2009 – Page 27 – Oral Cancer News

Stopping oral cancer in its tracks

Source: insciences.org Author: staff In new research from Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM), Dr. Maria Kukuruzinska and her team are the first to show, in vivo, a direct relationship between expression of the gene DPAGT1 and tumor spread in oral cancer. “When the gene is highly expressed in oral squamous cell carcinoma, it drives cellular discohesion and tumor spread within the oral cavity,” explains Dr. Kukuruzinska, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at GSDM. Researchers found that overexpression of DPAGT1, the gene that determines glycosylation capacity, led to abnormal glycosylation of e-cadherin, causing it to malfunction as a cell-cell adhesion receptor and tumor suppressor. When researchers suppressed the gene using oral cancer cell lines, cancer spread was interrupted. The findings suggest the potential to stop or reverse oral cancer tumor growth by therapeutically regulating DPAGT1. Researchers plan to find what causes overexpression of DPAGT1 in cancer and hope to find the key repressor molecule to regulate the gene. Unlike many cancers, which metastasize early, oral cancer forms massive tumors and generally stays in the mouth. One of the deadliest cancer diagnoses, the current survival rate is about five years. Notes: 1. Dr. Kukuruzinska worked with Dr. Mihai Nita-Lazar, Research Associate in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology; Dr. Vikki Noonan, formerly of the Department of Oral Pathology; Drs. A. Sue Menko and Janice Walker of the Department of Anatomy, Pathology, and Cell Biology at Thomas Jefferson University; and Dr. Ivan Rebustini of the National [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-19T05:15:48-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Trimira offers online library of oral cancer images

Source: www.dentalofficemag.com Author: staff Trimira LLC, manufacturers of the Identafi 3000 Oral Cancer Screening Device, have developed the Trimira Clinical Image Library. The library is a comprehensive online catalog of clinical photographs taken by leading scientists and researchers. The images show a diverse array of lesions in various locations in the oral cavity. Access to the library is free and available at Trimira. A demo version can be accessed by anyone at http://www.trimira.net/library. The full library is available only to registered Trimira customers. Photographs in the Trimira Clinical Image Library were taken under the three proprietary multispectral lights produced by the Identafi 3000, providing visualization of the lesions. Images are categorized by location in the mouth, type of dysplasia, and appearance under each light wavelength. Trimira plans to increase the number and diversity of photographs in the coming months. The Trimira Identafi 3000 is a small, cordless, affordable handheld device that helps clinicians effectively detect early cancers not visible to the naked eye. The device uses a three-wavelength optical fluorescence and reflectance technology patented by Trimira LLC of Houston. The Identafi 3000 was developed in collaboration with scientists at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Rice University, and British Columbia Cancer Research Center, and is now available through dealers nationwide.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-19T05:09:59-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Moderate alcohol intake and cancer incidence in women

Source: www.medscape.com Authors: Naomi E. Allen et al. Background: With the exception of breast cancer, little is known about the effect of moderate intakes of alcohol, or of particular types of alcohol, on cancer risk in women. Methods: A total of 1 280 296 middle-aged women in the United Kingdom enrolled in the Million Women Study were routinely followed for incident cancer. Cox regression models were used to calculate adjusted relative risks and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for 21 site-specific cancers according to amount and type of alcoholic beverage consumed. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: A quarter of the cohort reported drinking no alcohol; 98% of drinkers consumed fewer than 21 drinks per week, with drinkers consuming an average of 10 g alcohol (1 drink) per day. During an average 7.2 years of follow-up per woman 68 775 invasive cancers occurred. Increasing alcohol consumption was associated with increased risks of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx (increase per 10 g/d = 29%, 95% CI = 14% to 45%, P trend

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-17T15:06:54-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

In push for cancer screening, limited benefits

Source: nytimes.com Author: Natasha Singer "Don’t forget to check your neck,” says an advertising campaign encouraging people to visit doctors for exams to detect thyroid cancer. In another cancer awareness effort, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, has more than 350 House co-sponsors for her bill to promote the early detection of breast cancer in young women, teaching them about screening methods like self-exams and genetic testing. Meanwhile, the foundation of the American Urological Association has a prostate cancer awareness campaign starring Hall of Fame football players. “Get screened,” Len Dawson, a former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, says in a public service television spot. “Don’t let prostate cancer take you out of the game.” Nearly every body part susceptible to cancer now has an advocacy group, politician or athlete with a public awareness campaign to promote routine screening tests — even though it is well established that many of these exams offer little benefit for the general public. An upshot of the decades-long war on cancer is the popular belief that healthy people should regularly examine their bodies or undergo screening because early detection saves lives. But in fact, except for a few types of cancer, routine screening has not been proven to reduce the death toll from cancer for people without specific symptoms or risk factors — like a breast lump or a family history of cancer — and could even lead to harm, many experts on health say. That is why the continued rollout of screening campaigns, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-17T06:13:51-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Israeli study sees link between oral cancer, cell phones

Source: haaretz.com Author: Dan Even A recent study documents a sharp rise in the incidence of salivary gland cancer in Israel that researchers believe may be linked to the use of mobile phones. The study was commissioned by the Israel Dental Association and directed by Avi Zini of the community dentistry department at the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. The study included examination of the incidence of oral cavity cancers in Israel from 1970 to 2006. Among salivary gland cancer cases, researchers found a worrying rise in the number of cases of malignant growth in parotid glands - the salivary gland located under the ear, near the location where cell phones are held during conversations. By contrast, the incidence of salivary cancers in glands of the lower mouth - the so-called submandular and sublingual salivary glands - remained stable. From 1980-2002 the number of cases of parotid salivary cancer held steady at around 25 per year. The number of cases rose dramatically in the five years after to 70 cases per year. "We haven't gathered data on the use of cell phones on the part of the patients," Zini said, "but the rise [in cancer cases] absolutely could indicate increased exposure to cellular telephones and damage caused by radiation." The researchers intend to collect data on their oral cancer patients' cell phone use during the next stage of the study to examine the possible statistical link between the two. Of the 11,843 Israelis who developed oral cancers during the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-16T12:22:31-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Genmab says FDA lifts hold on zalutumumab studies

Source: www.reuters.com Author: staff Danish biotechnology firm Genmab said on Thursday: - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted a partial clinical hold on zalutumumab studies being conducted under a U.S. Investigational New Drug application. - Enrolment of patients can now resume in the Phase II study in patients with head and neck cancer considered incurable with standard treatment and the Phase I/II frontline study of zalutumumab in combination with chemo-radiation. Note: 1. Reporting by Copenhagen newsroom

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-16T12:08:09-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Clinical and dosimetric factors associated with a prolonged feeding tube requirement in patients treated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for head and neck cancers

Source: Annals of Oncology, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdp268 Authors: A. S. Gokhale et al. Background: Patients treated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for head and neck cancers often require feeding tubes (FTs) due to toxicity. We sought to identify factors associated with a prolonged FT requirement. Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 80 patients treated with CRT for head and neck cancers. The pharyngeal constrictors (PCs), supraglottic larynx (SGL), and glottic larynx (GL) were contoured and the mean radiation doses and the volumes of each receiving >40, 50, 60, and 70 Gy (V40, V50, V60, and V70) were determined. Results: A total of 33 of 80 patients required a FT either before or during the course of CRT. Fifteen patients required the FT for ≥6 months. On univariate analysis, significant factors associated with a prolonged FT requirement were mean PC dose, PC-V60, PC-V70, SGL dose, SGL-V70, and advanced T3–T4 disease. Multivariate analyses found both PC-V70 and T3-T4 disease as significant factors .The proportions of patients requiring a FT ≥6 months were 8% and 28% for treatment plans with PC-V70 <30% and ≥30%, respectively. Conclusions: Increased radiation dose to the PCs is associated with a higher risk of a prolonged FT need. Dose sparing of the PC muscles may reduce this risk. Authors: A. S. Gokhale1, B. T. McLaughlin2, J. C. Flickinger1, S. Beriwal1,*, D. E. Heron1, R. L. Ferris3, J. Johnson3, M. K. Gibson2, A. Argiris2 and R. P. Smith1 Authors' affiliatons: 1 Department of Radiation Oncology 2 Division of Hematology–Oncology, Department of Medicine 3 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-15T13:03:53-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Thyroid cancer increase puzzles experts

Source: HealthDay News Author: Staff Intensified screening doesn't entirely explain the jump in thyroid cancers noted in the United States since 1980, and scientists now believe that other as-yet-unknown factors are to blame. A new study finds that thyroid tumors of all sizes are being picked up, not just the smaller ones that more aggressive screening would be expected to detect. "You cannot simply explain this by increased screening, there's a real increased incidence," said Dr. Amy Chen, lead author of a study published online July 13 in the journal Cancer. Although, "some of this increased incidence is due to increased screening finding smaller tumors," she added. The findings surprised one expert. "I wrote a chapter about this for a textbook about a year ago and I came away thinking this [rise in cancers] is a reflection of enhanced diagnostics," said Dr. Bruce J. Davidson, professor and chairman of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. But, "it is more disturbing that it's not just small tumors; it seems to be all tumors," he said. An estimated 37,200 new cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed this year, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Fortunately, the cancer is considered highly curable, but the researchers said survival rates have not improved with better detection. Until now, an uptick in cases seen over the past three decades was attributed to increased use of ultrasound and image-guided biopsy to detect tumors. Some researchers had found that thyroid cancer [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-07-15T12:58:55-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Surgery effective in achieving local control of tongue cancer

Source: www.docguide.com Author: Louise Gagnon Surgery is effective in achieving local control of tongue cancer, but additional therapy with radiation does not produce a significant advantage in regional disease control, according to a study presented here at the 2nd World Congress of the International Academy of Oral Oncology (IAOO). The review, presented on July 9, identified 282 patients (mean age, 59 years) who were treatment naïve and then received treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue between 1994 and 2004 at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. "These were newly diagnosed patients who were previously untreated," said David Goldstein, MD, Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgical Oncology, University Health Network and Princess Margaret Hospital and Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. "We wanted to analyse the outcomes and patterns of failure at our institution." The medical literature suggests a wide variability in outcomes in the management of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue, according to Dr. Goldstein. A total of 268 (95%) were treated primarily with surgery, and 70 patients (26%) received postoperative adjuvant therapy. The majority of patients were in early stages of cancer. Patients were followed for a median of 4.54 years. The mean tumour thickness was 11 mm. The intent was curative, noted Dr. Goldstein. A minority of patients did not receive surgery as primary treatment, noted Dr. Goldstein, pointing out they received chemoradiation. "These patients were not medically fit for surgery or refused surgery as primary [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-15T04:31:18-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Neuropathic and nociceptive pain in head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation therapy

Source: 7thspace.com Author: staff Pain is common in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients and may be attributed to the malignancy and/or cancer treatment. Pain mechanisms and patient report of pain in HNC are expected to include both nociceptive and neuropathic components. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the trajectory of orofacial and other pain during and following treatment, using patient reports of neuropathic pain and nociceptive pain and pain impact. Methods: 124 consecutive HNC patients receiving radiation therapy (RT) (95 men, 29 women; mean age: 54.7 +/- 12.3 years) participated in a patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment. Patients completed the McGill Pain Questionnaire three times during therapy and 3 months following study entry. Results: The majority of patients related their pain to the tumor and/or cancer treatment. Whereas 59% reported their pain to be less severe than they expected, 29% were not satisfied with their level of pain despite pain management during cancer therapy. Worst pain was 3.0 +/- 1.3 on a 0- to 5-point verbal descriptor scale. Pain intensity was present at entry, highest at 2-week follow-up, declining towards the end of treatment and persisting at 3-month follow-up. The most common neuropathic pain descriptors chosen were aching (20%) and burning (27%); nociceptive words chosen were dull (22%), sore (32%), tender (35%), and throbbing (23%), and affective/evaluative descriptors were tiring (25%) and annoying (41%). 57% of patients reported continuous pain, and combined continuous and intermittent pain was reported by 79% of patients. Conclusions: This study provides evidence [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-15T04:24:26-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|