February 2010 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Study suggests VELscope can help reduce recurrence of oral cancer

Source: www.dentaleconomics.com Author: staff LED Dental has announced a recent study suggests that its VELscope screening system can help surgeons reduce the recurrence rate for oral cancer following surgery. The article, "Tracing the 'At-Risk' Oral Mucosa Field with Autofluorescence: Steps Toward Clinical Impact," was just published in the journal, Cancer Prevention Research. The article was was authored by Catherine F. Poh, Calum E. MacAulay, and Miriam Rosin of the BC Cancer Agency and Lewei Zhang of the University of British Columbia. The study was prompted by numerous previous studies that showed oral cancer recurs in a significant percentage of patients following oral cancer surgery. The study examined the experience of 60 oral cancer surgery patients between 2004 and 2008. Their cancerous lesions were treated with surgical excision alone with a minimum follow-up time of 12 months. For 38 of the 60 patients, the surgeon used a surgical margin that was 10 mm beyond the tumor edge defined by the VELscope exam. Because the VELscope system utilizes fluorescence visualization, or FV, technology, these patients are described in the article as having had FV-guided surgery. The remaining 22 patients--the control group--did not have FV-guided surgery. Instead, the surgeon used a surgical margin that was 10 mm beyond the tumor edge defined by the standard white-light exam. White light exams rely on visual inspection with the naked eye, whereas the VELscope system allows clinicians to discover cancerous and precancerous tissue that might not be apparent to the naked eye. Four years into the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-18T22:37:36-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

VELscope used to screen Olympic athletes for oral cancer

Source: www.dentaleconomics.com Author: staff LED Dental has announced that the VELscope oral cancer screening system is being used to conduct oral cancer screenings for up to 800 athletes at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. The International Olympic Committee mandated that 20% of athletes--up from 10% four years ago--receive a comprehensive examination to include a screening for oral cancer. The device selected to conduct the screenings is the VELscope system, which was developed in British Columbia by LED Dental in collaboration with the British Columbia Cancer Agency. The VELscope has been used to conduct an estimated 3 million screenings in the past year. During the Vancouver Games, a team of 72 dentists and volunteer assistants is anticipated to have approximately 800 athletes sit in their dental chairs not only for oral cancer screenings, but for everything from routine dental care to trauma surgery. Dr. Jack Taunton, co-chief medical officer of the Games, said athletes are so nomadic they tend to defer dental care. So Dr. Taunton is hoping many of them take advantage of the care they can get while in Vancouver and Whistler. "Year-round, the alpine athletes follow winter around the world to train, and they are at higher risk of lip and mouth cancers because of the altitude and sun exposure," he said. "The skin on the lips is thin and poorly protected. The damage is cumulative and you have to consider they are exposed to these intense ultraviolet rays for up to 30 years, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-18T22:31:31-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New uses for erectile disfunction drugs

Source: abclocal.go.com/wjrt Author: Leslie Toldo Could Viagra be the next cancer cure? HealthFirst reporter Leslie Toldo shows us why doctors think some impotence drugs may be as versatile as aspirin. E-D, or erectile dysfunction drugs, are being explored as treatments for more than a dozen diseases and health problems. They're the images of happy couples that helped make erectile dysfunction drugs a $3 billion business. But now doctors say those little pills may also save lives. "I did ask them what on earth they were talking about," said cancer patient Brian Kumnick. Kumnick is fighting throat cancer. He's been through months of radiation and surgery. "Well, the radiation, it's barbaric. It's really barbaric, and I've lost my taste buds, for example. I can't taste anything. Water tastes like acid going down." He's part of a clinical trial to see if the E-D drug Cialis can cure head and neck cancers. "It'd be really nice to just take a pill that has a pleasant side effect," Kumnick said. In preliminary studies, doctors at Johns Hopkins say Cialis energized patients' immune systems so their bodies could battle the cancer cells. Next, they'll test to see if the drug also shrinks tumors. Dr. Joseph Califano is a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. "When we looked at the blood of head and neck cancer patients, we could get their immune response to rev up to near normal levels, whereas they were suppressed maybe 75 percent, sometimes [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-18T22:26:38-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

University of Rochester expands robotic surgeries to oral, pharyngeal cancers

Source: www.healthcanal.com Author: staff Doctors at University of Rochester Medical Center are first in upstate New York to incorporate the precision and dexterity of a surgical robot to remove cancerous tumors in the mouth and throat. The first transoral robotic procedure – a partial glossectomy -- was performed Feb. 8 by surgeon Matthew Miller, M.D. This procedure expands the Medical Center’s robot-assisted surgery capabilities to include procedures for head and neck, urologic and gynecologic conditions. “Traditional approaches to these tumors have the potential to be invasive and disfiguring – oftentimes leading to an extensive recovery and rehabilitation period,” said Miller, a fellowship trained head and neck cancer surgeon. “The robot allows us to limit or even eliminate some of the side effects associated with more invasive surgeries while still effectively treating the cancer.” Strong Memorial Hospital’s daVinci Surgical Systems consist of robotic arms that replicate a surgeon’s motions in real time. The movements are by a surgeon using high-definition images provided by cameras positioned within the patient’s mouth. The surgeon is working from a console, across the room from the patient. Traditional surgery for some head and neck cancers requires large incisions – extending from the lip, across the chin and to the neck before entering the mouth or throat. Many times surgeons need to cut through the lower jaw and move aside vital cranial nerves to gain access to the back of the mouth and throat. Using the high-precision robotic system, surgeons insert the slender instruments into the mouth [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-18T08:53:06-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco use linked to worse outcomes In HPV-positive head and neck cancer, U-M study finds

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: Nicole Fawcett, University of Michigan Health System Patients with head and neck cancer linked to high risk human papillomavirus, or HPV, have worse outcomes if they are current or former tobacco users, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. High-risk HPVs are the same viruses that are associated with cancers of the uterine cervix. The research suggests that current or former tobacco users may need a more aggressive treatment regimen than patients who have never used tobacco. Past research shows that HPV-positive head and neck cancers tend to be more responsive to current treatments and these patients overall tend to have better outcomes than patients with HPV-negative tumors. However, the new study found that current tobacco users with HPV-positive tumors were five times more likely to have their cancer recur. Even former smokers had an increased risk of recurrence. "Because the effect of HPV is so strong in giving a very good prognostic picture, we were surprised to find that smoking remained a huge issue, and it actually affected the outcome in patients who smoked," says senior study author Thomas Carey, Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology and pharmacology, and co-director of the Head and Neck Oncology Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. Results of the study appear in the Feb. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research. The study looked at 124 patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer, which is cancer of the tonsils or the base of the tongue. Most [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-17T21:51:15-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Nuggets’ coach again fighting cancer- this time of the throat

Source: ESPN Author: Ric Bucher Denver Nuggets coach George Karl informed his team Tuesday afternoon that he is in another fight for his life with cancer. Karl, who had been cancer-free since prostate surgery in July 2005, discovered a worrisome lump on his neck about six weeks ago. A biopsy determined that it was "very treatable and curable" form of neck and throat cancer, Karl said, but it will still require an intense program of radiation and chemotherapy that will probably force him to miss some regular-season games. "Cancer is a vicious opponent," he said. "Even the ones that are treatable, you never get a 100-percent guaranteed contract." Treatment will consist of 35 sessions over the next six weeks, for what the Nuggets Web site called squamous cell head/neck cancer. The sessions are expected to leave his throat extremely raw, requiring him to be fed through his stomach in the final weeks. "Keeping up your nutrition is a big part of the challenge," he said. While the condition is treatable, his doctor, Jacques Saari, said Karl faces a taxing treatment regimen. He said the chemotherapy was intended to make the cancerous cells in Karl's body more susceptible to the effects of radiation. Then, he said, "The idea is to really hit it hard with radiation therapy." But the radiation, to be administered continuously for five days a week for the next six weeks, will take a physical toll on Karl, especially during the latter portion of treatment, Saari said. "Coach [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-02-17T15:41:54-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

PET-FDG improves staging, management of head, neck cancer

Source: helathimaging.com Author: staff Adding whole-body PET-FDG to the pre-therapeutic conventional staging of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma improved the TNM [tumor, node and metastasis] classification of the disease and altered the management of 13.7 percent of patients, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Max Lonneux, MD, from the departments of nuclear medicine, head and neck surgery, radiation oncology and maxillofacial surgery, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels, and colleagues included his 233 patients in this multicenter, prospective study with newly diagnosed and untreated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Researchers first determined the TNM stage and therapeutic decision based on the conventional work-up (including physical exam, CT/MRI of the head and neck region, and thoracic CT) and sealed in envelope. They then performed whole-body PET-FDG, and subsequently wrote TNM stage and therapeutic decision in a sealed envelope. The investigators also recorded changes in TNM stages and in patient management as a result of PET-FDG imaging. Clinical outcome and histopathology were used as gold standards to validate the TNM stage. Conventional and PET stages were compared using the McNemar test. According to the authors, conventional and PET stages were discordant in 43 percent of the patients. PET proved to be accurate in 47 patients and inaccurate in 13 patients. TNM status was left unconfirmed in 40 patients because no therapeutic change was expected from the stage difference. The researchers found that conventional plus PET TNM classification (envelope two) was significantly more [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-17T08:18:31-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

HPV-linked head and throat cancers easier to treat unless patient is a smoker, University of Michigan study finds

Source: annarbor.com Author: Tina Reed A growing incidence of head and throat cancers have been traced back to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, rather than smoking. With that in mind, University of Michigan researchers recently decided to examine the difference in outcomes between smokers with HPV-linked head and throat cancer and those who had never smoked. Turns out, the HPV-linked tumors were easier to treat than non-HPV associated cancers. That is, unless the patient was a smoker. Those with HPV-linked cancers who smoked were six times as likely to recur than those who had never smoked. According to a Los Angeles Time health blog, treatments for head and neck cancers include harsh treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. The researchers from U-M's Comprehensive Cancer Center said they planned to begin a clinical trial to milder treatments later this year.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-17T08:13:44-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Determination of malnourishment in the head and neck cancer patient: assessment tools and nutrition education of radiation oncologists

Source: Support Care Cancer, January 14, 2010 Authors: PV Decicco, SM Wunderlich, and JS Emmolo Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate current assessment practices of malnourishment by radiation oncologists among the head and neck cancer patient population. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A 14-question survey was mailed to 333 radiation oncologists self-identified as "interested in the treatment of head and neck cancer." Results: About 87% of radiation oncologists indicated that they used bodyweight as the sole determinant of malnourishment in head and neck cancer patients at initial consultation. Radiation oncologists with 0 to 10 years experience were found to have a higher level of formal nutrition education than those with 11 to 20 years (p = 0.0052). A significant difference was found between radiation oncologists with formal nutrition education vs. those without, in answering whether nutrition interventions play a significant role in the prognosis of such cancer patients (p = 0.0013). In addition, a significant difference was noted in methods used to determine proper caloric intake when the oncologists were stratified by their beliefs about nutrition being a significant variable affecting the prognosis of head and neck cancer patients (p = 0.0024). Conclusion: Assessment or screening for malnourishment in the head and neck cancer patient should be a routine part of the initial consultation. Radiation oncologists and their medical team, including nutritionists, should use an appropriate nutrition screening and assessment tool in addition to the body weight as an indicator of malnourishment. Nutrition education provided [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-13T18:57:06-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer preventive practices of South Carolina dentists and physicians

Source: J Cancer Educ, January 16, 2010 Authors: SG Reed et al. The purpose of this study was to assess the South Carolina (SC) dentists' and physicians' oral cancer knowledge and practices and interest in training in oral cancer screening and tobacco cessation counseling. Method used was a cross-sectional survey of SC dentists and selected physician specialties with responses to mailed questionnaires summarized by descriptive statistics and chi-square tests for comparisons. Overall response rates were 58%for dentists and 44% for physicians. Dentists (81%) and 13% of the physicians reported conduct of oral cancer examinations at least half of the time over the past 12 months. Dentists (41%) and 83% of physicians assisted patients to quit smoking. Few dentists (19%) and 53% of physicians were aware of SC tobacco cessation resources. Dentists (40%) and physicians (37%) were interested in receiving training in oral cancer screening, and 36% and 49%, respectively, in training in tobacco cessation counseling. Results support the development of tailored education for SC dentists and physicians to achieve Healthy People 2010 Oral Health Objectives for Oral Cancer. Authors: SG Reed, KB Cartmell, NG Duffy, AE Wahlquist, D Sinha, A Hollinger, A Bode, AJ Alberg, and TA Day Author's affiliation: Department of Craniofacial Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, 173 Ashley Avenue, MSC 507, Charleston, SC, 29425-5070, USA

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-13T18:51:29-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|