October 2008 – Page 3 – Oral Cancer News

Piramal Life Sciences begins Phase II trial of P276 for head and neck cancer

Source: www.equitybulls.com Author: press release Piramal Life Sciences Ltd has announced that a Phase II study for its lead cancer molecule P276 for the treatment of head and neck cancer has been initiated in India. This Phase II study will evaluate the efficacy of P276 in the treatment of head and neck cancer and will enroll approximately 40 patients in about five centres across India. Approximately 200,000 new cases of head and neck cancer in India and 600,000 cases worldwide have been projected for 2008. P276 is an inhibitor of CDKs, the key enzymes involved in the uncontrolled division and multiplication of cancer cells. The molecule has completed two Phase I studies and is being tested in another Phase I/Il trial for Multiple Myeloma in India. Another trial for Multiple Myeloma will start in the US in the near future. Dr. Swati Piramal, Director, Piramal Group, said, "Piramal Life Sciences aims to reduce the burden of disease by finding new and affordable cures for unmet medical needs. Committed to the Group's values - knowledge, action and care, we nurture breakthrough thinking and follow it up with dynamic, nimble-footed delivery to impact lives of millions of people. We are pleased that our clinical trial application for Phase II of P276 has been accepted by the Indian regulatory authorities." Dr. Somesh Sharma, Managing Director, Piramal Life Sciences, stated, "The unique property of the P276 is that it is a small molecule while current targeted therapy for head and neck cancer is a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-17T07:15:22-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Mouth tumors increase; same virus causes cervical cancer

Source: The Oregonian (www.oregonlive.com) Author: Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian St. Louis Ten years ago, most of Dr. Brian Nussenbaum's oral cancer patients were men over 60 who used tobacco and drank heavily. Today, his patients with oral cancer look different. And so does the risky behavior that seems to be leading to their cancer. Nussenbaum, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Washington University, estimates that 70 percent of his cancer patients have tumors on the back of their tongues and tonsils caused by human papillomavirus-16. Most patients are between ages 45 and 55. About half are women. And experts suspect that all got the HPV from oral sex. "We know now that 98 percent of cervical cancer is caused by HPV, and mostly HPV-16," says Nussenbaum. "But no one talks about how you can also get mouth cancer from it." Last week, Dr. Harald zur Hausen, a German doctor and scientist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for finding human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer, the second-most-common cancer among women. In awarding zur Hausen the prize, the Nobel assembly said he "went against current dogma" in the 1970s when he discovered that certain types of HPV caused the cancer and that the DNA of HPV could be found in tumors. More than 20 years passed before researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center reported a link between HPV and these specific throat cancers in 2000. They and other medical experts suspect the increase in HPV oral cancer stems [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-15T14:06:48-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Laser treatment for oral cancer

Source: abclocal.go.com Author: Leslie Toldo A quick zap from a painless laser could stop a deadly form of cancer. HealthFirst reporter Leslie Toldo tells us about this oral cancer breakthrough. Oral cancer has a high death rate compared to some other cancers, and the survival rate isn't improving. But this new treatment could stop it before it starts. They're often detected in a routine dental or doctor's exam -- red or white lesions called leukoplakia that can turn into serious, even deadly oral cancers. "I do happen to know people that have died of this kind of cancer, and so we watch it very closely," said oral cancer survivor Mike Hagerman. Hagerman, a former smoker, is a two-time oral cancer survivor. His leukoplakia is back. This time, he's part of a study testing a new photodynamic laser treatment designed to eliminate precancerous cells. Dr. Stuart Wong is a medical oncologist. "When the laser fires onto the lesion, it emits light at a very specific frequency that causes free oxygen radicals that destroy the lesion." Tested on the hand or used in the mouth on actual lesions, researchers say the laser doesn't hurt. it's a preventive measure that doctor say could save lives. "There is some emerging data that the better we can kill off these early precancerous lesions, that that might translate later down the road many, many years to a decreasing in the development of cancers and that's the goal," Wong noted. Oral cancer has a five-year survival rate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-15T14:00:40-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Merck Serono’s Erbitux nominated for International Prix Galien Award – transforming head and neck cancer treatment

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff Merck Serono's Erbitux® is one of the finalists for the prestigious International Prix Galien Award for excellence in pharmaceutical development and innovation due to its role in transforming the treatment of head and neck cancer. Erbitux is the first and only targeted therapy approved for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and works in a completely different way to conventional chemotherapies. Through its targeted mode of action, Erbitux blocks the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is expressed in more than 90% of SCCHN tumors1 and is directly related to a poor prognosis for patients. The efficacy and tolerability of this novel drug have been shown in clinical trials2 - the latest of which, EXTREMEa, demonstrated the first significant advance in 30 years for the treatment of recurrent and/or metastatic SCCHN. 3 "We are very pleased that Erbitux has been short-listed for arguably the most prestigious award in our industry," said Dr Wolfgang Wein, Executive Vice President, Oncology, Merck Serono. "This recognizes not only the outstanding clinical excellence of Erbitux but also the significant breakthrough that the drug offers patients with head and neck cancer, which is so difficult to treat. Merck Serono is passionate about advancing research across a range of oncology indications and improving the treatments available to cancer patients." Erbitux is licensed in locally-advanced SCCHN on the basis of data demonstrating that in combination with radiotherapy it achieved locoregional control for more than two years, almost 20 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-15T06:32:49-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Racial disparities exist in head and neck cancer outcomes

Source: www.forbes.com Author: staff Blacks and the poor have worse outcomes when it comes to head and neck cancer, researchers say. In a new study, published in the Nov. 15 issue of Cancer, researchers examined the data on diagnosis, coexisting conditions, and procedures performed among 20,915 cases of head and neck cancer. The found a worse prognosis was associated with race, poverty, age, gender, tumor site and stage, treatment type, and history of smoking and alcohol consumption. Specifically, the survival time among blacks was 21 months after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer, compared to 47 months among Hispanics and 40 months among whites. In addition, blacks were diagnosed at a younger age, were diagnosed with more advanced disease, and were less likely to have undergone surgery (45 percent versus 32 percent), when compared with whites. The treatment type did not seem to be the reason for the disparity in outcomes, however. Even among the patients who had surgery, blacks had a shorter survival time than whites. As for socioeconomic status, the patients who lived in communities where the poverty levels exceeded 15 percent were diagnosed with these cancers at a significantly younger age and with more advanced disease. Additionally, average survival time was shorter in patients who lived in areas of the highest poverty rates, regardless of the type of therapy that was received. The authors of the study concluded that racial disparities continue to exist in head and neck cancer outcomes, and that socioeconomic factors also play [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-22T11:56:08-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Impact of tumor board recommendations on treatment outcome for locally advanced head and neck cancer

Source: Oncology, October 8, 2008; 75(3-4): 186-191 Author: Nam P Nguyen et al. Background/Aims: To identify physician selection factors in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer and how treatment outcome is affected by Tumor Board recommendations. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 213 patients treated for locally advanced head and neck cancer in a single institution was performed. All treatments followed Tumor Board recommendations: 115 patients had chemotherapy and radiation, and 98 patients received postoperative radiation. Patient characteristics, treatment toxicity, locoregional control and survival between these two treatment groups were compared. Patient survival was compared with survival data reported in randomized studies of locally advanced head and neck cancer. Results: There were no differences in comorbidity factors, and T or N stages between the two groups. A statistically significant number of patients with oropharyngeal and oral cavity tumors had chemoradiation and postoperative radiation, respectively (p

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-12T17:35:20-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Long-term neck control rates after complete response to chemoradiation in patients with advanced head and neck cancer

Source: Am J Clin Oncol, October 1, 2008; 31(5): 465-9 Author: R Rengan et al. Objectives: To examine the long-term neck failure outcome in patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated on larynx/organ preservation protocols at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Materials and methods: Two hundred thirteen patients were enrolled from 1983 through 1995 on larynx/organ preservation protocols receiving induction chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy alone or with concomitant chemotherapy. Eighty-six patients with node-positive disease received definitive chemoradiotherapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. A median dose of 70 Gy was delivered. The median follow-up of the surviving patients was 9 years. Results: Sixty-five patients with node-positive disease achieved a clinical complete response and were observed after chemoradiation without immediate neck dissection. The crude rate of subsequent neck failure among those patients according to initial nodal classification was: N1 14% (3 of 21), N2: 15% (6 of 40), N3: 0% (0 of 4). The median overall survival of these patients was: N1: 12.2 years; N2: 6.5 years; N3: 0.8 years. Patients who experienced a complete response to induction chemotherapy in the neck had improved overall survival (53% vs. 29%; P = 0.005) and a lower incidence of neck failure (10% vs. 24%; P = 0.14) when compared with those patients who had less than a complete response. Conclusions: Our data suggests that in patients with advanced neck disease who have a clinical complete response in the neck to chemoradiation long-term neck control is 85% or greater without neck dissection. Whether functional imaging [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-12T17:29:57-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Like mother, like daughter – cover story interview with Grandmother Blythe Danner

Source: www.grandmagazineonline.com Author: Mary Hunt Mom to Gwyneth and grandmother to Apple, Emmy Award-winner Blythe Danner at 62 is finding more fame than she ever sought. Blythe Danner, at 62, just set the new record for the number of Emmy nominations for acting in a single year (three). But ask most people to put her name and “superstar” in a sentence, and another name will most likely be added: Blythe Danner is the mother of superstar Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow once told reporter Jeanne Wolf, “I did not set out to be a celebrity. I just wanted to do what my mother did. I don't know how it snowballed into what it snowballed into.” What her mother has done is to have a solid, satisfying career balancing stage, TV and the occasional film. How her mother avoided the snowball was primarily her passion for privacy—and for her family. There was never anything to gossip about with Blythe Danner. She married young and stayed married, and once told a reporter that the only designer wear she owned was Halston—specifically, his Brownie Leader uniform. Today she relishes the role of grandmother, both onscreen (with Robert DeNiro as her husband, in Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers) and off, calling herself “a doting grandmother” to 20-month-old Apple Blythe Martin, Gwyneth's daughter. It all sounds pretty wholesome for a woman whose first big career move was in her underwear. In 1969, Danner made her Broadway debut in Butterflies Are Free, at the age of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-12T17:18:03-07:00October, 2008|OCF In The News|

The Australian PET Data Collection Project is amassing more evidence that shows that PET positively changes management plans for cancer patients

Source: Journal of Nuclear Medicine (October 2008, Vol. 49:10, pp. 1593-1599) Author: Dr. Andrew Scott et al. Led by Dr. Andrew Scott, director of the Centre for PET at Austin Hospital in Melbourne, the newest research shows that PET provides important prognostic information in a large proportion of patients with untreated head and neck cancer, and detects additional sites of disease. The prospective study, published in the October issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine (October 2008, Vol. 49:10, pp. 1593-1599), was conducted at three Australian PET centers between December 17, 2003, and June 3, 2005. The criteria for enrollment included patients who previously had untreated carcinoma of the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx, or had metastatic disease involving cervical lymph nodes from an unknown primary. Patients underwent examination under anesthesia and biopsy to confirm their diagnosis of cancer. Contrast-enhanced CT of the neck was required within six weeks of the PET scan. Patients fasted for a minimum of six hours before the PET study and received a dose of 120-440 MBq FDG intravenously. After a minimum uptake period of 45 minutes, researchers acquired PET data from the skull vertex to at least the lower abdomen. Treatment plans Before receiving the results of the PET scans, researchers asked referring clinicians to document their management plan for the patient, as if PET findings were not available, but with access to all other clinical and conventional imaging results. The management plan provided information on options such as surgery, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-10T03:50:59-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Green card applicants mandated to get HPV vaccine

Source: www.therapeuticsdaily.com Author: staff A new requirement that girls as young as 11 be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus before they can become legal U.S. residents is unfair, immigration advocates say. The federal rule added Gardasil to the list of vaccinations that female immigrants ages 11 to 26 must get before they can obtain "green cards." The series of three shots over six months protects against the strains of the human papillomavirus blamed for most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts. But the vaccine is one of the most expensive on the market and controversial. "This is a huge economic, social and cultural barrier to immigrants who are coming into America," said Tuyet Duong, senior staff attorney for the Immigration and Immigrant Rights Program at the Asian American Justice Center. At a cost of $400, Gardasil places an added burden on green card applicants already paying more than $1,000 in form fees and hundreds of dollars for mandatory medical exams, advocates say. The mandate potentially affects tens of thousands of women and girls annually. More than 200,000 women and girls ages 10 to 29 were granted legal permanent resident status each of the past two years. Past efforts to require the vaccine for American girls has stirred emotional debate and complaints that such mandates intrude on family decisions about sex education. In Texas, lawmakers last year fought off an order by Gov. Rick Perry requiring the shots for sixth grade girls amid questions about vaccine's safety, efficacy and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-07T08:11:31-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|