2009 – Page 4 – Oral Cancer News

Life-shattering cancer sent PR ‘rock star’ to hell and back

Source: Theglobeandmail.com Author: Michael Posner For 15 years, Mat Wilcox reigned as Canada's queen of corporate crisis management. She sat at the centre of all kinds of tempests - labour disruptions, product tampering and recall cases, the avian flu controversy, and dozens of other high-profile issues. In the prime of life, she was chief executive officer of her own Vancouver-based public relations firm, the Wilcox Group, with a staff of 40 and annual revenues in the millions of dollars. Although she typically worked 80 hours a week, often commuting between offices in Vancouver and Toronto, she was, she says, the picture of good health. And she felt invincible, "fabulous, like a rock star." Then, in an instant, the entire structure toppled over, her confidence shattered. One morning in March of 2008, while putting on her late mother's diamond earrings, she felt a strange lump beside her left ear. She went to an outpatient clinic and was immediately prescribed antibiotics. When that regimen failed to clear it up, her doctor arranged a biopsy. The conclusion was swift and devastating: parotid gland cancer. That grim news was followed by worse: An ultrasound scan uncovered two large, unrelated tumours in her thyroid. In no time at all, Ms. Wilcox's doctors had fast-tracked surgery for her salivary gland cancer and recommended the maximally aggressive radiation treatment for the thyroid. All of a sudden, Ms. Wilcox was confronting the biggest crisis management issue of all - her own life. There was precious little time for [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-12-01T16:15:13-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Implant-based cancer vaccine is first to eliminate tumors in mice

Source: news.biocompare.com Authors: David J. Mooney et al. A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, scientists report this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The new approach, pioneered by bioengineers and immunologists at Harvard University, uses plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin to reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors. The new paper describes the use of such implants to eradicate melanoma tumors in mice. "This work shows the power of applying engineering approaches to immunology," says David J. Mooney, the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering in Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. "By marrying engineering and immunology through this collaboration with Glenn Dranoff at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we've taken a major step toward the design of effective cancer vaccines." Most cancer cells easily skirt the immune system, which operates by recognizing and attacking invaders from outside the body. The approach developed by Mooney's group redirects the immune system to target tumors, and appears both more effective and less cumbersome than other cancer vaccines currently in clinical trials. Conventional cancer vaccinations remove immune cells from the body, reprogram them to attack malignant tissues, and return them to the body. However, more than 90 percent of reinjected cells have died before having any effect in experiments. The slender implants developed by Mooney's group are 8.5 millimeters in diameter [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-01T15:36:50-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Mouthwash multiplies risk of cancer up to nine times

Source: www.theaustralian.com.au Author: Adam Creswell Mouthwashes containing alcohol should be used only for short periods because they may increase the risk of oral cancer by up to nine times. Dental researchers warned yesterday that among people using such mouthwashes, the risk of oral cancer was increased nine times if they smoked, and five times if they drank alcohol. For non-drinkers using alcohol-based mouthwashes, the risk of oral cancer is just under five times higher, the experts warn in the latest edition of the National Prescribing Service journal Australian Prescriber. Brands of mouthwash with more than 20 per cent alcohol could have other harmful effects, including the gum disease gingivitis, flat red spots called petechiae and detachment of the cells lining the mouth, they said. "Although many popular mouthwashes may help to control dental plaque and gingivitis, they should only be used for a short time and only as an adjunct to other oral hygiene measures such as brushing and flossing," they wrote. "Long-term use of ethanol-containing mouthwashes should be discouraged, given recent evidence of a possible link with oral cancer." The paper expands on concerns aired by university researchers early this year.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-01T15:27:54-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Evaluation of patients with head and neck cancer by means of 99mTc-Glucarate

Source: Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology Volume 37, Number 4, 2009 229-232 Authors: Juan P. Gambini et al. Preliminary findings have suggested that 99mTc-glucarate has tumor-seeking properties. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of this tracer to evaluate malignant head and neck tumors by means of SPECT/CT software fusion imaging. Methods: Eleven male patients with advanced head and neck carcinoma were included in the study: 9 with locally advanced disease and 2 with clinical suspicion of local relapse. Scanning started 3–6 h after the injection of 1,110 MBq of 99mTc-glucarate. Planar and SPECT images of the head, neck, and thorax were acquired. Three-dimensional images were also coregistered with CT. Results: We found 99mTc-glucarate uptake in all suspected lesions. SPECT/CT fusion imaging was helpful in all cases for topographically localizing the tracer foci. Conclusion: 99mTc-glucarate can be considered a potential tracer for the evaluation of patients with head and neck tumors. Authors: Juan P. Gambini1, Margarita Nuñez2, Pablo Cabral3, Martín Lafferranderie4, Javier Noble5, Eduardo Corchs5, Ricardo D'Albora4, Eduardo Savio6, Lucía Delgado7 and Omar Alonso1,2 Authors' affiliations: 1 Nuclear Medicine Center, Clinical Hospital, University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; 2 School of Medical Technology, Nuclear Medicine Technology Program, University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; 3 Nuclear Investigations Center, School of Science, University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; 4 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Clinical Hospital, University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; 5 Department of Radiology, Clinical Hospital, University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; 6 Department of Radiochemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-01T15:15:38-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer detecting mouthwash

Source: Ivanhoe News Author: Staff MIAMI (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- For a patient with head and neck cancer, the cure rate is only 30 percent. That's because the disease is often detected in the late stages. Now catching the cancer earlier may be as simple as gargling and spitting in a cup. A new mouthwash may be able to see what doctors can't. Edie Acosta calls them her angels … the niece and nephew who gave her the courage to fight cancer. "They cut from here, all the way down here," Acosta told Ivanhoe. On her neck is the scar where a stage IV tumor was removed less than a year ago. "It seemed bigger and bigger 'til it got to the size of a fist, a man's fist, and I couldn't even move my neck," Acosta said. "You feel like a little bird whose wings got cut and you can't fly anymore. I just, I thought I was really gonna die." For patients like Acosta, late stage diagnosis makes treating neck cancer more difficult. Researchers developed a quick, inexpensive mouthwash to detect head and neck cancers earlier. The patient rinses with the saline mouthwash. After they spit it out, doctors add antibodies that identify molecules involved with cancer. In about 48 hours, if there's cancer detected in the saliva, the molecules show up in color. "We've found that these molecules show up differently in the oral rinses from patients that have cancer compared to patients that don't have cancer," Elizabeth [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-12-01T15:08:56-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Holiday giving: How to choose a charity

Source: etaiwannews.com Author: Jeremiah A. Hall In June 2006, when Wendy Maholic learned that her husband, a master sergeant, had been killed in Afghanistan, her thoughts turned to her 10-year-old son. As she struggled with her grief, she wondered how to help fill the hole left by the loss of his father. As months passed, Mrs. Maholic learned of a small, up-and-coming charity in Colorado called Knights of Heroes, which provides free, all-inclusive summer camps and long-term mentoring programs for sons of fallen soldiers. A week of fishing, canoeing, and horseback riding with other children and adult male role models - especially ones who ostensibly knew what Andrew was going through - seemed perfect, but Maholic was apprehensive. The camp was located in Colorado Springs, Colo. She and Andrew were in Fort Bragg, N.C. No one in her immediate circle of friends and family had heard of the organization. It seemed promising. The camp even offered to arrange for mothers and sisters to be lodged nearby during the session. But she needed more. Like many parents in search of advice, she went online and discovered what she needed - and a new way to evaluate charities. With the explosion of social networking and user-generated online content, a new crop of websites promises to use similar techniques to help donors, volunteers, and clients assess nonprofits. In some, reviewers are asked to provide commentary on their personal experiences; others poll constituents. It's not fail-safe. But the approach arms donors with information that goes [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-11-30T12:02:13-07:00November, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Colleen Zenk Pinter: Cancer survivor has much to be thankful for this year

Source: Acorn Online Author: Susan Wolf Thanksgiving will be more than a pleasant holiday gathering with family and friends this year for Colleen Zenk Pinter. It will be a celebration of life, of being thankful for those closest to her. Ms. Zenk Pinter approaches this Thanksgiving cancer-free after a long and often painful battle with oral cancer. Her journey has been fraught with setbacks, but she has emerged as a formidable opponent, one who now uses her celebrity to educate others about oral cancer. A two-time Emmy Award nominee, Colleen Zenk Pinter has played the character of Barbara Ryan since 1978 on the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns. Her own world was turned upside down in March 2007 when her oral cancer was diagnosed. A lesion under her tongue “that didn’t even look like cancer” was, in fact, cancer. Somehow she got through her daughter Georgia’s 14th birthday party, telling no one, not even her husband, actor Mark Pinter, who was out of town. Finally, the next day, she gave the news to her husband and mother and then went to see Jen Wastrom, a woman she affectionately calls the “ring leader” of her posse of friends. Eventually “the posse” was notified and thesupport that has come to mean so much to Ms. Zenk Pinter immediately materialized. After a second opinion from Dr. Clarence Sasaki of Yale-New Haven Hospital on how best to treat her cancer, Ms. Zenk Pinter put herself into his hands. He performed a partial [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-11-30T11:47:23-07:00November, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Nonprofits brace for slowdown in giving

Source: The Wall Street Journal Author: Mike Spector Officials at charities are trying to devise creative ways to stand out. They are making urgent appeals through direct-mail and email campaigns and taking to the airwaves. Charities also are gearing up to tap their wealthy board members and other well-off supporters for extra cash. If they fail, charities may have to cut staff or seek loans. At Covenant House New York, the nation's largest adolescent-care agency, which serves homeless, runaway and at-risk youths, board members convened Thursday and discussed a possible "doomsday" scenario in case they lose upwards of 40% of their income, said Georgia Boothe, the nonprofit's associate executive director. The charity needs to raise about $3 million through direct mail in December, she said, adding, "We're worried." Direct-mail giving in July was off 15%, she said. New York-based City Harvest, which feeds the hungry and has counted Lehman among its top five corporate donors, had set a goal of raising $5.7 million between November and January and $3 million in December alone. Much of that was expected to come from Wall Street bonuses. "Things have changed drastically in the last week or two," said executive director Jilly Stephens, who said the need for her group's services is rising. "We're heading into a period of the unknown." Still, she said she was encouraged that about 525 people turned out for the group's first silent auction of photographs on Thursday night. The event raised about $217,000. Gordon J. Campbell, president and [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-12-01T15:08:33-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

A 25-year analysis of veterans treated for tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma

Source: Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, November 1, 2009; 135(11) Authors: JJ Jaber et al. Objective: To determine the recurrence and survival outcome based on treatment date, type of treatment, stage of disease, and comorbidity and the recurrence and survival differences based on smoking status as a surrogate for human papillomavirus status in veterans treated for tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Design: Outcome cohort study. Setting: Tertiary care Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Patients: A consecutive sample from 1981 through 2006 of 683 patients treated for oropharyngeal SCC was screened, and 141 patients with tonsillar SCC without distant metastatic spread and a minimum of 2 years of follow-up were included. Main outcome measures: Disease-free survival (DFS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and overall survival (OS). Results: Disease-free survival was significantly better in cohort II (treated during or after 1997) compared with cohort I (treated before 1997) (2- and 5-year DFS, 82% vs 64% and 67% vs 48%; P = .02). Disease-specific survival was better in the surgical vs nonsurgical group (2- and 5-year DSS, 77% vs 46% and 67% vs 30%; P

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-28T08:01:30-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Fentanyl buccal soluble film (FBSF) for breakthrough pain in patients with cancer: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Source: Annals of Oncology, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdp541 Author: R. Rauck et al. Background: Fentanyl buccal soluble film (FBSF) has been developed as a treatment of breakthrough pain in opioid-tolerant patients with cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of FBSF at doses of 200–1200 µg in the management of breakthrough pain in patients with cancer receiving ongoing opioid therapy. Patients and methods: This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple-crossover study that included opioid-tolerant adult patients with chronic cancer pain who experienced one to four daily episodes of breakthrough pain. The primary efficacy assessment was the sum of pain intensity differences at 30 min (SPID30) postdose. Results: The intent-to-treat population consisted of 80 patients with 1 post-baseline efficacy assessment. The least-squares mean (LSM ± SEM) of the SPID30 was significantly greater for FBSF-treated episodes of breakthrough pain than for placebo-treated episodes (47.9 ± 3.9 versus 38.1 ± 4.3; P = 0.004). There was statistical separation from placebo starting at 15 min up through 60 min (last time point assessed). There were no unexpected adverse events (AEs) or clinically significant safety findings. Conclusions: FBSF is an effective option for control of breakthrough pain in patients receiving ongoing opioid therapy. In this study, FBSF was well tolerated in the oral cavity, with no reports of treatment-related oral AEs. Authors: R. Rauck1, J. North1, L. N. Gever2, I. Tagarro3 and A. L. Finn4 Authors' affiliations: 1 Carolinas Pain Institute, Winston-Salem, NC 2 Meda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Somerset, NJ, USA 3 Meda Pharmaceuticals, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-28T07:38:27-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|