscopy to analyse tissue samples and spot when cells are showing signs of abnormality. So far the technology has been focusing on assessing cervical smear samples, which are routinely collected as part of screening programmes for cervical cancer in many countries. Cervical cancer is the one of the most common female cancers in Europe, and women are encouraged to be screened every few years. Cells are removed from the neck of the womb, and they are examined by eye under a microscope. If there are abnormal or potentially cancerous cells in the sample, the person can be monitored or treated as appropriate. Cervassist, which is being developed at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), could offer another view of those cells on the microscope slide. By shining laser light on the samples and collecting some of the scattered radiation, the technology can automatically analyse the biochemical content of the cells, explains Lyng, who is manager of the DIT Centre for Radiation and Environmental Science. "We use Raman spectroscopy to analyse the cervical samples – it's a vibrational spectroscopic technique that gives a biochemical fingerprint of a sample," she says. "If you shine laser light on a sample, light is scattered back and we collect the inelastic scatter, which contains information about the biochemical components in the sample, the [...]

2013-02-11T22:31:03-07:00February, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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