2009 – Page 46 – Oral Cancer News

Department of Defense tackles tough task in separating fact from fiction about smokeless tobacco

Source: www.eielson.af.mil Author: staff The hard truth about smokeless tobacco is hardly classified intelligence, but sorting out reality versus fantasy takes some maneuvering amid the mountain of information--and misinformation--that abounds. In observance of the Great American Spit Out, Feb. 19, and Through With Chew Week, Feb. 15 through 21, the U.S. Department of Defense is targeting smokeless tobacco as part of its Quit Tobacco--Make Everyone Proud tobacco cessation campaign. At the campaign's official Web site, http://www.youcanquit2.org, there's accurate and easy-to-digest information that sets the record straight on smokeless--spit, chewing, snuff and "dip"-- tobacco. Debunking the myths Myth: Smokeless tobacco products are a safe alternative to tobacco smoking. Fact: Here is the bottom line--smokeless is not harmless. The list of serious illnesses connected to any form of smokeless tobacco is almost too long to print, but includes mouth cancer, cancer of the pancreas, tooth loss, and bone loss around the roots of teeth. Myth: Smokeless tobacco contains less nicotine than cigarettes. Fact: The amount of nicotine absorbed from a can of spit tobacco is equal to the amount delivered by three to four packs of cigarettes. Nicotine is absorbed more slowly from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes, but more nicotine per dose is absorbed from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes. Also, the nicotine stays in the bloodstream longer. Myth: Nicotine and all the other poisons disappear when you spit out the tobacco. Fact: When chewers place snuff or smokeless tobacco in their mouth, cheek, or lip, they give nicotine a free [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-23T07:54:12-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Genetic signatures of HPV-related and unrelated oropharyngeal carcinoma and their prognostic implications

Source: Clinical Cancer Research, 10.1158/1078-0432 Authors: Jens P. K et al. Purpose: Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-containing oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) have a better prognosis than patients with HPV-negative OSCC. This may be attributed to different genetic pathways promoting cancer. Experimental Design: We used comparative genomic hybridization to identify critical genetic changes in 60 selected OSCC, 28 of which were associated with HPV-16 as determined by HPV-specific PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis and positive p16INK4A immunostaining. The results were correlated with HPV status and clinical data from patients. Results: Two thirds of OSCC harbored gain at 3q26.3-qter irrespective of HPV status. In HPV-negative tumors this alteration was associated with advanced tumor stage (P = 0.013). In comparison with HPV-related OSCC, the HPV-negative tumors harbored: (a) a higher number of chromosomal alterations and amplifications (P = 0.03 and 0.039, respectively); (b) significantly more losses at 3p, 5q, 9p, 15q, and 18q, and gains/amplifications at 11q13 (P = 0.002, 0.03; <0.001, 0.02, 0.004, and 0.001, respectively); and (c) less often 16q losses and Xp gains (P = 0.02 and 0.03). Survival analysis revealed a significantly better disease-free survival for HPV-related OSCC (P = 0.02), whereas chromosome amplification was an unfavorable prognostic indicator for disease-free and overall survival (P = 0.01 and 0.05, respectively). Interestingly, 16q loss, predominantly identified in HPV-related OSCC, was a strong indicator of favorable outcome (overall survival, P = 0.008; disease-free survival, P = 0.01) and none of these patients had a tumor recurrence. Conclusions: Genetic [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-22T06:09:58-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Deadly in pink: new report warns big tobacco has stepped up targeting of women and girls

Source: www.rwjf.org Author: staff The tobacco industry has unleashed its most aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at women and girls in over a decade, according to a report issued today by a coalition of public health organizations. The report warns that these new marketing campaigns are putting the health of women and girls at risk and urges Congress to regulate tobacco marketing by passing legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products. The report, “Deadly in Pink: Big Tobacco Steps Up Its Targeting of Women and Girls,” was issued by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The report and images of the tobacco marketing campaigns can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org/deadlyinpink In the last two years, the nation’s two largest tobacco companies—Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds—have launched new marketing campaigns that depict cigarette smoking as feminine and fashionable, rather than the harmful and deadly addiction it really is: In October 2008, Philip Morris USA announced a makeover of its Virginia Slims brand into “purse packs”—small, rectangular cigarette packs that contain “superslim” cigarettes. Available in mauve and teal and half the size of regular cigarette packs, the sleek “purse packs” resemble packages of cosmetics and fit easily in small purses. They come in “Superslims Lights” and “Superslims Ultra Lights” versions, continuing the tobacco industry’s history of associating smoking with weight control and of appealing to women’s health concerns with misleading claims [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-21T10:42:24-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Tempest in a bottle of mouthwash

Source: blog.macleans.ca Author: staff It’s a ritual observed by thousands of Canadians every day: brush, floss, gargle and spit. Rinsing with mouthwash doesn’t just provide a scrubbed, minty feeling; it’s good for our health, we’re told, curbing plaque and gingivitis (not to mention bad breath). Some brands even carry the Canadian Dental Association’s official seal. But this so-called healthy habit could be doing more harm than good. Australian researchers recently concluded that mouthwashes containing alcohol may contribute to oral cancer. Tobacco use is the biggest risk factor for oral cancer, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Combined with excessive drinking, it’s even more dangerous—a heavy smoker and drinker is up to 30 times more likely to develop it. Even so, “there’s a small group of patients who don’t seem to have any risk factors,” says Michael John McCullough, an associate professor at the Melbourne Dental School and one of the experts behind the report. “I noticed some were saying they’d used alcohol-containing mouthwashes over a long period of time.” In the article, published in the Australian Dental Journal in December, McCullough and co-author Camile Farah conclude there is now “sufficient evidence” to suggest these mouthwashes are a contributing factor. Not only does alcohol seem to make the mouth’s cells more vulnerable to cancer-causing agents, McCullough says “its first breakdown product is acetaldehyde, a known human carcinogen.” While alcohol is mostly metabolized in the liver, they argue the breakdown process actually begins in the oral cavity. “Excessive mouthwash use, over a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-19T16:27:30-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer ‘sniffing nose’ developed by an Israeli researcher

Source: www.deccanherald.com Author: staff A nose, that can sniff cancer at an early stage, thus, leading to wide variety of treatments enhancing a patients chances of recovery has been developed by the scientist at Israel Institute of Technology. The "sniffing nose" is very close to a dog's olfactory system, a media report here said. The artificial nose is developed on the grounds that dogs are capable of detecting cancer in earlier stages by sniffing the patient's breath and could also identify molecules created by a tumor that circulate through their blood to the lungs, and leave the body when they exhale. Results of clinical trials of the 'artificial nose ' done on some 100 persons -- 62 cancer patients -- reveals that it is capable of efficiently and accurately distinguishing between cancer patients and healthy people and could even detect the location and nature of the tumor. "These findings are impressive, but initial, and must be verified in research on a larger number of patients", Professor Abraham Kuten, Co-researcher and Director of the Rambam Medical Center Oncology Institute, told the news portal. The clinical trials were conducted at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa by a team led by Dr Hossam Haick of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute The patients taking part in the experiment suffered from lung, breast, colon, prostate, head and neck cancer. The participants breathed into bags which were transferred to the Technion for testing and the results were compared to details of the patients' diseases according [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-19T10:46:46-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Row erupts over oral cancer paper authorship

Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au Author: Guy Healy An international expert on oral cancer withdrew from joint authorship of a paper that drew a link between the disease and the Listerine mouthwash made by his university laboratory's corporate sponsors, it has been claimed. The research paper's co-authors say Newell Johnson, whose Griffith University laboratory was funded by pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, Listerine's recent owner, decided not to put his name to the research paper, which made headlines across the world with its finding that alcohol-based mouthwashes were implicated in oral cancer. Professor Johnson says he was never an author. The claim about his involvement and withdrawal, made by Australian co-authors Michael McCullough of the University of Melbourne and Camile Farah of the University of Queensland, adds a new dimension to the controversy ignited by the paper, published in the Australian Dental Journal last December. In January UQ's head of dentistry Laurence Walsh came to the defence of mouthwashes, arguing they might prevent oral cancer, but later conceded that Listerine's present owner, Johnson & Johnson, had sponsored some of his workshops. The paper found the risk of oral cancer was increased by prolonged use of alcohol-based mouthwashes and highlighted six Listerine products. Professor McCullough said the research paper or literature review sprang from a 2007 meeting of the three researchers at a conference in Amsterdam. "After a session on the role of alcohol in oral cancer, we ended up deciding that we would formally write this article and review it between the three of us," [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-19T05:17:09-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Students hear ‘wake-up call’ about tobacco

Source: Star-Tribune Writer: ALLISON RUPP Gruen Von Behrens' story brought some middle-schoolers to tears. If it didn't bring tears, it at least had them asking questions and thinking about the negative effects of tobacco. During the question and answer part of Von Behrens' presentation, one girl's voice trembled as she asked, "How long does it take someone to die from tobacco?" Von Behrens doesn't care if he scares students. In fact, that's what he wants. "Some of the things may scare you," he said in the beginning. "If scaring you is what keeps you from using tobacco products, then I am going to scare the pants off you." Von Behrens didn't even need to open his mouth for some fear to set in. He has undergone 34 surgeries and hundreds of procedures to remove oral cancer from his mouth and repair what was left over. His face prominently shows what chewing tobacco can do. The 31-year-old lost all his teeth, most of his tongue and his jaw, although part of a leg bone was used to replace the jaw. Layers of skin from his thigh were used to try to rebuild his chin. Von Behrens began chewing tobacco at 13. Students and teachers called the presentation "powerful." "My parents don't smoke, do drugs or really drink alcohol so I always knew I didn't really want to do that stuff," said Levi Shade, an eighth-grader at Poison Spider School. "But now it's a sure thing -- I will never ever do it." Von [...]

Webmaster2009-02-17T12:35:17-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Row erupts over oral cancer paper authorship

Source:The Australian Writer: Gay Healy AN international expert on oral cancer withdrew from joint authorship of a paper that drew a link between the disease and theListerine mouthwash made by his university laboratory's corporate sponsors, it has been claimed. The research paper's co-authors say Newell Johnson, whose Griffith University laboratory was funded by pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, Listerine's recent owner, decided not to put his name to the research paper, which made headlines across the world with its finding that alcohol-based mouthwashes were implicated in oral cancer. Professor Johnson says he was never an author. The claim about his involvement and withdrawal, made by Australian co-authors Michael McCullough of the University of Melbourne and Camile Farah of the University of Queensland, adds a new dimension to the controversy ignited by the paper, published in the Australian Dental Journal last December. In January UQ's head of dentistry Laurence Walsh came to the defence of mouthwashes, arguing they might prevent oral cancer, but later conceded that Listerine's present owner, Johnson & Johnson, had sponsored some of his workshops. The paper found the risk of oral cancer was increased by prolonged use of alcohol-based mouthwashes and highlighted six Listerine products. Professor McCullough said the research paper or literature review sprang from a 2007 meeting of the three researchers at a conference in Amsterdam. "After a session on the role of alcohol in oral cancer, we ended up deciding that we would formally write this article and review it between the three of us," hesaid. [...]

Webmaster2009-02-17T12:18:31-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Dental Calamities That Can Truly Hurt

Source: New York Times Writer: Nicholas Bakalar DENTAL cavities are not good news, but when it comes to preventive oral health, they may be among the smaller problems. The advice is familiar: brush and floss regularly, use fluoride mouthwash, limit snacks and sweet drinks, visit the dentist twice a year. Good suggestions, even if not everyone follows them: by age 12, 50 percent of children have cavities. But there are two much more serious problems, common dental diseases that can lead not only to loss of teeth but also to loss of life: periodontal disease and oral cancer. Periodontal disease — a chronic bacterial infection of the gums that destroys the bone and tissues that hold the teeth — is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. Some people are genetically susceptible, and the problem can be aggravated by smoking, taking certain medications, stress and other factors. Several studies have found that gum disease is associated with an increased risk for heart attack. “It isn’t nailed down yet,” said Dr. Martin J. Davis, professor of clinical dentistryat the College of Dental Medicine at Columbia, “but there seems to be a link between the inflammation of gums and the inflammatory markers of heart disease.” It may be that oral bacteria enter the bloodstream, attach to fatty plaques in the coronary arteries and cause clots to form. Or maybe inflammation itself increases plaque buildup. A 2007 study showed that periodontal disease increased the risk of heart disease in men by one third and doubled it in women, even [...]

Webmaster2009-02-17T09:56:09-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless tobacco may not help smokers quit

Source: health.usnews.com Author: staff Cultural factors appear to influence whether smokeless tobacco can help smokers quit cigarettes, contends a new study. In Sweden, many smokers try to quit smoking by using snus, a form of moist, powdered tobacco that's placed under the lip. In Sweden, snus is more popular among male smokers, and Swedish men have higher smoking cessation rates than women. Some people have suggested that public health officials in the United States and other countries should promote smokeless tobacco as a way to help smokers quit cigarettes. However, University of California, San Diego, researchers examined data collected from more than 15,000 people in the United States and found that smokeless tobacco does not increase American smokers' quit rates. "With an ongoing tobacco control effort, men in the U.S. seem to be quitting smoking at higher rates than men in Sweden. And U.S. women are quitting at the same rate, unlike their counterparts in Sweden," study author Shu-Hong Zhu, a professor of family and preventive medicine in the UCSD School of Medicine, said in a university news release. The study found that: Among American men, less than 1 percent of current smokers switched to smokeless tobacco during the 12-month study. Only 1.7 percent of former smokers turned to smokeless tobacco. Men's quit rate for smokeless tobacco was three times higher than for cigarettes. Men were far more likely than women to use smokeless tobacco products, but smoking cessation rates were similar among men (11.7 percent) and women (12.4 percent). [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-07T18:24:34-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|