11/9/2004 Liz Szabo USA Today Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist's diagnosis of thyroid cancer, announced late last month, comes at an time when research in the malignancy — which experts say was stalled for many years — is suddenly taking off. In the past year or so, scientists have initiated at least 10 new studies of thyroid cancer, and a dozen more will soon be up and running, says Steven Sherman, an associate professor at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "There's been an explosion," Sherman says. "Before that, there was almost nothing." Thyroid cancer research has suffered partly because its most common variety is usually curable, making the disease seem less threatening. Yet the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer, anaplastic carcinoma, is one of the most lethal of all tumors. Anaplastic cancers afflict so few people — just a few hundred a year — that experts long doubted that it was possible to even start clinical trials, says Manisha Shah, a thyroid cancer specialist at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. Recent research has been sparked by the discovery of genetic mutations involved in thyroid tumors, as well as progress in the growing field of "targeted" cancer therapies that affect the tumors but not the surrounding, healthy tissue. Last year, a team of scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine discovered a genetic mutation that is present in most papillary thyroid cancers, the most common sort. Earlier this year, the same team showed that the mutation [...]

11/9/2004 Michael Flynn Ashville Citizen-Times Paul Turner directs the North Carolina Spit Tobacco Education Program, which seeks to reduce the rate of spit tobacco use among the state's middle and high school students and to make sure people are aware that smokeless tobacco is not harmless. Nationally, spit tobacco use among high school boys is 10.8 percent, but North Carolina`s rate is 17.6 percent and in Western North Carolina the rate is more than 35 percent. The N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund has awarded the program $304,500 grant, which is administered by the Haywood County Health Department. Before joining the program, Turner retired after a lengthy career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including serving as Deputy Director of the Division of Oral Health. Turner has also served as director of Oral Health America's National Spit Tobacco Education Program. Question: What are the health risks of using spit tobacco? Answer: The risks include nicotine addiction and dependence, periodontal disease, tooth loss, increased heart rate and high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, decreased stamina and endurance, delayed wound healing and gastric problems such as stomach problems and ulcers. In some cases spit tobacco use can result in oral cancer and death. Spit tobacco use is certainly not a safe alternative to smoking. Q: Why are the use rates higher in WNC than the rest of the state and country? A: It is part of our heritage. We are basically a rural environment with a lot of wide-open [...]

11/9/2004 WILMINGTON, Mass Business Wire DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the signing of a second clinical trial agreement with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP). The new agreement covers the clinical development of Levulan(R) photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of oral cavity dysplasia. It follows a similar agreement dated September 27, 2004, covering the treatment of high-grade dysplasia (HGD) within Barrett's Esophagus (BE). Levulan is DUSA's brand of aminolevulinic acid, or ALA. DUSA and the NCI DCP will be working together to prepare an overall clinical development plan for Levulan PDT in oral cavity dysplasia, starting with a Phase I/II study and continuing through Phase III studies if appropriate. The immediate plan is for the NCI DCP to solicit clinical protocols from its extramural expert clinical investigator consortium, after which time DUSA and the NCI DCP will finalize the clinical trial design. The NCI DCP will use its resources to file its own IND. DUSA will provide Levulan, device(s) and the necessary training for the investigators involved in the studies. DUSA will maintain full ownership of its existing intellectual property and, subject to successful Phase II and III clinical trial results, intends to seek FDA approval in due course. Oral Cancer and Dysplasia Approximately 30,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year, and another 12,500 will be diagnosed with cancer of the larynx, or voice box. Risk factors include tobacco use and alcohol consumption. Some types of pre-malignancy, such as leukoplakia (visible as [...]

11/9/2004 M Gorsky, JB Epstein, C Oakley, ND Le, J Hay, and P Stevenson-Moore Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod, November 1, 2004 Objective: Oral cancer is primarily a disease of epithelial origin. The tongue is the most common site of oral cancer. Oropharyngeal cancer accounts for approximately 2% of all cancer deaths. The purpose of this study was to analyze a case series of patients with tongue cancer.Study design The medical records of 322 consecutive patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue treated from 1979-1994 were reviewed. Results: Patients had a mean age of 61.1 years and a 1.5:1 male to female ratio. Approximately, half of the cancers were diagnosed at an advanced stage and most involved the base of the tongue. The majority of oral tongue tumors were diagnosed at an early stage and had more well-differentiated cell types than those of the base of the tongue. Localized discomfort was the most common complaint (66.5%), present for up to 6 months in patients prior to diagnosis and were related to the oral tongue in 90% of cases. Symptoms associated with base of tongue lesions included neck masses, dysphagia, ear pain, and weight loss. Seventy-nine percent of the patients smoked, 58% consumed alcohol on a daily basis, and 43% consumed more than 4 alcoholic drinks daily. Primary radiotherapy was the treatment of 49.6% lesions, of which 57% were at an early stage at diagnosis. The mean overall survival was 3 years and 5 [...]

11/8/2004 Patricia Anstett Charleston Gazette Kenji Izumi enters a small sterile room at the University of Michigan Medical Center, scrubbed and covered head to toe in white plastic disposable garments. A research scientist, he's the caretaker for a collection of cells that will grow to millions in just two weeks. When he gets enough - he needs a supply the size of a quarter - the cells will be harvested as mouth grafts for surgical treatment of oral cancers and periodontal disease. Eventually, the product could be used for other skull and facial problems. Synthetically grown skin grafts are common in medicine. Grown from human skin cells, the grafts have been used for years to treat burns by providing a continuous, vital supply of tissue for thousands of patients who need them. But oral surgeons found problems using such grafts in the mouth to repair wounds after surgery for oral and throat cancers and periodontal disease. Skin grafts are rigid, don't always last long and some - heaven forbid - grow hair like real skin does, says Dr. Stephen Feinberg, professor and associate chairman of research at U-M's section of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, in the Department of Surgery. The grafts the U-M team are working on do not grow hair because the cells come from inside a person's mouth. In August, Feinberg's U-M team began clinical studies with EVPOME, the oral mucosal tissue product for which the team has a pending patent application. The product is made from cells [...]

11/8/2004 Newcastle, UK Louise Redvers The Evening Chronicle Today is the start of mouth cancer awareness week. Louise Redvers finds out about a rarely-mentioned condition that claims a life in the UK every five hours. Brenda Brady was diagnosed with mouth cancer in January this year. Surgery to remove the tumour has claimed part of her jaw and tongue and left her surviving on pureed foods. At 57, mum-of-two Brenda has had to re-learn how to speak and swallow and still finds both difficult. But despite her ordeal, the retired secretary, who lives in Whitley Bay with her husband John, 59, is refusing to let things get to her. Joking about her operations, she said: "I'm like a patchwork quilt. I've had bone from my leg inserted into my jaw and then soft tissue from my arm to replace half my tongue. "After that they took skin from my thigh to replace where they had taken tissue from my arm, it just goes on and on. I'm back in next week for more work on my tongue. "But my family have been incredibly supportive and my last biopsy results were very positive so that keeps me going." Brenda thinks her mouth cancer developed following other problems she's had with her saliva glands. The tumour was identified in an operation last year and confirmed as cancer in January. "I've never smoked and I only drink a bit socially so I think it's come from the problems with my saliva glands. "I [...]

11/7/2004 no attribution Medical News Today "Conversation Killer" is the theme of this year's Mouth Cancer Awareness Week. The week runs from 7-13 November with the aim of highlighting the growth of a disease that kills 50 per cent of sufferers. The week aims to highlight the ways in which people can protect themselves against the dangers of mouth cancer, namely to stop smoking, reduce alcohol consumption, eat healthily and visit their dentist regularly. In the UK alone, over 4,300 new cases of mouth cancer are diagnosed annually and 1,700 people die of mouth cancer. The disease, often thought to affect mainly older men, is also increasingly finding victims outside its traditional sufferer group. Although the number of women sufferers remains smaller than the number of men affected, the number of newly diagnosed women has risen by 48 per cent during the last nine years. The number of newly diagnosed men has risen by just 16 per cent. Research shows that although 76 per cent of people are aware of a link between smoking and developing mouth cancer, only 19 per cent are aware of a link between alcohol misuse and the disease. Mouth Cancer Awareness Week 2004 is organized by a number of leading national health organisations including the British Dental Association (BDA) and British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF), and supported by Denplan.

11/7/2004 Lyndsay Moss news.scotsman.com Mouth cancer cases could could soar because young people are drinking and smoking more, dentists have warned. Each year in the UK there are around 4,300 new cases of mouth cancer, which affects the lips, tongue, cheek and throat, and 1,700 deaths. But despite this many people are unaware that alcohol is one of the major risk factors for the disease, research has revealed. A survey of more than 200 dentists found that 85% believed the trend in increased alcohol consumption and tobacco use among those aged 18-30 would lead to an increase in mouth cancer. More than half of dentists (55%) also said they feared that cannabis declassification would add to the number of people being struck by mouth cancer. A poll of over 1,000 people, carried out by Denplan, found that only 33% of women and 28% of men were aware that alcohol was a major risk factor for the disease. The research came ahead of Mouth Cancer Awareness Week, which runs from November 7-13, co-ordinated by the British Dental Health Foundation and supported by Denplan. Less than a third of people (31%) believed that drinking alcohol increased the chances of getting mouth cancer. But experts believe that excessive alcohol consumption can increase the risk of mouth cancer by up to 30 times. Dentists are specially trained to detect early signs of mouth cancer which may not always be seen by the patient, such as sores, white patches or lumps in the mouth. But [...]

11/5/2004 Robert Preidt Forbes.com Tobacco use can cause serious oral health problems, including gum disease and oral cancer, says the Academy of General Dentistry. "Not only is tobacco use the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, it also causes serious oral health problems. Our profession wants to inform all patients that tobacco use will cause damage to their oral health," academy spokesman Larry Williams said in a prepared statement. Tobacco use is linked to oral cancer. Signs of this form of cancer include red, white or discolored areas in the mouth, patches or lumps in or around the mouth, difficulty swallowing, and repeated bleeding from the mouth or throat. The five-year survival rate for oral cancer is 54 percent because the disease often goes undiagnosed in the early stages. People who notice any symptoms should see a dentist. Tobacco use also causes tooth loss and gum disease, a chronic infection and inflammation of the gums and surrounding tissue. As the disease progresses, it destroys the bone holding teeth in place. Symptoms include red, swollen or tender gums, bleeding while brushing or flossing, gums that pull away from the teeth, persistent bad breath and loose or separating teeth. Tobacco use also stains and discolors teeth. It can also cause persistent bad breath and trigger a problem called black hairy tongue. This occurs when heavy tobacco use irritates the tongue, causing blackish or dark brown stains to cover most of the tongue surface.

11/5/2004 Brad Kurtzberg Elitestv.com Smokers and former smokers know how difficult it can be to resist that nicotine craving. Nicotine is both physically and psychologically addictive according to scientists which explains why it is often so hard to quit smoking. Today, however, a California study indicates that one single molecule in the brain may be partly responsible for the craving for nicotine possibly leading to better ways to treat nicotine addiction. The use of tobacco products kills more than 4 million people world wide each year including approximately 440,000 Americans. Heart disease, lung cancer, mouth cancer and many other illnesses are considered tobacco related. Nicotine is the drug in tobacco smoke that makes it addictive. The study focused on mice. When scientists altered a particular gene in mice that were hypersensative to nicotine, their behavior changed. Mice that had previously chosen nicotine over food were able to alter their destructive bahvior. 'Dependence-related behaviors, including reward, tolerance, and sensitization, occur strongly and at remarkably low nicotine doses' in the mice, the research team wrote. The pull of the molecule appears to be very strong. 'What we have done is to show that a particular molecule is not only necessary for nicotine addiction, but is sufficient for nicotine addiction,' one doctor who worked on the study said. 'When the particular alpha receptor is activated by nicotine -- and no other receptors -- that is sufficient to produce some of the effects associated with addiction.' Researchers are encouraged by the report but it [...]