August 2010 – Page 3 – Oral Cancer News

HPV-positive oropharnygeal cancer has better prognosis than tobacco-induced cancer

Source: www.enttoday.org Author: Alice Goodma Mounting evidence suggests that human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer has an improved prognosis compared with HPV-negative disease. The most recent supportive evidence comes from an analysis of a Phase III trial presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Our study showed that HPV status is as strong a predictor of outcome as cancer stage for patients with oropharyngeal cancers, even after considering other factors such as age and smoking history, said lead author Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, Professor of Hematology and Oncology, Epidemiology, and Otolaryngology at Ohio State University in Columbus. Dr. Gillison said that tumor HPV status should now be part of the routine workup of patients with oropharyngeal cancers. Oropharyngeal cancers are mainly attributable to chronic tobacco use and smoking, or to HPV infection. Retrospective analyses, meta-analysis, and small trials have suggested that HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer is a distinct entity, and the present Phase III study provides the most compelling evidence, she said, because it is the largest study to date. It is not clear why HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer has a better prognosis. In the trial, HPV-positive patients were younger, mostly Caucasian, and had improved performance status and smaller tumors. Dr. Gillison said that these factors could have a positive influence on survival. Survival Benefit The retrospective correlative analysis of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0129, presented by Dr. Gillison, focused on outcome according to HPV status. The randomized study included 206 patients with cancers positive for [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-08-16T10:19:03-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

High-risk human papillomavirus in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Source: cebp.aacrjournals.org Authors: Annika Antonsson et al Background: Although most cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in western populations have been attributed to high levels of exposure to tobacco and alcohol, infectious agents have been postulated as possible causes, particularly human papillomavirus (HPV). Methods: To explore this issue, we analyzed HPV DNA prevalence and HPV types together with lifestyle factors, in relation to tumor stage and survival in a low-incidence population. Archived tumor samples from a nationwide cohort of 222 ESCC patients were tested for the presence of HPV DNA by PCR; positive samples were sequenced to determine HPV type, and p16INK4a status was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results: Of 222 ESCC patients, 8 tested HPV positive (prevalence, 3.6%; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-6.1%), of which 6 were HPV-16 positive and 2 were HPV-35 positive. Four of the eight HPV-positive tumors overexpressed p16INK4a. None of 55 normal esophageal tissue samples from healthy participants had any detectable HPV. Although the numbers were low, it seemed that patients with HPV-positive ESCC tumors were younger than those with HPV-negative tumors (mean age, 60.8 versus 65.3 years, P = 0.18) and had higher body mass index (BMI) throughout life (mean current BMI of 25.1 for HPV positive, 22.2 for HPV negative, P = 0.08; mean BMI at 20 years of 25.8 for HPV positive, 22.1 for HPV negative, P = 0.003). We found no difference between patients with HPV-positive and HPV-negative tumors with respect to other lifestyle factors. Conclusions: These findings suggest a very low [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-08-11T16:20:50-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New cancer radiation technology improves accuracy, drops treatment time in select patients

Source: Medical News Today Author: Staff The Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center is among the world's first to begin using radiation technology that dramatically reduces treatment times. UAB's Hazelrig-Salter Radiation Oncology Center is the third U.S. site to acquire TrueBeam technology. TrueBeam, by Varian Medical Systems Inc., can complete a standard 40-minute radiation therapy in less than a minute for select patients. The precision of the instrument, measured in increments of less than a millimeter, comes from real-time patient imaging, positioning, beam shaping and many other data points synchronized continually as treatment progresses. "This technology gives us the tools we need to shrink the number of treatment visits for some patients from weeks to days," says James A. Bonner, M.D., chair of UAB's Department of Radiation Oncology and a senior advisor at the Cancer Center. "Patients coming to UAB can expect leading-edge care with more options for fightingcancer and, hopefully, improved chances for survival." TrueBeam made its debut in the United States earlier in 2010 at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. TrueBeam can be used to treat tumors anywhere in the body where radiation treatment is indicated. The technology opens the door to new treatment plans and improved quality of life in patients who have challenging cancers such as in the lung, breast, abdomen and head and neck, as well as cancers that are treated with radiotherapy. However, the technology is still [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-08-22T12:38:34-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Finally, a positive message for smokers sick of revulsion

Source: The Sydney Morning Harald Author: Ennis Cehic Ads worse than zombie movies just make you want to turn the TV off. QUIT Victoria has told us about the detrimental effects of smoking for years, and advertisers have focused on communicating to the public the risks. As such, we have seen ads that are so scary, so full of brutal detail, that you cannot stomach watching and want to turn off the television. When the packaging got worse, smokers started begging retailers to give them the pack with the ''statistics'' - the others were just too horrible to look at. From cut-up brains on a silver platter to X-rays of badly damaged lungs, to the camera view of the smoke literally going down one's throat, the point was hammered home - smoking is very, very bad. But recently, a new kind of anti-smoking ad is appearing on TV. It has no physical lungs in a surgeon's hands, no brains cut up on the screen, no little kids crying at the airport and definitely no cancerous mouths staring at you. No, this is a fast-paced ad about a man who has been attempting to quit for a while and it portrays the difficult stages he goes through. He quits, then he starts again, he quits and then he starts again, and at the end of the ad, he hasn't had a cigarette for more than three years. I watched the ad and felt something tingle in my stomach. I smiled and wanted [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-08-11T11:13:05-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New dentist test to detect oral cancer will save lives

Source: The University of Sheffield Author: Lauren Anderson A new test for oral cancer, which a dentist could perform by simply using a brush to collect cells from a patient´s mouth, is set to be developed by researchers at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The international research team, involving scientists in Sheffield, has been awarded $2 million from the USA´s National Institutes of Health to develop the test, which could provide an accurate diagnosis in less than 20 minutes for lesions where there is a suspicion of oral cancer. The current procedure used to detect oral cancer in a suspicious lesion involves using a scalpel to perform a biopsy and off-site laboratory tests which can be time consuming. The new test will involve removing cells with a brush, placing them on a chip, and inserting the chip into the analyser, leading to a result in 8-10 minutes. This will have a number of benefits including cutting waiting times and the number of visits, and also cost savings for the NHS. The team in Sheffield, led by Professor Martin Thornhill, Professor of Oral Medicine at the University of Sheffield and a Consultant in Oral Medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, has begun carrying out clinical trials on patients at Charles Clifford Dental Hospital for two years to perfect the technology and make it as sensitive as possible. If the trials confirm that the new technology is as effective as carrying out a biopsy then it could [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-08-22T17:55:41-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Fluorescent probe for oral cancer

Source: www.physorg.com Author: staff/ UC Davis Approximately 43,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with tumors of the mouth, pharynx and larynx each year. The main risk factor is smoking, but a recent rise in cases has been linked to human papillomavirus. Most cases are not diagnosed until the cancer has reached an advanced stage. "There's a lot out there about breast, prostate and brain cancer, but people are not so aware about oral cancer and its devastating consequences," said Laura Marcu, a professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis. "People don't think to look for it, and there isn't any routine screening." Marcu's laboratory collaborated with Dr. Gregory Farwell's group in the Department of Otolaryngology at the UC Davis Cancer Center to develop the fiber-optic probe. The probe stimulates molecules in the patient's tissues with a laser. Some of these molecules naturally respond by re-emitting fluorescent light. The device rapidly detects and analyzes this light using a process called "time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy" (TR-LIFS), which provides information about the types of molecules present. During surgery, blood can distort the intensity of the fluorescence signal but not its duration. By using sensitive measurements of the change in fluorescence over time, surgeons can see the tumor margins even as they are cutting the tissue. Based on encouraging results in animal tests, Marcu and Farwell's team recruited nine human volunteers from among patients who arrived at the UC Davis Medical Center for surgical therapy of the mouth, throat and larynx. They compared readings [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-08-04T12:55:16-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New types of smokeless tobacco present growing risks for youth: products mistaken for candy

Source: thenationshealth.aphapublications.org Author: Kim Krisberg The decline in the U.S. smoking rate is arguably one of the biggest achievements in the nation’s public health history. But as public health makes inroads, the tobacco industry is pushing back, offering new ways to deliver nicotine and hook lifelong customers. As nonsmoking ordinances sweep across the country, tobacco manufacturers are marketing new smokeless and spitless tobacco products, often selling them as complementary products to cigarettes — pushing the message that such “novel” tobacco products can deliver a nicotine fix whether smoking is allowed or not. Going by brand names such as Orbs, Snus and Taboka, the products are smokeless and spitless, often dissolving in a user’s mouth. For example, Marlboro Snus comes in a teabag-like pouch that a user puts between the cheek and gum and then discards after about 30 minutes. Camel Orbs look similar to small pieces of candy — almost like a Tic Tac — come in flavors such as “fresh” and “mellow,” and dissolve in a user’s mouth. Camel Sticks and Camel Strips also dissolve in a user’s mouth. A recent Camel Snus ad reads “Boldly Go Everywhere” and “Break Free.” While such products have yet to catch on in a significant way in the United States, public health advocates warn not to underestimate the influence of tobacco marketing, especially in regard to young people. They also warn that tobacco companies seem to be portraying the novel products as a “healthier” alternative to cigarettes or as a quitting aid. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-08-04T12:51:16-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Marginal misses after postoperative intensity-modulated radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

Source: Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, July 23, 2010 Author: AM Chen et al. Purpose: To describe the spatial distribution of local-regional recurrence (LRR) among patients treated postoperatively with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for head and neck cancer. Methods and materials: The medical records of 90 consecutive patients treated by gross total resection and postoperative IMRT for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck from January 2003 to July 2009 were reviewed. Sites of disease were the oral cavity (43 patients), oropharynx (20 patients), larynx (15 patients), and hypopharynx (12 patients). Fifty patients (56%) received concurrent chemotherapy. Results: Seventeen of 90 patients treated with postoperative IMRT experienced LRR, yielding a 2-year estimate of local regional control of 80%. Among the LRR patients, 11 patients were classified as in-field recurrences, occurring within the physician-designated clinical target volume, and 6 patients were categorized as marginal recurrences. There were no out-of-field geographical misses. Sites of marginal LRRs included the contralateral neck adjacent to the spared parotid gland (3 patients), the dermal/subcutaneous surface (2 patients), and the retropharyngeal/retrostyloid lymph node region (1 patient). Conclusions: Although the incidence of geographical misses was relatively low, the possibility of this phenomenon should be considered in the design of target volumes among patients treated by postoperative IMRT for head and neck cancer. Authors: AM Chen, DG Farwell, Q Luu, LM Chen, S Vijayakumar, and JA Purdy Authors' affiliaton: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-08-03T18:25:07-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Herpes virus used to treat cancer

Source: BBC News Author: Emma Wilkinson Doctors say they have used a genetically engineered herpes virus to treat successfully patients with head and neck cancer. A London hospital trial of 17 patients found that use of the virus alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy helped kill the tumours in most patients. It works by getting into cancer cells, killing them from the inside, and also boosting the patient's immune system. Further trials are planned for later in the year. Head and neck cancer, which includes cancer of the mouth, tongue and throat, affects up to 8,000 people every year in the UK. Study leader Dr Kevin Harrington, who is based at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said current treatments were effective if the cancer was picked up early but that many patients were not diagnosed until it was more advanced. The herpes virus, which is also being tested in patients with skin cancer, is genetically manipulated so that it grows inside tumour cells but cannot infect normal healthy cells. Once there it has a triple effect - it multiplies, killing tumour cells as it does so, it is engineered to produce a human protein that activates the immune system and it also makes a viral protein that acts as a red flag to immune cells. 'Potential weapon' In the 17 patients injected with the virus, in addition to their standard treatment, at the Royal Marsden Hospital, 93% showed no trace of cancer after their tumour had been surgically removed. More [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-08-03T15:24:00-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

NYU College of Dentistry receives $3.5 million gift to support oral cancer research, treatment, and training initiatives of Dr. Brian Schmidt

Source: www.nyu.edu/dental/news Author: staff The NYU College of Dentistry has received an anonymous gift in the amount of $3.5 million to support the oral cancer research, treatment, and training initiatives of Dr. Brian L. Schmidt, the newly appointed Director of the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research. These initiatives center on early detection, pain control, and improved reconstruction in the treatment of oral cancer patients. They include: • Developing an innovative oral cancer pain and neuroscience research program. • Identifying genetic and proteomic markers at the time of diagnosis to predict the progression of an oral cancer and, subsequently, to tailor treatment based upon that prediction. • Investigating saliva as a cancer predictor, which might make it possible to follow a patient with a pre-cancerous lesion simply by giving a saliva sample that would be analyzed in the laboratory for certain predictive markers. • Establishing a yearlong postdoctoral research fellowship for investigators who wish to develop expertise in the area of cancer pain by focusing on relevant questions that must be addressed in the laboratory. • Improving oral cancer survivors’ quality-of-life by expanding a program dedicated to facial construction following surgical resection. Dr. Schmidt and his colleague Dr. John Dolan, winner of the National Collegiate Inventors Competition Graduate Division Award, will research and develop a prototype for jaw replacement, fabricated in titanium, to be delivered at the time of oral cancer resection to replace the patient’s missing jaws and teeth. “We are thrilled by the generosity of this unrestricted [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-08-01T15:03:09-07:00August, 2010|Oral Cancer News|