tumors

Roche launches Elecsys Anti-p53 immunoassay to aid diagnosis of various cancer types

Source: www.globenewswire.com Author: press release, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd Roche today announced the launch of the Elecsys Anti-p53 immunoassay for the in vitro quantitative determination of anti-p53 antibodies. This test is used to aid physicians to diagnose throat cancer, bowel cancer and breast cancer in patients, in conjunction with other diagnostic tests. The assay is now available for all markets accepting the CE Mark. “The addition of our Elecsys Anti-p53 immunoassay will help clinicians to quickly and reliably diagnose several prevalent cancers and might assist in leading to a better prognosis for many patients.”, said Thomas Schinecker, CEO Roche Diagnostics. “Beyond breakthrough cancer medicines, Roche also offers a growing number of testing solutions to help physicians diagnose and treat people with cancer. p53 is protein which, when active, helps to regulate processes which stop tumors from developing. A mutation of p53 is present in half of solid tumor cancers and is the most common genetic change identified so far in human cancers.1 Certain mutations of p53 can lead to a build up of p53 which results in the formation of anti-p53 autoantibodies. Autoantibodies are antibodies that mistakenly target and react with a person’s own tissues. Between 20-50% of patients with mutated p53 will produce anti-p53 autoantibodies.2 This mutation causes the tumor suppressive function of p53 to switch to a tumor-promoting function and thus cancer development. Early appearance of anti-p53 antibodies during tumour development may have potential to detect malignant changes.3 The Elecsys Anti-p53 immunoassay detects these anti-p53 antibodies and, when [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-04-08T09:59:47-07:00April, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Can your own immune system kill cancer?

Source: www.cnn.com Author: Jacqueline Howard There was another big win in the advancement of immunotherapy treatments for cancer this week. The Food and Drug Administration approved an immunotherapy drug called Keytruda, which stimulates the body's immune system, for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. In other words, the drug could be the very first treatment a patient receives for the disease, instead of chemotherapy. Keytruda is the only immunotherapy drug approved for first-line treatment for these patients. So it seems, the future of cancer care may be in our own immune systems, but how exactly does it work, and what are its pros and cons? "It's certainly going to become an independent way of treating cancers," said Dr. Philip Greenberg, head of immunology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, during a Q&A session at the International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference in New York in September. "We always talk about the three pillars of cancer therapy -- radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery -- and it's become quite clear now that there's going to be a fourth pillar, which is immunotherapy," he said. "There are times where it will be used alone, and there will be times that it will be used in conjunction with the other therapies, but there's very little to question that this is going to be a major part of the way cancers are treated from now on, going forward." Here's a look at the past, present and future of cancer immunotherapy. It [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-10-26T09:42:45-07:00October, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

New RNA interference technique finds seven genes for head and neck cancer

Source: The Rockefeller UniversityPublished: Friday, January 24, 2014 In the hunt for genetic mutations that cause cancer, there is a lot of white noise. So although genetic sequencing has identified hundreds of genetic alterations linked to tumors, it’s still an enormous challenge to figure out which ones are actually responsible for the growth and metastasis of cancer. Scientists in Rockefeller’s Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development have created a new technique that can weed out that noise — eliminating the random bystander genes and identifying the ones that are critical for cancer. Applying their technique to head and neck cancers, they’ve discovered seven new tumor-suppressor genes whose role in cancer was previously unknown. Interfering with cancer. A section of a head and neck tumor — red and green markers show the proliferation of cancer stem cells — that formed when one of several newly characterized genes, Myh9, was suppressed. A recently developed genetic screening technique using RNA interference identified Myh9’s protein, myosin IIa, as playing an important role in tumor suppression. The new technique, which the lab recently applied to a screen for skin tumor genes, is particularly useful because it takes a fraction of the resources and much less time than the traditional method for determining gene function — breeding genetically modified animals to study the impact of missing genes. “Using knockout mice, which are model organisms bred to have a particular gene missing, is not feasible when there are 800 potential head and neck cancer genes to [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-01-24T13:05:29-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Stanford surgeon uses robot to increase precision, reduce complications of head and neck procedures

Source: scopeblog.stanford.edu Author: Margarita Gallardo In today’s San Francisco Chronicle, writer Kristen Brown highlights how surgical robots are simplifying head and neck procedures. Known as transoral robotic surgery, or TORS, Stanford is one of the few places in the country using the da Vinci surgical robot to remove tumors or scar tissue from patients such as 70-year-old John Ayers, who is featured in the story (subscription required). Edward Damrose, MD, chief of the division of laryngeal surgery at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, describes the procedure to Brown: The da Vinci’s most frequent use in transoral procedures is in head and neck cancers. By operating through the mouth, surgeons can remove tumors in places that previously might have required much more complex procedures, such as breaking the jaw to get a good enough look. The robot has four arms – three that can hold typical surgical tools, and a fourth that holds an endoscopic camera, giving a surgeon a full view of the patient’s insides. “You get an almost panoramic view,” said Damrose. “It’s as if you were miniaturized and in someone’s throat looking around.” The da Vinci was first used on a human for a head and neck procedure in 2005 at the University of Pennsylvania. An update to the robot made the experiment possible, when slimmer tools were developed for the robot that might more easily fit inside the mouth. (Even with the smaller tools, working inside someone’s throat can be a tight squeeze, depending on the patient.) “If [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-07-04T06:05:53-07:00July, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Ear, nose and throat docs weigh in on controversial test

Source: commonhealth.wbur.org Author: Rachel Zimmerman Last week, WBUR’s Martha Bebinger wrote a story about doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who, for the first time, got access to a list of prices for common tests and procedures. The piece triggered a minor uprising among some ENT specialists, who offered impassioned comments on the story. Martha explains the controversy: One primary care doctor, David Ives, the medical director of Affiliated Physicians Group, the largest group of private doctors that admits patients to Beth Israel, reacted to the price of a nasal endoscopy and said he thinks the procedure is used too often when a physical exam would suffice. This comment angered many Ear, Nose and Throat specialists who say the development and use of this scope is one of the most important diagnostic tools in their field in recent history. Before filing the story, I searched for medical literature comparing either the cost effectiveness or the outcomes of a nasal endoscopy vs. a physical exam. I didn’t find anything. I did not call a representative of the American Academy of Otolaryngology for their views on nasal endoscopy. We offer that now. Wendy Stern is the chair elect of the Public Relations committee for the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, a former president of the Massachusetts Society of Otolaryngology. Dr. Stern says nasal endoscopy allows the physician to look for signs of bacterial infection, structural changes, polyps or tumors that would not be visible without this tool. Not using [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-30T22:01:28-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

New Study for Head and Neck Melanomas

Source: MDNews.com ANN ARBOR, MI — A common technique for determining whether melanoma has spread can be used safely and effectively even in tumors from the head and neck area, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sentinel lymph node biopsy involves injecting a special dye to identify the first node where cancer would likely spread. If that node is clean, patients can avoid further debilitating surgery to remove multiple lymph nodes. If that node shows cancer, patients know they need the more extensive surgery or further treatment with radiation, chemotherapy or a clinical trial. Patients with larger melanomas are routinely offered this procedure. But many surgeons believed that the complex anatomy combined with the critical nerves and blood vessels in the head and neck area made sentinel lymph node biopsy unsafe and inaccurate for melanomas in that region. In the current study, which appears online in Cancer, researchers looked at 353 head and neck melanoma patients who had received sentinel lymph node biopsy at U-M over a 10-year period. After reviewing patients’ records, the researchers found that the sentinel lymph node could be identified in all but one patient, and no patients sustained permanent nerve injuries during the procedure. About 20 percent of the patients had at least one sentinel node positive for cancer and were referred for a complete dissection to remove additional lymph nodes. Among the remaining 283 patients with negative sentinel nodes, 12 patients recurred in the region where the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-09T10:30:24-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Reirradiation Effective in Post-Radiation Sarcoma

Source: MedScape Today News Reirradiation plus hyperthermia is an effective treatment for radiation-associated sarcoma (RAS) and could even cure some of these rare tumors, a small new study suggests. "The reirradiation plus hyperthermia as we used it appears to be quite successful with a very high response rate and reasonable local control rate," Dr. Geertjan van Tienhoven of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, one of the study's authors, told Reuters Health. RAS develops in areas previously reirradiated with 25 to 80 Gray, usually with a latency period of three years or more, and with a different histology from the original tumor, according to a June 28th online paper in Cancer. Dr. van Tienhoven predicts that "radiation-associated sarcomas are going to be more frequent in the future, because of an increasing prevalence of breast cancer survivors who are at risk, be it a low risk, for RAS." These tumors are usually resected with radical surgery and sometimes adjuvant chemotherapy. To date, according the paper, there haven't been any randomized trials or other prospective studies of reirradiation for RAS. "Many papers and textbooks state that radiation shouldn't be done in these tumors because they are caused by radiation. Indeed it sounds counterintuitive to irradiate again," Dr. van Tienhoven said in an interview. But using hyperthermia with reirradiation allows for a lower radiation dose, he and his coauthors explain. The Academic Medical Center and the Institute Verbeeten have "extensive experience" with this approach, for example in breast cancer recurrence in previously irradiated [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-09T10:29:53-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

New Strategies used to Identify Changes in Head and Neck Cancers

Source: GenomeWeb Daily News By Andrea Anderson CHICAGO– Researchers are making progress using high-throughput strategies to find previously unappreciated genetic and epigenetic quirks in head and neck cancer — including changes that may prove useful for diagnosing and tracking disease. Johns Hopkins University head and neck cancer research director David Sidransky described some of the work during an education session on molecular biology, targets, and pathways involved in head and neck cancer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting here yesterday. Speaking during the same session, JHU oncologist Christine Chung and the University of Chicago's Ezra Cohen touched on strategies for targeting the types of mutations previously reported in head and neck cancer and the rationale behind targeted therapeutics already being tested or considered for the disease, respectively. Past studies have uncovered muted DNA methylation across the genomes of several cancer types, Sidransky explained, though methylation is also bumped up at specific sites in certain tumor types. Consequently, he said, researchers are using strategies such as real-time quantitative methylation-specific PCR (real-time QMSP) to look at methylation shifts in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. In particular, he described work comparing methylation patterns in saliva and serum samples from individuals with HNSCC to those in samples from more than 800 apparently healthy individuals who are considered 'at-risk' of the disease because of smoking status and other exposures. At least two genes — KIF1A and EDNRB — seem to be more highly methylated in samples from those with HNSCC than [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-08T09:14:07-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Sensitization of Head and Neck Cancer to Cisplatin Through the Use of a Novel Curcumin Analog

Source: EthiconEndo-Surgery.com Objective To determine whether a novel small molecule inhibitor derived from curcumin (FLLL32) that targets signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 would induce cytotoxic effects in STAT3-dependent head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) cells and would sensitize tumors to cisplatin. Design Basic science. Two HNSCC cell lines, UM-SCC-29 and UM-SCC-74B, were characterized for cisplatin [cis-diammineplatinum(II) dichloride] sensitivity. Baseline expression of STAT3 and other apoptosis proteins was determined. The FLLL32 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) dose was determined for each cell line, and the effect of FLLL32 treatment on the expression of phosphorylated STAT3 and other key proteins was elucidated. The antitumor efficacy of cisplatin, FLLL32, and combination treatment was measured. The proportion of apoptotic cells after cisplatin, FLLL32, or combination therapy was determined. Results The UM-SCC-29 cell line is cisplatin resistant, and the UM-SCC-74B cell line is cisplatin sensitive. Both cell lines express STAT3, phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3), and key apoptotic proteins. FLLL32 downregulates the active form of STAT3, pSTAT3, in HNSCC cells and induces a potent antitumor effect. FLLL32, alone or with cisplatin, increases the proportion of apoptotic cells. FLLL32 sensitized cisplatin-resistant cancer cells, achieving an equivalent tumor kill with a 4-fold lower dose of cisplatin. Conclusions FLLL32 monotherapy induces a potent antitumor effect and sensitizes cancer cells to cisplatin, permitting an equivalent or improved antitumor effect at lower doses of cisplatin. Our results suggest that FLLL32 acts by inhibiting STAT3 phosphorylation, reduced survival signaling, increased susceptibility to apoptosis, and sensitization to cisplatin.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-17T11:21:32-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Ultrasound as effective as CT scans for most diagnoses, reducing the dangers of radiation

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff For diagnosing head and neck ailments, tests that use radiation are always less desirable than those that don't. Otolaryngologists have a wide range of techniques available to them, including CT or "CAT" scans, MRI and ultrasound. CT uses significant radiation and MRI a lower amount, but ultrasound is a non-invasive, non-radiating technique. It does not require injection of radioactive contrast material and has no side effects. Now, a new study by Tel Aviv University exploring the efficacy of expensive and invasive CT scans has found that, in some cases, they don't offer a clinical advantage over a simple, inexpensive ultrasound procedure. In his study, Dr. Michael Vaiman of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine compared the efficacy of CT versus ultrasound scans for locating vertebral arteries in the throat, an important assessment that must be completed before a surgeon operates in the neck area of the body. After comparing the outcomes of 250 CT scans with 500 ultrasound images, he concluded that there is no advantage to using CT scans for most of these procedures, especially those that are used to locate anomalies in the neck to map major arteries before surgery can take place. Dr. Vaiman's results were published in the March issue of the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology. When scans are sound CT scans combine X-rays with highly sophisticated computers to produce a number of pictures of the interior of the body. Traditionally, doctors have relied on these scans to find neck arteries [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-13T12:21:24-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|