12/19/2005 Philadelphia, PA Warren R. Froelich Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) A vast code, invisible to the DNA sequencing effort that constituted the Human Genome Project, is rapidly being shown to play a direct role in human health. This "epigenome" - from the Greek epi, meaning "in addition to" - consists of chemical "amendments" that dangle like charms on a bracelet from the linear string of letters that spell out the genetic code. Now, an international group of 40 leading cancer scientists says the time is ripe to undertake a large-scale international "Human Epigenome Project" designed to map the chemical modifications to DNA that comprise the epigenetic code. Their proposal, "A Blueprint for a Human Epigenome Project" -- published in the December 15, 2005 issue of Cancer Research -- summarizes the findings of an AACR-sponsored workshop held June 15-18, 2005, in Lansdowne, Va. "Definition of the human epigenome and its application to developing diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic tools will likely produce some of the earliest translational research benefits flowing from large-scale genome initiatives to the bedside," said Frank Rauscher, III, Ph.D., editor-in-chief of Cancer Research. "It is time to create a concerted international effort to unlock the epigenomic information stored in our genome and use it for the benefit of human health," he added. The new report spells out the needs, guidelines and expectations of a Human Epigenome Project (HEP), and describes the developing technologies that make the project currently feasible. "One of the most exciting points to emerge from the [...]

12/17/2005 Thiruvananthapuram, India staff New India Press (www.newindpress.com) The research team of the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) and the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, headed by Dr Ramdas and Dr M Radhakrishna Pillai, has developed a mouthwash for patients suffering from oral cancer. “Oral cancer patients suffer a lot after radiation treatment. The mouth gets burned and saliva formation comes down making the mouth dry. There will also be a lot of inflammation,'' said Dr Radhakrishna Pillai. The patients will have difficulty in swallowing and they have to suffer a lot of pain. “There have also been instances when we had to stop the radiation in between. This mouthwash that we have developed is meant for such patients. It will definitely reduce their agony,'' said Dr Pillai. One major advantage of this mouthwash is that it is inexpensive. While cancer-supporting care is very expensive, this mouthwash costs less than 1 Rupee. The mouthwash is non-toxic as it is herbal in origin. Developed from three plants, the combination mouthwash is awaiting a global patent for which the application has already been filed through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The formal clinical trials, randomised as well as multilocation trials, will begin as soon as the patent is granted. “Once it is available in the market, the cost of supporting care for oral cancer will drastically come down,'' said Dr Pillai. The mouthwash helps in controlling bacterial infection as well as blister-formation in the mouth. Saliva formation has also been [...]

12/16/2005 Houston, TX staff Newswise (www.newswise.com) Can most types of cancers be prevented? It's a question that has emerged in the past 20 years, given advances in screening and early diagnosis, rapid developments in genetics and molecular biology, and progress in the treatment of early disease and in next-generation targeted therapies. And finding answers is one of the top goals of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, which has one of the largest cancer prevention research programs in the world. M. D. Anderson was among the first to begin dedicated prevention research efforts in the late 1970s. A decade ago, nine faculty were working on 23 projects - a pursuit that was regarded as trend-setting at the time. The cancer center's focus on prevention has grown so much in recent years that the 48 faculty, involved in 140-plus research projects and clinical programs valued at more than $20 million in 2005 alone, just moved into the new Cancer Prevention Building. In addition to housing faculty offices, the building's Cancer Prevention Center and new Behavioral Research and Treatment Center provide advanced early detection and risk-reduction services and state-of-the-art biobehavioral and psychosocial research venues. These two centers involve only a sliver of the basic and applied research under way. In short, the researchers, physicians, nurses, employees and volunteers that staff this building aim to bring about a future that may some day be free of cancer. They also are the first to say that attaining this goal will not [...]

12/16/2005 Cleveland, OH staff Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com) U.S. orthodontists are increasingly using cone beam computerized tomography to diagnose complicated oral health problems. Scientists from the department of orthodontics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and from the Department of Dental Health and Biological Sciences at the University of Wales' College of Medicine recently conducted a study of four new CBCT systems. "The long awaited incorporation of the third dimension to our radiographic records is now a reality," the researchers said. "There is still room for improvements; however the CBCT technology appears to be here to stay." While the first generation scanners in 1967 gave slice-by-slice images, the researchers said the newest generation of CBCT scanners sweeps the head and face, providing multiple stacks of images to give a full head view of the bone and tissue structures in three dimensions in less than one minute, reducing radiation exposure to 20 percent of convention CT imaging systems. The researchers said the images taken with CBCT technologies are so swift they can capture a heart beat. Source: The study is detailed in the December issue of the Journal of Orthodontics.

12/14/2005 Hoboken, NJ staff newsinferno.com (www.newsinferno.com) A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota reveals that the consumption of high levels of dietary iron is linked to an increased risk of throat and stomach cancer. The study, which was led by Dr. David R. Jacobs and published in the International Journal of Cancer, looked at data from the Iowa Women’s Health Study which surveyed 34,708 postmenopausal women between the ages of 55 and 69 about their food consumption. The study was conducted over the course of 16 years. During that time, there were reports of 52 cases of stomach cancer and 23 cases of throat cancer. Researchers identified a positive correlation between iron intake and the risk of these upper digestive tract cancers. The opposite connection was observed between zinc intake and the risk of cancer. Other potential risk factors such as body mass index, hormone replacement therapy, physical activity, multivitamin intake, and the intake of saturated fat, retinol, vitamin C, vitamin E, and folate from food supplements were not considered in terms of their effect on the results. According to the researchers; “Our current and previous results strongly suggest that both iron and zinc play important roles in carcinogenesis of digestive tract, probably through the mechanism of oxidative stress.”

12/14/2005 Bethesda, MD Aimee r. Kreimer et al. Int J Cancer, December 5, 2005 Tobacco and alcohol use are the main risk factors for oral and oropharyngeal cancers, yet, dietary habits may also be of importance. Data from a series of case-control studies conducted in 9 countries worldwide (1,670 cases and 1,732 controls) were used to investigate the role of several food groups and body mass index (BMI). Low BMI significantly increased the odds ratio (OR) of cancer more than 2-fold among ever- and never-tobacco users and ever- and never-alcohol drinkers. After adjustment for potential confounders, high intake of fruits and vegetables significantly reduced the OR of cancer compared to low intake among ever-tobacco users (OR 0.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.3-0.6), although not among never-tobacco users (OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.6-2.0). Similarly, the protective effect of high fruit and vegetable consumption was present among ever-drinkers (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.3-0.6), but not among never-drinkers (OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.6-1.6). In conclusion, low BMI increases the risk of oral cancer, and vegetables and fruits may modulate the carcinogenic effects of tobacco and alcohol. Authors: Aimee R Kreimer, Giorgia Randi, Rolando Herrero, Xavier Castellsague, Carlo La Vecchia, and Silvia Franceschi Authors' affiliation: Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

12/12/2005 Austin, TX staff www.news3austin.com The American Cancer Society predicts nearly 30,000 new cases of cancer in the oral cavity and pharynx will be diagnosed in 2005. It is more common in men than women -- primarily in men over age 50. People who use tobacco products and alcohol heavily are at an increased risk. Signs of oral cancer may include a sore that bleeds easily and doesn't heal, a lump or a thickening, a red or white patch that doesn't go away, or difficulties swallowing. Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are all used, depending on many factors. "In the last 10 years or so, a lot more attempts are being made to treat patients non-surgically to avoid the functional and anatomic problems that come from surgery in the head and neck area," Dr. Bill Carroll, an otolaryngologist at the University of Alabama, said. As a result, doctors are using aggressive treatments of chemotherapy and radiation. "Radiation and chemotherapy are very effective in controlling a lot of these cancers, so the cancer cells die, but there is a price to be paid in the normal tissue," Carroll said. Radiation causes a lot of scar tissue, so patients lose not only many of the salivary glands but also the normal flexibility of the tissue. As a result, patients have severe pain while undergoing treatment. Patients have a feeding tube inserted prior to the beginning of treatment so at the height of their pain they can still get nutrients. Carroll and his colleagues [...]

12/11/2005 New York, NY Graciela Flores Reuters (today.reuters.com) For people with cancer of the larynx or lower pharynx, continuing to smoke or drink alcohol make it less likely that they'll survive, while eating a diet rich in vegetables and vitamin C improves their survival, a new study shows. "One might think, now I that have cancer, what's the point of stopping smoking? But there is clearly a benefit in doing that; it will improve your survival," Dr. Rajesh P. Dikshit commented to Reuters Health. Tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and diet have all been linked to the development of cancer in the larynx, or voicebox, and the area immediately above it at the back of the throat, the hypopharynx. However, little was known about the role of these risk factors on the survival of patients with these cancers. Dikshit, working for the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and his colleagues conducted a study to analyze the survival of patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer. They followed 931 patients who had enrolled in a previous cancer study that had started in the early 80s, and analyzed the role of tobacco, alcohol and diet on cancer outcome in these patients for up to 21 years. As they report in the International Journal of Cancer, the investigators found that smoking was the most important factor adversely affecting the patient's survival, particularly in those patients with tumors in the larynx. "This is a very important finding," Dikshit told Reuters Health. "We [...]

12/10/2005 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Jamie VanGeest The Minnesota Daily (www.mndaily.com) Sue Linder sat in the dentist’s chair staring into the bright light as doctors examined the crevices of her mouth. Two months ago, Linder of Bloomington had a sore in her mouth that wouldn’t go away. Her dentist referred her to the country’s only oral clinic that studies and treats precancerous mouth lesions. The clinic is a part of the University’s Academic Health Center. While Linder attempted to proudly speak about her daughter’s job with a newspaper in Fort Worth, Texas, Frank Ondrey, an ear, nose and throat doctor from the Medical School, and Nelson Rhodus, a professor of oral medicine at the University’s School of Dentistry, inspected her mouth. Linder is participating in a study to test a new drug. The drug treats cells of the mouth so they don’t become cancerous, Rhodus said. Oral cancer is the sixth-most common cancer in the United States. Half of people with oral cancer die within five years. Oral cancer has a survival rate worse than breast, colon and lung cancers, he said. Survival rates haven’t improved for oral cancer in the past 30 years, unlike with other cancers. This means there has not been a lot of research on the disease, Rhodus said. Ninety percent of people aren’t even aware that oral cancer exists, and many health care professionals aren’t either, he said. In the past, cases of oral cancer have been more prevalent in older people who smoke and drink [...]

12/10/2005 Sweden staff Join Together (www.jointogether.org) Swedish researchers said in a new report that use of wet snuff, or "snus," increases the risk of oral and pancreatic cancer and fatal heart disease -- findings that were attacked by snuff maker Swedish Match, Reuters reported Dec. 6. The research review by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health and the Karolinska Institute concluded that the snus -- sometimes touted as a safer alternative to smoking -- carries health hazards of its own. About one in five Swedes uses snus. "A review of findings from recent years ... shows that Swedish snuff is carcinogenic and raises the risk of death from heart disease," the report said. Swedish Match insisted that snus is less dangerous than smoking, noting that Swedes have lower rates of tobacco-related diseases. "That which is presented as an unbiased, scientific report has been adjusted to fit with the Institute of Public Health's anti-snuff attitude," the company said in a statement.