October 2010 – Page 4 – Oral Cancer News

Research shows lifestyle choices increase oral cancer risk

Source: www.cosmeticdentistryguide.co.uk Author: staff Research conducted by a team at Aberdeen University has shown that lifestyle choices are increasing the risk of oral cancer. The study showed that young people are increasing their risk of developing forms of cancer known as upper aero-digestive tract by choosing to drink alcohol on a regular basis and smoke. Diet also plays a significant part and those with a poor diet, lacking in essential nutrients provided by fruit and vegetables, have a much higher risk of developing AEDT cancers. The study was conducted over a five year period; data from 350 patients under the age of 50 with AEDT cancer was analysed alongside data from 400 patients who did not have AEDT cancer. The study concluded that nine out of ten cases of cancer were associated with regular consumption of alcohol, smoking and a poor diet. Oral cancer is becoming increasingly common, yet many people are still aware of the symptoms and signs. Dentists are campaigning to raise awareness of oral cancer and increase the media profile so that people are aware of the importance of regular dental check-ups and know which signs to look out for. Common symptoms of oral cancer include white or red patches in the mouth, sores which do not heal and unusual swellings in the mouth or throat. The British Dental Health Foundation are launching Mouth Cancer Action Month in November; it is hoped that the events and programmes will educate people about oral cancer and encourage them to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-13T14:31:13-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn to begin oral cancer treatment

The Associated Press Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn soon will begin treatment for parotid cancer, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday. The cancer was discovered last month after Gwynn, 50, underwent his third bout of surgery since 1997 to remove a tumor on his parotid gland, which pumps saliva into the mouth. The former San Diego Padres star said he faces seven to eight weeks of five-day-a-week radiation treatments and once-a-week chemotherapy treatments, the Union-Tribune reported. Gwynn said doctors told him they feel they caught the cancer early and "there was not much of it there." "They say this is a slow-moving but aggressive form of cancer," Gwynn told the paper. "I'm going to be aggressive and not slow moving in treating this." Gwynn suspects the cancer could be linked to his career-long practice of using chewing tobacco. "I haven't discussed that with the doctors yet, but I'm thinking it's related to dipping," said Gwynn, who resumed using chewing tobacco after the first two surgeries. Gwynn is San Diego State's baseball coach, and the school confirmed Gwynn's condition to The Associated Press. Gwynn plans to return to his alma mater, which he has coached since 2003. He retired from the majors in 2001 after 20 seasons with the Padres, in which he won a National League record-tying eight batting championships and was named to the All-Star Game 16 times.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-10T11:28:00-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Government Certified: What’s Causing Cancer — Research Summary

CANCER-INSIDE AND OUT: Cancer is one of the most prominent diseases in the world. According to the National Cancer Institute, "cancer is a renegade system of growth inside the human body. The changes that must occur inside for cancer to flourish are genetic changes, but factors outside the body also play a role." Outside factors, such as: diet, smoking, alcohol use, hormone levels, and even exposure to certain chemicals and viruses over time, can all work together to create defects and maturation in cells. Furthermore, they go on to explain that environmental, in science, means, everything outside the body, in the environment, that enters and interacts with it. This type of exposure can also include things such as: sunshine, rain, water, food intake, and workplace environment. Researchers have concluded approximately 67 percent of all cancers are due in some part to the environment. Feeling like you can't go anywhere now without being faced with cancer? The good news is these risks can decrease significantly if lifestyle changes are made. The National Cancer Institute suggests about one third of all cancer deaths could have been prevented if lifestyle changes were made, such as avoiding or completely eliminating tobacco and alcohol use. NOT JUST ON THE OUTSIDE: Environmental factors are not the only culprit when it comes to cancer. A lot of cancer is gene related and based on our composition from within. Random gene changes occurring now, as well as gene changes that occur from cell growth and division, accumulate and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-08T11:32:47-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer answer? Researchers are working on a more individual approach to each tumour

Source: macleans.ca By: Kate Lanau This summer, Vancouver cancer researchers announced a medical first. Presented with an extremely rare case of tongue cancer—it was so unusual there were no standard treatments to use—they sequenced the DNA of the patient’s tumour, and discovered similarities with another cancer (renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer) for which there’s a known therapy. The patient received drugs tailored to these results, and the cancer stopped growing for several months. Steven Jones, a molecular biologist with the B.C. Cancer Agency Genome Sciences Centre and one of two lead researchers on the study, calls it a breakthrough. It isn’t standard in hospitals to genetically sequence a patient’s tumour, but “the goal would be, maybe in 10 years, this would be routine,” he says. Dr. Leif Ellisen, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is working to bring tumour genotyping from the lab into the clinic. He and a team have designed a system that can screen relatively large numbers of patients for a variety of mutations across different cancer genes. These genetic mutations are a tumour’s “Achilles’ heel,” noted a recent editorial in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. “Every tumour has a flaw,” says Ellisen, who’ll be discussing his work as part of the Scienta Health Series in Toronto on Oct. 7, and his goal is to find it. It’s the mantra of a growing number of researchers, who tout personalized medicine—treatments tailored to each individual—as the future of cancer care. Traditionally, cancer treatment [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-08T10:18:00-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Virtual Fine Art Gallery TheArtGallerist.com Launches to Fulfill Dream of Cancer Survivor

Laguna Beach, CA, October 08, 2010 — For cancer survivor Brian Siedlecki, doing something meaningful and important is a requirement. With a clean bill of health and a mission to create something that would give him total fulfillment, he launched TheArtGallerist.com, a virtual fine art gallery based in the beautiful community of Laguna Beach that sells juried original art and fine art prints. “I want to make original fine art accessible to the millions of art collectors and buyers around the world who understand the effect art can have on one’s environment, emotions, perspective, and who appreciate those that have the talent to express themselves through their art,” said Siedlecki. As a result of being diagnosed three and half years ago with oral cancer, Brian had to make a difficult choice and retire. The treatment impacted his ability to speak clearly, so when deciding what he would like to do next, he chose to merge his passion for art and his success in business to launch a virtual company, TheArtGallerist.com. TheArtGallerist.com only represents a limited number of artists whose work must first be approved by a panel of professional artists and critics, ensuring only the highest quality for its customers. Artists must exhibit extraordinary technical skills, an authentic, distinctive style along with a unique and personal interpretation or point of view. TheArtGallerist.com is divided into three separate fine art “exhibits” – With one for Student artists, a second for Emerging artists, and a third for Professional artists, visitors are provided [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-08T09:39:12-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Refurbished York plant churning out Marlboro Snus, a new smokeless tobacco product

Source: www.dailypress.com Author: Jon Cawley From outside the non-descript facility on Merrimac Trail nothing indicates it's home to Marlboro Snus, a spit-less, smokeless tobacco product that company officials say is gaining significant market traction. Inside, processed tobacco is finely ground, cooked, flavored, pouched and packaged by automated machinery in sanitary "clean rooms." High-speed robots can produce 150 Snus packages — each containing six individual pouches of tobacco — per minute, officials said during a recent plant tour. The York manufacturing center is the only place making Snus (pronounced snoose). The tobacco product has been in limited production since late 2007 but began nationwide distribution in March. That marks a big turnaround for the once-idle York County plant that underwent a $100 million renovation and expansion beginning in 2006 and now employs 17 salaried and 30 hourly workers along with 54 contractors. During renovations, Philip Morris USA gutted the facility, located across from Anheuser Busch's Williamsburg-area brewery. It had been closed for about three years since the company discontinued production of an electrically heated smoking device. The facility was expanded by 33,000 square feet to 139,000 square feet and fitted with high-tech machinery specific to making and packaging Snus. That construction was partly funded by a $650,000 state and county grant, said Ed Tucker, a director with the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Manufacturing Co. Tucker said Snus and its packaging are discreet and designed to appeal to consumers as smoking restrictions continue to tighten. He said that because Snus is cooked instead [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-02T14:28:58-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless products face FDA test. Tobacco maker first in line for regulatory review

Source: Boston.com By: Michael Felberbaum RICHMOND- Tobacco maker Star Scientific Inc. hopes there's fire where there's no smoke. The small Virginia company has made itself the test case for a big issue: whether the Food and Drug Administration will allow certain tobacco products — particularly the company’s tobacco lozenges — to be marketed as less harmful than cigarettes. The application to market the product as safer also highlights a philosophical debate over how best to control tobacco. One camp says there’s no safe way to use tobacco and pushes for people to quit above all else. Others embrace the idea that lower-risk alternatives like smokeless tobacco or electronic cigarettes can improve public health, if they mean fewer people smoke. How the FDA handles the products is being closely watched by both the public health community and bigger tobacco companies, which are looking for new products to sell as they face declining cigarette demand due to tax increases, health concerns, smoking bans, and social stigma. A law enacted last year gives the FDA authority to evaluate tobacco products for their health risks and lets the agency approve ones that could be marketed as safer than what’s currently sold. So far only Star Scientific has applied for approval to market what the agency calls “modified-risk’’ products. The company says the small tablets that dissolve in the user’s mouth contain “below detectable levels’’ of certain cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco and its smoke. It wants to sell them to smokers as “a useful [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-01T11:36:27-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|