August 2008 – Page 3 – Oral Cancer News

Current concepts in management of oral cancer – Surgery

Source: Oral Oncol, July 30, 2008 Authors: Jatin P Shah and Ziv Gil Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, with a high prevalence in South Asia. Tobacco and alcohol consumption remain the most dominant etiologic factors, however HPV has been recently implicated in oral cancer. Surgery is the most well established mode of initial definitive treatment for a majority of oral cancers. The factors that affect choice of treatment are related to the tumor and the patient. Primary site, location, size, proximity to bone, and depth of infiltration are factors which influence a particular surgical approach. Tumors that approach or involve the mandible require specific understanding of the mechanism of bone involvement. This facilitates the employment of mandible sparing approaches such as marginal mandibulectomy and mandibulotomy. Reconstruction of major surgical defects in the oral cavity requires use of a free flap. The radial forearm free flap provides excellent soft tissue and lining for soft tissue defects in the oral cavity. The fibula free flap remains the choice for mandibular reconstruction. Over the course of the past thirty years there has been improvement in the overall survival of patients with oral carcinoma largely due to the improved understanding of the biology of local progression, early identification and treatment of metastatic lymph nodes in the neck, and employment of adjuvant post-operative radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. The role of surgery in primary squamous cell carcinomas in other sites in the head and neck has evolved with integration of multidisciplinary treatment approaches [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-15T17:17:34-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Fight Against Cancer: Patient vs. Process

Why One Cancer Patient Is Fighting a Drug Company Working on a Cure Source: abcnews.go.com Author: John Donovan On this relatively good morning in the course of her mom's inoperable cancer, Jackie Loughman, of Indianapolis, knows some facts about pain that she wishes she didn't. "She is mostly in bed and in pain all the time, and, you know, it is hard to watch," Loughman said of her mother, Connie. But the fact really throwing Jackie and Connie is that there is a drug out there that has saved at least one pancreatic cancer patient — and Connie can't get it. Richard Jordan, a Colorado landscaper, was supposed to be dead by now, but he got into a trial for the drug TNFerade. His wife called it "a miracle." Jordan's oncologist, Dr. Raj J. Shah of the University of Colorado, said, "The remarkable thing of his story is that he went on to surgery — but more importantly, when they removed the mass, no cancer was left or seen. With pancreatic cancer, the complete response is really rare." Connie is disqualified from the TNFerade trial by her participation in an earlier trial for a different drug that she says made her sick. TNFerade is made in Maryland by a small firm called GenVec, which told Jackie and ABC News in a statement: "We are working aggressively to advance our product candidate, TNFerade, through the required clinical studies and regulatory review process. ... Unfortunately, this process makes it impossible for GenVec [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-14T17:35:58-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Evidence-Based Recommendations for Cancer Fatigue, Anorexia, Depression, and Dyspnea

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 26, No 23 (August 10), 2008: pp. 3886-3895 Authors: Sydney M. Dy et al. Purpose: The experience of patients with cancer often involves symptoms of fatigue, anorexia, depression, and dyspnea. Methods: We developed a set of standards through an iterative process of structured literature review and development and refinement of topic areas and standards and subjected recommendations to rating by a multidisciplinary expert panel. Results: For fatigue, providers should screen patients at the initial visit, for newly identified advanced cancer, and at chemotherapy visits; assess for depression and insomnia in newly identified fatigue; and follow up after treatment for fatigue or a secondary cause. For anorexia, providers should screen at the initial visit for cancer affecting the oropharynx or gastrointestinal tract or advanced cancer, evaluate for associated symptoms, treat underlying causes, provide nutritional counseling for patients undergoing treatment that may affect nutritional intake, and follow up patients given appetite stimulants. For depression, providers should screen newly diagnosed patients, those started on chemotherapy or radiotherapy, those with newly identified advanced disease, and those expressing a desire for hastened death; document a treatment plan in diagnosed patients; and follow up response after treatment. For general dyspnea, providers should evaluate for causes of new or worsening dyspnea, treat or symptomatically manage underlying causes, follow up to evaluate treatment effectiveness, and offer opioids in advanced cancer when other treatments are unsuccessful. For dyspnea and malignant pleural effusions, providers should offer thoracentesis, follow up after thoracentesis, and offer pleurodesis [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-14T17:21:09-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Study: Feelings Don’t Alter Cancer Survival

Source: Gather (www.gather.com) Author: Harvard Health Publications Many people believe that a positive outlook can improve your chances of beating disease. But is it true? It's hard to know for sure. Clearly, people respond in a variety of ways after being told that they have a serious illness. But no one has proven that an optimistic outlook can help you overcome a serious illness. It's also possible that outlook or psychological makeup could have very different effects on people with different diseases. A study published last fall took a look at how people's emotional state affects their disease outcome. The study, which was published in medical journal Cancer, included more than 1,000 people with head and neck cancer. During their treatment, each person answered a detailed survey. It contained questions on emotional well-being. These assessed what people thought about their quality of life and whether they had a positive or negative outlook. Researchers also took account of other important factors (such as tumor location and size). They found that emotions had no effect on survival. This follows other recent research about the effects of attitude, outlook, or emotional state on cancer survival. Together, these studies challenge the notion that attitudes help (or hurt) the chance of surviving a serious illness. So, does this mean that it's worthless to try to keep a positive attitude during serious illness? Probably not. A positive outlook can be helpful whether it's part of trying to stay healthy or dealing with an illness. For example, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-06T03:49:59-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Spit Sensor Spots Oral Cancer

Source: MIT Review (www.technologyreview.com) Author: Brittany Sauser An ultrasensitive optical protein sensor analyzes saliva. For the first time, an optical sensor, developed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), can measure proteins in saliva that are linked to oral cancer. The device is highly sensitive, allowing doctors and dentists to detect the disease early, when patient survival rates are high. The researchers are currently working with the National Institute of Health (NIH) to push the technology to clinical tests so that it can be developed into a device that can be used in dentists' offices. Chih-Ming Ho, a scientist at UCLA and principal investigator for the sensor, says that it is a versatile instrument and can be used to detect other disease-specific biomarkers. When oral cancer is identified in its early stages, patient survival rate is almost 90 percent, compared with 50 percent when the disease is advanced, says Carter Van Waes, chief of head and neck surgery at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 35,310 new cases of oral cancer in the United States in 2008. Early forms are hard to detect just by visual examination of the mouth, says Van Waes, so physicians either have to perform a biopsy--remove tissue for testing--or analyze proteins in blood. Detecting cancer biomarkers in saliva would be a much easier test to perform, but it is also technically more challenging: protein markers are harder to spot [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-06T03:41:01-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Bold cancer therapy begins crucial trials

Source: Houston Chronicle (Chron.com) Author: Eric Berger The buzz surrounding gold nanoshells, a radical new approach to treating cancer, began shortly after their creation in Houston a decade ago. The work by Rice University scientists prompted U.S. Rep. John Culberson, a nanotechnology enthusiast whose district includes Rice, to declare that cancer was "cured." And when the National Institute of Cancer announced a massive influx of funding into nanotechnology -- the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale -- nanoshells became its poster child. But cancer hasn't been cured, and drugs touted as magic bullets litter the history of cancer research. So what of nanoshells? Are they all sizzle, no substance? It's a question that's not yet answerable but may be soon. Without fanfare, the Houston company formed to develop nanoshells, Nanospectra Biosciences, has just begun its first human clinical trial, treating a patient with head and neck cancer. The company hopes to heat nanoshells in the tumor with near-infrared light, burning the cancerous growth away. For the company and for Houston, the trial marks a big step. Nanoshells -- tiny spheres of glass coated with gold -- are the first engineered nanomaterial to enter into human trials. And discoveries made in Houston labs are typically developed by biotechnology firms elsewhere, such as Boston or San Diego. "I'm thrilled," said Naomi Halas, the Rice chemist who created nanoshells in 1997 and realized a few years later their potential to treat cancer. "There's no question it's been a long road, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-04T17:26:57-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Scientists Develop Sensitive Salivary Sensor

Source: Kansas City Infozine (www.infozine.com) Author: staff For people who dislike needles, medical tests that require a drop of saliva instead of a vial of blood will one day make a trip to a doctor or dentist much easier. But as scientists now construct the first of these saliva tests for early signs of cancer and other diseases, they continue to push the technological envelope in interesting ways. As published in the August issue of the journal "Biosensors and Bioelectronics," a team of researchers supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, report they have developed an ultra-sensitive optical protein sensor, a first for a salivary diagnostic test. The sensor can be integrated into a specially designed lab-on-a-chip, or microchip assay, and preprogrammed to bind a specific protein of interest, generating a sustained fluorescent signal as the molecules attach. A microscope then reads the intensity of the fluorescent light -- a measure of the protein's cumulative concentration in the saliva sample -- and scientists gauge whether it corresponds with levels linked to developing disease. In their initial experiments, the scientists primed the optical protein sensor to detect the IL-8 protein, which at higher than normal concentration in saliva is linked to oral cancer. Using saliva samples from 20 people -- half healthy, the others diagnosed with oral cancer -- the sensor correctly distinguished in all cases between health and disease. Importantly, the sensor achieved a limit of detection for IL-8 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-04T17:13:40-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

New Research Results Explain How Dormant Tumor Cells Become Active in Later Years

Source: NIH News Release (www.nci.nih.gov) Author: news release Scientists using a three-dimensional cell culture system have identified a mechanism by which dormant, metastatic tumor cells can begin growing again after long periods of inactivity. The new findings indicate that the switch from dormancy to proliferative, metastatic growth may be regulated, in part, through signaling from the surrounding microenvironment, which leads to changes in the skeletal architecture of dormant tumor cells. Targeting this mechanism may also provide strategies for inhibiting the switch from dormancy to proliferation. The results of this study by National Cancer Institute (NCI) scientists and their collaborators, appears in the August 1, 2008, issue of "Cancer Research." NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health. The recurrence of breast cancer often follows a long latent period in which there are no signs of cancer, and metastases may not become clinically apparent until many years after removal of the primary tumor and follow-up therapy. According to NCI's Jeffrey E. Green, M.D., one of the lead researchers of this study, "Recent evidence suggests that, in many cases, tumor cells have already seeded metastatic sites even when the primary tumor is diagnosed at an early stage." Approximately 30 percent of breast cancer patients diagnosed with early-stage disease have been found to have breast cancer cells in their bone marrow. However, these cells seem to exist primarily as micrometastases that do not manifest themselves clinically in any way. Although many of these disseminated tumor cells may not survive for extended periods [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-04T17:06:58-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

How do antioxidants work?

Source: media-newswire.com Author: K. Sandeep Prabhu Blueberries, pomegranates, green tea and dark chocolate -- these are just some of the antioxidant-rich "superfoods" found in almost any supermarket today. As well as improving our general health, there is growing evidence that diets high in antioxidants may confer some protection against a long list of chronic diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, cancer and even HIV. Given their increasing popularity, the fundamental question bears asking: What exactly are antioxidants, and how do they work in our bodies? Antioxidants come in several forms, including the vitamins A, C and E; plant-derived polyphenols, found in colorful fruits and vegetables; and also the element selenium, found in nuts and broccoli. "What these compounds share," explained K. Sandeep Prabhu, Penn State assistant professor of immunology and molecular toxicology, "is the ability to neutralize harmful molecules in our cells." These harmful molecules, known as free radicals, contain unpaired electrons -- which is unusual because electrons typically come in pairs. "The unpaired electrons make free radicals highly reactive, and in this state, they can cause damage by attacking the components of our cells, and can even cause cancer," Prabhu said. So where do free radicals come from? Some are created as a natural by-product of reactions in our cells, said Prabhu. Other sources of free radicals include cigarette smoke, air pollution and exposure to UV light or radiation. Once free radicals are formed, they can make more free radicals by scavenging electrons from other molecules, "creating a domino effect," he [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-02T06:56:51-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Targeted Exercise Improves Function, Lessens Pain in Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

Source: Abkhazia (www.abkhazia.com) Author: Ramaz Mitaishvili Progressive resistance exercise training following surgery helps reduce upper extremity pain and dysfunction in certain head and neck cancer survivors, according to Canadian researchers. "The trial," lead investigator Dr. Margaret L McNeely told Reuters Health, "demonstrates important improvements from progressive resistance exercise training on shoulder pain and disability, upper extremity strength and movement in post-neck-dissection head and neck cancer survivors." In the July 1st issue of Cancer, Dr. McNeely of the University of Alberta, Edmonton and colleagues observe that shoulder pain and disability are well known complications of surgery in such patients. In an earlier pilot study, the researchers found that progressive resistance exercise appeared to be beneficial, and in the current study they randomized 52 patients to the progressive approach or to a standardized therapeutic exercise protocol. At 12 weeks, intention-to-treat analysis showed that patient-rated disability and pain overall fell by 14.6 points in the progressive group compared to 4.8 in the standard group, a significant difference after adjustment. There were also significantly greater improvements in upper extremity strength and endurance in the progressive group than in the standard group. In addition, there was a trend towards reduced neck-dissection impairment and fatigue, and improved quality of life. Given these encouraging results, Dr. McNeely concluded that "the addition of progressive resistance exercise training to standard physical therapy should be considered in the rehabilitation of head and neck cancer survivors."

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-02T06:51:14-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|