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Cancer Survivor Gears Up for 25 Mile Bike Ride at the Age of 77

Newark, Ohio — A 77-year-old woman and cancer survivor has biked 25 miles routinely in preparation for this month's Pelotonia bicycle race. Beverly Cote started out biking four miles a day and worked her way up to 25 miles, the distance of Pelotonia, 10TV's Andrea Cambern reported Tuesday. Her inspiration came from someone who made history on a bicycle. "I have been bragging about my grandfather ever since I was a kid," Cote said. Her grandfather, John LaFrance, rode from New York to San Francisco in 22 days and made headlines, Cambern reported. "My grandfather did not have a 10-speed back in 1896," Cote said. "If he could do it, I could do it." He was not the only reason she will ride in the annual bike tour to fight cancer. Cote is a survivor. Over a year ago, she was diagnosed with stage-four throat and tongue cancer. She endured 35 radiation treatments and seven rounds of chemotherapy. "On my last exam with Dr. Old at the James, he said, 'Are you going to ride in Pelotonia, next year?' I told Dr. Old that if he kept me well, for one year, I will ride in it," Cote said. Pelotonia is scheduled to begin on August 19. This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-05T12:44:45-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Glowing Cornell Dots Target Cancer

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Investigation, June 13, 2011 (Ivanhoe Newswire)-- New medical technology is showing that Cornell dots may be a potential cancer diagnostic tool. The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved the first clinical trial in humans using Cornell Dots- brightly glowing nanoparticles that can light up cancer cells in PET-optical imaging. Cornell Dots are silica spheres less than eight nanometers in diameter that enclose several dye molecules. To make the dots stick to tumor cells, organic molecules that bind to tumor surfaces, or even specific locations within the tumors, can be attached to a polyethylene glycol shell. This shell, also referred to as PEG, prevents the body from recognizing the dots as foreign substances. When exposed to near-infrared light, the dots fluoresce much brighter than dye to serve as a beacon identifying the target cells. Researchers say this technology enables visualization during surgical treatment. Cornell Dots were first developed in 2005 by Hooisweng Ow, a coauthor of the paper on this study and once a graduate student working with Ulrich Wiesner, Cornell Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Ow and other researchers of this technology are currently in the process of forming a new commercial entity in New York City that will help transition this research into commercial products that will benefit cancer patients. Michelle S. Bradbury, M.D, of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and an assistant professor of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, was quoted as saying, "This is the first FDA IND approved [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-06-15T11:14:48-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

NHL icon Stan Mikita diagnosed with oral cancer

Source: Huliq.com He is considered by Chicago Blackhawks hockey fans to be one of the greatest hockey players of all time, but he now faces his greatest challenge as it was announced Stan Mikita has cancer. The statement was released by the Blackawks organization today. The statement was that Mikita was diagnosed with stage 1 oral cancer. According to Chicago press reports, Mikita was diagnosed with the condition at Loyola Medical Center in downtown Chicago. The report from the team stated that the diagnosis was of early stage tongue cancer. The statement also said that, since the disease was found early, he stands a good chance of responding to treatment. The release also asked that the press not ask the team for further information about Mikita’s condition. The statement was that it was a personal matter between Mikita and his family and his doctors. No further statements about his condition will be released by the team. Stan Mikita was originally from Canada. He eventually came to the United States and played in the early days of the NHL. They played for the Chicago Blackhawks in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was on the team when they beat the Detroit Redwings to win the Stanely Cup in 1961. Mikita played professional hockey throughout the 1970s. He finally retired due to chronic back pain in 1980. He has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. During his time as a player he was the league MVP twice. He is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-25T10:41:22-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Dental professionals join The Oral Cancer Foundation to raise awareness as HPV is now the primary cause of Oral Cancers in America

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A serious change in the cause of oral cancer is taking place nationally, and its implications are impacting the American public in a manner that a decade ago no one would have predicted. For decades, oral cancer (also known as mouth cancer, tongue cancer, tonsil cancer, and throat cancer) has been a disease which most often occurred in older individuals, who during their lifetimes had been tobacco users. Most cases were ultimately the result of lifestyle choices. Today that paradigm has changed. A common, sexually transferred virus has replaced tobacco as the number one cause of oral cancers, Human Papilloma Virus number 16 (HPV16). This is one of the same viruses that are responsible for the majority of cervical cancers in women. This year alone, approximately 37,000 Americans will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer, and one person will die every hour of every day from this disease. HPV16, one of about 130 versions of the virus, is now the leading cause of oral cancer, and is found in about 60% of newly diagnosed patients. Dr. Maura Gillison from the James Cancer Center, a long time researcher of the relationship between HPV and oral cancers, recently reported these new findings at the American Academy for the Advancement of Science meeting. This change in etiology, which has accelerated its influence over the last two decades as tobacco use in the US simultaneously was declining, has also changed the demographics of who is getting [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-04-07T10:39:32-07:00April, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Rise of tongue cancer in young, white females

www.medscape.com Roxanne Nelson - staff journalist for Medscape Oncology. The incidence of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma has been rising in young white American women, according to a new report. For the past 3 decades, the incidence has been increasing in white men and white women 18 to 44 years of age, but the trend is most pronounced in young white women. In a report published online March 7 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the authors found that the incidence of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma was declining for all age groups. The incidence of oral cavity and tongue cancer also was decreasing for nonwhite individuals. However, among people 18 to 44 years of age, the incidence of oral tongue cancer climbed 28% between 1975 and 2007. Among white people in this age group, the incidence increased 67%. The rising rates were most dramatic for white women, with a jump of 111%. "Lately, we have been seeing more oral tongue cancer in young white women in our clinic. So we looked at the literature, which reported an increase in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma in young white individuals, but couldn't find any information about gender-specific incidence rates, so we decided we should take a look at the SEER [Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results] data," said lead author Bhisham Chera, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill. The authors note that historically, cancer of the oral cavity was considered to be associated with older men with histories of significant tobacco and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-03-23T11:14:20-07:00March, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Jury finds no negligence by orthodontist in Annadale woman’s tongue-cancer death

Source: Silive.com Tragic teen: Stephanie Hare's cancer was too far advanced, and aspiring teacher died in November 2004. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Annadale resident Stephanie Hare was only 19 years old when a cancerous lesion was detected on her tongue in April 2004. By that time, it was too late. Despite undergoing surgery to remove most of her tongue and submitting to painful radiation and chemotherapy treatments, the vivacious young woman who aspired to be a teacher died seven months later at the age of 20. Ms. Hare’s family contends her orthodontist, Dr. Michael J. Donato of Richmond, was responsible for her death by failing to detect the lesion during a December 2003 visit. However, a jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, disagreed. The panel on Wednesday found Dr. Donato was not negligent and had followed standard dental practices and care when he examined Ms. Hare on Dec. 19, 2003. "Stephanie’s death was not anybody’s fault," Dr. Donato’s lawyer, Douglas J. Fitzmorris, told jurors in his summation. "Stephanie died of cancer. Dr. Donato’s not to blame. The whole specter of this lesion being missed by Dr. Donato is not what happened. There was no deviation from accepted practice." Jason C. Molesso, the lawyer for Ms. Hare’s family, had asked jurors to consider a $2.3 million award for her pain and suffering if they found Dr. Donato liable. "This case is about choices," Molesso told jurors in his closing argument as Ms. Hare’s family wept and hugged each other in the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-03-18T09:45:15-07:00March, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer screenings a must, say malpractice attorneys

Source: Dr.Bicuspid.com By: Donna Domino March 10, 2011 -- The patient was insistent: All she wanted was to get her teeth whitened for an upcoming high school reunion. She came in for the $99 Internet special the dentist had run and mentioned a sore on her tongue, but she said it was recent, attributing it to a tongue-biting habit. The dentist did the procedure but advised the patient that she needed a follow-up oral exam. The patient eventually went to an oral surgeon who diagnosed the young mother with terminal tongue cancer. She sued the dentist who did the teeth whitening for malpractice, for missing her oral cancer. That case, Tale of the Tainted Tongue, was dramatized at the recent Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting in a session highlighting the growing number of malpractice suits over missed oral cancer screenings. Anne Oldenburg, an attorney with Alholm, Monahan, Klauke, Hay & Oldenburg, which specializes in dental malpractice cases, participated in the mock trial. Ten years ago she didn't have many such cases, she told DrBicuspid.com. But that scenario has changed dramatically in recent years, she said, noting that she is currently involved in three dental malpractice cases. The mock trial was similar to a previous lawsuit she handled, in which a young man in his 40s died. "It was oral cancer that was clearly missed," Oldenburg recalled. The family settled for $750,000 because the children didn't want to go through the litigation process, but many death cases can reach $1 million [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-03-14T11:58:49-07:00March, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Martin Duffy, 70; Marathon fixture went extra mile

Source: Boston.com By: Bryan Marquard The morning he died, during what turned out to be his last hour or so of life, Martin Duffy got up and ran through his daily regimen of stretching, push-ups, and sit-ups. Several months before, cancer had kept him from adding to his extraordinary streak of 40 consecutive Boston Marathons, but he was used to forging ahead when his body said stop. Take one particular Marathon, probably his 26th. Afterward, he learned he had competed with a broken foot. Realizing at the 2-mile mark that something was amiss, “I divided that race into sections of 6 miles, with each segment a challenge to get through,’’ he told the Globe in 2000. “And somehow I did.’’ In 2009, Mr. Duffy’s string of consecutive completed Boston Marathons was recorded as the third-longest in history when he ran his 40th and final race a few months after being diagnosed with tongue cancer induced by the human papilloma virus. He was 70 when he died Nov. 29 in his Belmont home. Runners often sought advice from Mr. Duffy, given his experience, and he didn’t stop at simply offering tips on how and where to train. An economist who advised businesses and helped them develop strategies, he was still in touch with friends and clients in his final days. “He went in to work the week before he passed away,’’ said his wife, Rusty Stieff. And that was after treatment had left Mr. Duffy no longer able to speak. Instead, he [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-01-26T11:21:02-07:00January, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless tobacco picking up steam — Products growing in popularity as smokers turn to cheaper and less obtrusive alternatives

Source: Los Angeles Times By: Julie Wernau Ron Carroll prefers to smoke cigars and pipes. But when he can't do that he says he manages to unobtrusively get his nicotine fix by slipping a packet of tobacco, about the size of a teabag, under his upper lip. "I use it all the time — movies, planes," said the Chicagoan, who adds that he likes the fact he can remove the packet as easily as a piece of gum. There's no chewing, spitting or mess, he says. "It's discreet, and you don't look like an addict, he said. "Smoking's definitely more about the flavor; the whole experience,'' Carroll said. "With this, it's just taking the edge off." Cigarette sales by volume have plummeted 17 percent from 2005, partly the result of health warnings and bans on smoking in public places as well as taxation by local and federal governments. And the heat on cigarette smokers is expected to intensify as the federal Food and Drug Administration requires images of corpses and diseased lungs to be featured on cigarette packs in two years. Smokeless tobacco products — which come in shapes ranging from toothpicks to orbs and in flavors from cherry to peach — so far have not met with the same intense scrutiny, although there have been some changes. In June, the FDA increased the size of warning labels on smokeless products. "This product is addictive" and "This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes,'' say the warnings. Scientists say [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-07T12:42:38-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

HPV Causing “Slow Epidemic” of Oral Cancers

Source: Medscape Today By: Janis C. Kelly October 21, 2010 — Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a risk factor for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and might account for the steady increase in OSCC incidence, even in subjects who do not smoke or consume alcohol, according to Swedish researchers. A review of recent studies, conducted by Trobjorn Ramqvist, MD, and Tina Dalianis, MD, PhD, and published online October 13 in Emerging Infectious Diseases, suggests that changes in sexual practices are behind the surge in OSCC cases linked to sexually transmitted HPV. The key factors appear to be multiple sex partners, starting sexual activity at a younger age, and increased oral sex. The data are startling. For example, from 1970 to 2002, tonsillar cancer (which is the most common OSCC) increased in Stockholm, Sweden, by 2.8-fold, and by 2006/07, 93% of all tonsillar cancers in that city were HPV-positive. Dr. Dalianis, who is professor of tumor virology and the head of the Department of Oncology–Pathology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, told Medscape Medical News that "we realized that there was an increase in HPV-induced tonsillar cancer, but we did not realize it was so eminent until we separated the 2 groups (HPV-negative and -positive tonsillar cancer cases) the way we did." The most common OSCC is tonsillar cancer, followed by base of tongue cancer. Overall 5-year survival for OSCC is about 25%, and HPV-positive OSCC generally has better clinical outcomes than HPV-negative disease. Dr. Dalianis said that HPV (most commonly type 16) [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-22T11:17:11-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|