November 2009 – Page 5 – Oral Cancer News

Rice wins NIH funding for oral-cancer test

Source: www.nanotech-now.com Author: staff The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers in Rice University's new BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) a $2 million Grand Opportunity (GO) grant to develop a fast, inexpensive test for oral cancer that a dentist could perform simply by using a brush to collect a small sample of cells from a patient's mouth. "We want to provide an accurate diagnosis for oral cancer in less than 30 minutes using a minimally invasive test that requires no scalpels or off-site lab tests," said principal investigator John McDevitt, Rice's Brown-Wiess Professor in Bioengineering and Chemistry. "The payoff for this could be tremendous because oral cancers today are typically diagnosed much too late in their development." NIH established the GO grant program to support projects that address large, specific research endeavors that are likely to deliver near-term growth and investment in biomedical research and development, public health and health care delivery. GO grant funding was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If oral cancer is detected early, the prognosis for patients is excellent, with a five-year survival rate of more than 90 percent. Unfortunately, the actual five-year survival rate for oral squamous cell carcinoma is only about 50 percent, among the lowest rates for all major cancers. Oral squamous cell carcinoma affects about 300,000 people per year worldwide, and most cases are diagnosed in their late stages. The new test is possible because of a novel microchip invented in McDevitt's lab. This "lab-on-a-chip" uses the latest [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T13:38:46-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Autofluorescence-guided surveillance for oral cancer

Source: cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org Authors: Vijayvel Jayaprakash et al. Early detection of oral premalignant lesions (OPL) and oral cancers (OC) is critical for improved survival. We evaluated if the addition of autofluorescence visualization (AFV) to conventional white-light examination (WLE) improved the ability to detect OPLs/OCs. Sixty high-risk patients, with suspicious oral lesions or recently diagnosed untreated OPLs/OCs, underwent sequential surveillance with WLE and AFV. Biopsies were obtained from all suspicious areas identified on both examinations (n = 189) and one normal-looking control area per person (n = 60). Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were calculated for WLE, AFV, and WLE + AFV. Estimates were calculated separately for lesions classified by histopathologic grades as low-grade lesions, high-grade lesions (HGL), and OCs. Sequential surveillance with WLE + AFV provided a greater sensitivity than WLE in detecting low-grade lesions (75% versus 44%), HGLs (100% versus 71%), and OCs (100% versus 80%). The specificity in detecting OPLs/OCs decreased from 70% with WLE to 38% with WLE + AFV. Thirteen of the 76 additional biopsies (17%) obtained based on AFV findings were HGLs/OCs. Five patients (8%) were diagnosed with a HGL/OC only because of the addition of AFV to WLE. In seven patients, additional HGL/OC foci or wider OC margins were detected on AFV. Additionally, AFV aided in the detection of metachronous HGL/OC in 6 of 26 patients (23%) with a history of previously treated head and neck cancer. Overall, the addition of AFV to WLE improved the ability to detect HGLs/OCs. In spite of the lower [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T13:17:24-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Green tea shows promise as chemoprevention agent for oral cancer, M. D. Anderson study finds

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: press release Green tea extract has shown promise as cancer prevention agent for oral cancer in patients with a pre-malignant condition known as oral leukoplakia, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The study, published online in Cancer Prevention Research, is the first to examine green tea as a chemopreventative agent in this high-risk patient population. The researchers found that more than half of the oral leukoplakia patients who took the extract had a clinical response. Long investigated in laboratory, epidemiological and clinical settings for several cancer types, green tea is rich in polyphenols, which have been known to inhibit carcinogenesis in preclinical models. Still, clinical results have been mixed. "While still very early, and not definitive proof that green tea is an effective preventive agent, these results certainly encourage more study for patients at highest risk for oral cancer," said Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and the study's senior author. "The extract's lack of toxicity is attractive - in prevention trials, it's very important to remember that these are otherwise healthy individuals and we need to ensure that agents studied produce no harm." In the Phase II dose-finding study, 41 M. D. Anderson oral leukoplakia patients were randomized between August 2002 and March 2008 to receive either green tea extract or placebo. Participants took the extract, an oral agent, for three months at one of three doses - 500 per [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T13:05:14-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Chemoradiation confers long-term benefits in head and neck cancer

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Zosia Chustecka In patients with head and neck cancer who do not undergo surgery, chemotherapy with nonplatinum agents given concurrently with radiotherapy offers clear benefits for recurrence and survival, say the authors of one of the largest and longest randomized trials carried out in this patient group. Event-free survival in patients who received concomitant chemoradiation was double that seen in patients who received radiotherapy alone or in those who received chemotherapy after radiation (with or without concurrent chemotherapy). Overall survival was also nearly doubled, although this result was not statistically significant. These benefits persisted for 10 years, the researchers note in their report published online October 27 in the Lancet Oncology. The results come from the UK Head and Neck (UKHAN1) trial, headed by Jeremy Tobias, FRCP, from the Department of Clinical Oncology, University College Hospital, London, United Kingdom. Chemoradiation as a treatment option for head and neck cancer is still rather controversial, Dr. Tobias told Medscape Oncology, and there are some physicians who would consider using radiation alone. "I think this study has gone quite a long way toward showing that chemotherapy given simultaneously with radiation is useful," he said. The benefits were "so striking that they trump any additional toxicity," he added. However, chemotherapy given after radiation did not confer any benefit, and it increased toxicity. Also, there was no benefit from the addition of chemotherapy to radiation in patients with head and neck cancer who had undergone surgery. Details of the Long-Term Results The [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T07:45:25-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Risk factors and survival by HPV-16 E6 and E7 antibody status in human papillomavirus positive head and neck cancer

Source: Int J Cancer, October 28, 2009 Author: Elaine M Smith et al. High-risk human papillomavirus types (HPV-HR) are associated with head and neck cancer (HNC) risk and better survival. Most patients with HPV-HR DNA-positive tumors develop anti-HPV E6/E7 antibodies; however, it is unclear whether those who mount an immune response have similar risk factors or clinical outcomes as those who do not. HPV-16 DNA tumor-positive HNC cases were evaluated for HPV-16 E6 and E7 antibodies using a GST capture ELISA system. Among 57 HPV-16 DNA tumor-positive HNC cases, 67% were detected with HPV-16 E6 and/or E7 antibodies. Male gender (76% versus 42%, p=0.02), younger age (63% versus 16%, p=0.001) but not tobacco or alcohol were associated with E6 and/or E7 seropositivity. Seropositivity was associated more often with late stage (76%), poor grade (65%), positive nodes (82%). and in the oropharynx (82%), Median disease-specific and recurrence-free survival were longer in E6 and/or E7 seropositive compared to E6/E7-negative cases (2.2 years vs. 1.4 years, both outcomes), although results were not statistically significant. When examined jointly with p16 expression, E6 and/or E7-positive/p16-positive cases had better disease-specific (2.1 years vs. 1.1 years, p=0.06) and recurrence-free (2.3 years vs. 1.1 years, p=0.03) survival compared to E6-/E7-/p16- cases. These findings suggest there are two distinct HNC patient groups with HPV DNA-positive tumors, distinguishable by E6 and/or E7 antibody status. Differences in antibody status are associated with distinct risk factors and clinical outcomes. This information can be available as a simple blood test at initial presentation, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T07:38:00-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cepharanthin effect on radiation-induced xerostomia and taste disorder in patients with head and neck cancer

Source: Nippon Jibiinkoka Gakkai Kaiho, September 1, 2009; 112(9): 648-55 Author: R Shimazu et al. In evaluating the effect of cepharanthin on and taste disorder in 40 patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, we administered cepharanthin intravenously during chemoradiotherapy to 22 patients, with 18 others as a control group. Cepharanthin did not significantly affect salivary secretion during and after chemoradiotherapy, although taste disorder and oral discomfort were alleviated. Cepharanthin may thus be effective in maintaining the quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer. Authors: R Shimazu, G Tanaka, R Tomiyama, Y Kuratomi, and A Inokuchi Authors' affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T07:32:56-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Comparative prognostic value of HPV16 E6 mRNA compared with in situ hybridization for human oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 10.1200/JCO.2009.23.1670 Author: Wei Shi et al. Purpose: A significant proportion of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) are associated with the human papilloma virus (HPV), particularly HPV16. The optimal method for HPV determination on archival materials however, remains unclear. We compared a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay for HPV16 mRNA to a DNA in situ hybridization (ISH) method, and evaluated their significance for overall (OS) and disease-free (DFS) survival. Patients and Methods: Matched, archival biopsies from 111 patients with OSCC were evaluated for HPV16 using a qRT-PCR for E6 mRNA and ISH for DNA. Immunohistochemistry for p16, p53, and epidermal growth factor receptor were also performed. Results: HPV16 E6 mRNA was positive in 73 (66%) of 111 samples; ISH was positive in 62 of 106 samples (58%), with 86% concordance. P16 was overexpressed in 72 samples (65%), which was strongly associated with HPV16 status by either method. E6 mRNA presence or p16 overexpression were significantly associated with superior OS; E6 mRNA, HPV16 ISH, or p16 were all significantly associated with DFS. On multivariate analysis adjusted for age, stage, and treatment, positive E6 mRNA was the only independent predictor for superior OS; for DFS, p16 expression or HPV16 status determined by either method was significant. Conclusion: The prevalence of HPV16 in OSCC ranges from 58% to 66%, in a recently treated Canadian cohort. Classification of HPV-positivity by HPV16 E6 mRNA, HPV16 ISH or p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC) is associated with improved DFS. However, the latter two [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T07:30:00-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccination: inaccurate assumptions about oropharyngeal cancer

Source: BMJ 2009;339:b4525 Author: Erich M Sturgis et al. Excerpt from article: The article by Kim and Goldie on the cost effectiveness of including boys in a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme made assumptions about oropharyngeal cancers that are inaccurate.1 The prevalence of HPV in oropharyngeal cancer used in the article (31%) is based on worldwide estimates,2 but its prevalence in the US, where the research was done, is much higher.3 4 Source data for the review article referenced by the authors give the US specific HPV prevalence as 47% (42% for types 16/18),2 5 and other more recent high quality studies from the US have found rates as high as 72%.3 Furthermore, a recent population based study within the Colorado SEER registry found an HPV prevalence rate of 79% for oropharyngeal cancers diagnosed after 1994.4 Authors: Erich M Sturgis, associate professor1, Kristina R Dahlstrom, doctoral student2 Author affiliations: 1 Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Department of Epidemiology, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA, 2 University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, USA

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-04T15:30:17-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Incidental detection of an occult oral malignancy with autofluorescence imaging: a case report

Source: Head Neck Oncol, October 28, 2009; 1(1): 37 Author: Nadarajah Vigneswaran, Sheila Koh, and Ann Gillenwater Background: Autofluorescence imaging is used widely for diagnostic evaluation of malignances of various epithelial malignancies. Cancerous lesions display loss of autofluorescence due to malignant changes in epithelium and subepithelial stroma. Carcinoma of unknown primary site presents with lymph node or distant metastasis, for which the site of primary tumor is not detectable. We describe here the use of autofluorescence imaging for detecting a clinically innocuous appearing occult malignancy of the palate which upon pathological examination was consistent with a metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Case Description: A submucosal nodule was noted on the right posterior hard palate of a 59-year-old white female during clinical examination. Examination of this lesion using a multispectral oral cancer screening device revealed loss of autofluorescence at 405 nm illumination. An excisional biopsy of this nodule, confirmed the presence of a metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Four years ago, this patient was diagnosed with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the right mid-jugular lymph node of unknown primary. She was treated with external beam irradiation and remained disease free until current presentation. Conclusion: This case illustrates the important role played by autofluorescence tissue imaging in diagnosing a metastatic palatal tumor that appeared clinically innocuous and otherwise would not have been biopsied.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-04T15:23:35-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Biovex agrees to Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with the FDA for a pivotal phase III study with Oncovexin head and neck cancer

Source: www.pressreleasepoint.com Author: press release BioVex Inc, a biotechnology company developing clinical stage treatments for cancer and the prevention of infectious disease, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the design of a single, pivotal, Phase III clinical trial evaluating its lead product, OncoVEXGM-CSF for the first line treatment of patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck. The study is the second the Company has agreed with the FDA under the Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) procedure and highlights the broad potential utility of BioVex’s first-in-class cancer destroying virus technology. The first SPA was in melanoma under which BioVex is currently conducting a pivotal Phase III trial. Patients with head and neck cancer often present with locally advanced, bulky disease that is too large, or too close to vital organs, to remove surgically. These patients typically undergo combination radiation and chemotherapy treatment, with in some cases additional surgery. Patients who present with tumor containing lymph nodes are particularly difficult to treat and approximately half of these patients relapse within two years. Philip Astley-Sparke, President & CEO, for BioVex said: "The announcement of our second SPA governing a Phase III study demonstrates the breadth of the commercial opportunity with OncoVEXGM-CSF. In addition to treating metastatic disease as is the intention in our ongoing Phase 3 study in melanoma, following multiple systemic responses in Phase II, OncoVEXGM-CSFalso has considerable potential utility in treating discrete solid tumor masses across multiple indications including those that are poorly [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-04T12:54:36-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|