5/15/2005 Prague, Czech Republic R Tachezy et al. Oral Dis, May 1, 2005; 11(3): 181-5 Objective: An association between high-risk human papillomavirus (HR HPV) infection and a risk of development of a subgroup of head and neck cancers has been proposed recently. The main risk factors of oral and oropharyngal cancer observed in our population are smoking and alcohol consumption. The incidence of oral/oropharyngeal tumours in the Czech Republic is relatively high and there are no data available about the prevalence of HPV DNA presence in these tumours. Materials and methods: Eighty patients with a primary oropharyngeal cancer were enrolled. The presence of HPV DNA has been evaluated by polymerase chain reaction in 68 cases from which the tumour tissue and demographical and clinical data were available. The typing of HPV was performed by nucleotide DNA sequencing. Results: The HPV DNA was detected in 51.5% of samples tested. Among the HPV DNA positive tumours, 80% contained HPV16. In the analysed group there were 54 men and 14 women. The prevalence of HPV DNA was lower in oral (25%) than in oropharyngeal (57%) tumours, and higher in never smokers (100%) and never drinkers (68.8%). HPV DNA presence was not related to gender, age, number of lifetime sexual partners or practice of oral-genital sex, size of tumour or presence of regional metastases. Conclusions: The difference in the prevalence of HPV DNA positive tumours between cases of oral cavity and oropharyngeal carcinoma exposed and not exposed to tobacco or alcohol support the theory [...]

5/15/2005 Rome, Italy Enzo Maria Ruggeri et al. Head Neck, May 2, 2005 Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been reported to be extremely active in head and neck cancer but has failed to give a statistically significant improvement in survival. Methods: From 1981 to 1994, 33 operable patients with locally advanced oral cavity cancer received cisplatin-based chemotherapy before surgery. Postoperative radiotherapy was performed in high-risk patients. Results: The overall clinical and pathologic complete response rates to neoadjuvant chemotherapy were 48% and 30%, respectively. At a median follow-up of 7.0 years (range, 0.3-15.3+ years), the 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were 54.5% and 39.5%, and the disease-specific median survival was 6.6 years for all patients (8.3 and 2.3 years for stages III and IV, respectively). The univariate analysis showed a positive relationship between survival and male sex (p = .05), pathologic (p = .02), and clinical (p = .03) complete response. The Cox proportional hazard regression model confirmed the independent prognostic value of the clinical response with a 4.67 (95% CI, 1.70-12.86) hazard ratio. A second primary tumor occurred in six patients (18%), with a median of occurrence of 9 years (range, 7-11 years). Conclusions: This study confirms the prolonged survival expectancy largely exceeding 5 years for selected patients with stage IV and for most with stage III locally advanced oral cavity cancer achieving a clinical and/or pathologic complete response to chemotherapy. Authors: Enzo Maria Ruggeri, Paolo Carlini, Camillo Francesco Pollera, Salvatore De Marco, Paolo Ruscito, Paola Pinnaro, Mario Nardi, Diana [...]

5/15/2005 Japan Y Ichimiya et al. Oral Oncol, May 1, 2005; 41(5): 520-5 The medical records of 133 patients with Stage I tongue cancer treated by definitive radiotherapy between 1966 and 2001 were reviewed. Overall survival rate (OS), progression free survival rate (PFS), and survival rate after recurrence were calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method. We investigated prognostic factors for local control and risk factors of late neck LN metastasis. The 5-year OS was 81.8% and the 5-year PFS was 67.2%. The 5-year OS after local recurrence was 100% by salvage operation, and that after neck LN metastasis was 40.7% despite radical neck dissection. Tumor thickness over 5mm and treatment without interstitial irradiation were prognostic factors for local control. Tumor diameter over 15mm and tumor thickness over 5mm were risk factors of late neck LN metastasis. We should consider prophylactic treatment for neck LN for high risk patients with Stage I tongue cancer in order to improve treatment results further. Authors: Y Ichimiya, N Fuwa, M Kamata, T Kodaira, K Furutani, H Tachibana, N Tomita, and S Hidano Authors Affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Aichi Cancer Center, Aichi 464-8681, Japan

5/15/2005 Bradenton, FL Bradenton Herald (www.bradenton,com) Despite the cigar-smokers-don't-inhale argument, there's no safe level of second-hand smoke, according to Patrick Reynolds, president of Los Angeles-based Foundation for a Smoke Free America and grandson of R.J. Reynolds, the tobacco company founder. Second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer or heart disease, Reynolds said. Cigar smokers may also be exposed to a slew of other cancers including mouth cancer, throat cancer and cancer of the gums. Cigars don't carry the same health warnings as cigarettes and chewing tobacco, but can have more nicotine and tar, and can produce 30 times more carbon monoxide, Reynolds said. "Nicotine in cigars is just as addictive, whether you get it from cigarettes or cigars," Reynolds said. Smoke Free America is a nonprofit group that encourages tobacco-free youth and tobacco prevention. Its Web site is www.anti-smoking.org.

5/14/2005 Orlando, FL press release EurekAlert (www.eurekalert.com) Adding a third drug to a standard chemotherapy combination can dramatically improve the survival of patients with advanced head and neck cancer, according to a study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The findings will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting. Previous studies have shown that using combination chemotherapy of cisplatin and 5-fu yields a 25 to 50 percent rate of complete pathological responses (the tumor disappeared). Robert Haddad, MD, and his colleagues found that adding the drug docetaxel (Taxotere) to the cisplatin and 5-fu regimen significantly increased the complete pathological response rate to 89 percent. The data (Abstract 5511) will be presented as a poster discussion session on Saturday, May 14, at 1 p.m., Level 4, 414. Using data obtained from treating 72 patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, the researchers project that the three-drug combination would result in a 95 percent two-year survival rate and a 90 percent five-year survival rate. The majority of these patients have stage IV disease. "These results are very encouraging and in all likelihood will translate into a significantly more effective treatment for patients with advanced head and neck cancer," says Haddad. "This patient population historically has had a poor prognosis, but, given these findings, the outlook is more hopeful." The drug combination is given for three cycles as an initial treatment, known as induction chemotherapy, to shrink tumors prior to several [...]

5/13/2005 Philadelphia, PA press release Eureka Alert (www.eurekalert.com) Dramatically reduce physical trauma for head & neck cancer patients For patients with cancer of the mouth and throat, surgery is a frequent course of treatment, often leading to speech and swallowing dysfunction and external scarring. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, have completed two studies – the most comprehensive and largest to date – that demonstrate the effective use of the daVinci Surgical Robotic SystemÒ to perform Trans-Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS) which greatly reduces surgical trauma for patients. Their initial findings will be presented Monday, May 16th at 11:45 a.m., at the combined annual meetings of otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) experts – the Triologic Society, May 13th through16th, in Boca Raton, Florida. Penn physicians anticipate that the application of the daVinci System to treat mouth and throat cancers will allow for complete tumor removal while helping to preserve voice and swallowing function. "The daVinci Robot has been FDA-approved and successfully integrated into cardiac and urologic surgery. Patients are reaping the benefits with decreased bleeding, less pain, and are able to return to work sooner," said otorhinolaryngologist Neil G. Hockstein, MD, who served as lead investigator for both studies. "I saw the potential to apply the attributes of surgical robotics to the treatment of head and neck cancer and we've successfully devised novel approaches to introduce the robotic arms through the mouth into the throat and voice box." For head and neck [...]

5/13/2005 Orlando, FL Lynne Peterson MedPage Today (www.medpagetoday.com) The most important meeting of the year devoted to the frustrating but relentless pursuit of better treatments of cancer begins tomorrow. It is a critical meeting for cancer doctors to hear the latest approaches to helping their patients live extra weeks, months, or even years. The oncologists will be looking to see how to use drugs to bypass refractory disease and how to outsmart tumors that have developed drug resistance. They will be listening to reports on whether drugs should be given in the adjuvant setting, neoadjuvant setting, or not at all in conjunction with surgery. They will hear reports on chemoradiation plus surgery, or radiation alone, or surgery alone. The variety of reports will be dizzying. For the pharmaceutical industry, a report that a new drug has an effect against a major cancer can add hundreds of millions of dollars, or more, to their fortunes. It doesn't have to be a big advance for a new drug, or a new way to use an older drug. In the cancer world, it's extremely rare to see a home run. Singles are rare enough. As always there will be a mountain of data presented during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, known far and wide as ASCO. But the really "big" findings may sound familiar because the pharmaceutical companies have already released broad-brush accounts -- minus key details -- of some of the most anticipated reports. But the devil [...]

5/11/2005 Rochester, MN Mayo Clinic Staff Mayo Clinic Medical Services Question: My dentist told me to avoid using mouthwash that contains alcohol because it increases the risk of cancer. Is alcohol in mouthwash harmful? Mayo Clinic Staff Response: Alcohol and tobacco are the two main risk factors for head and neck cancer. If you use one or the other, you have an increased risk. If you use both, your risk is even higher. Because many mouthwashes contain alcohol, concerns have been raised about whether the use of these mouthwashes may increase the risk of head and neck cancer. But there's no clear evidence that this is true. If you don't drink alcohol or use tobacco, your risk of head or neck cancer from using alcohol-based mouthwashes is likely very small. If you already use tobacco and alcohol, stop using tobacco and reduce the overall amount of alcohol you drink.

5/10/2005 Austin, TX press release Pharmalive.com Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. is highlighted in the May 2005 issue of Nature Biotechnology in a feature story titled, "Gene Therapy: cursed or inching towards credibility?" The feature, written by Malorye A. Branca, charts the successes and challenges of developing gene based therapies. David G. Nance, Introgen’s President and Chief Executive Officer, is quoted in the Nature Biotechnology article about the advancements in the United States in moving gene therapy products closer to approval. Introgen has recently applied for Accelerated Approval with the FDA as part of its product licensing process for ADVEXIN®, currently in two Phase 3 studies for head and neck cancer. "As the gene therapy field continues its advances, I am reminded of the similarities with development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody therapies," said Mr. Nance. "After much initial promise, monoclonal antibody therapies fell out of favor. Over time, however, the powerful technology was translated into products that are now an important part of standard medical care. I have no doubt that gene therapies will translate into important products, and will define an era in which medicines can be used to treat disease at the fundamental, molecular level. The Nature Biotechnology article chronicles part of the journey, illustrates how far we have come, and heralds the arrival of gene therapy as a commercial product." Introgen’s most advanced product development efforts have focused on gene therapy product candidates, such as the p53 tumor suppressor gene, that are clinically delivered to tumors using specially [...]