August 2013 – Oral Cancer News

Cancer survivors not seeking help for depression

Source: www.dailyrx.com Author: staff Long-term treatment can affect how cancer survivors manage in the world. The fancy phrase for this is “psychosocial functioning.” A recent study looked at how head and neck cancer survivors get along after treatment. Depression is not uncommon among head and neck cancer survivors, researchers found in this new study. However, not many of the survivors in the study sought help for their depression with either antidepressants or therapy. Physicians could assist by screening for psychosocial problems because depression is very treatable, according to one expert. Allen M. Chen, MD, of the University of California, Davis, and now of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, led this study. Dr. Chen and colleagues were looking at the rates of depression among head and neck cancer survivors who had received radiation therapy to treat the disease. “The treatment of head and neck cancer can lead to devastating impact on psychosocial functioning due to the many important structures located in the head and neck region," Tobenna Nwizu, MD, a solid tumor oncologist with the Taussig Cancer Institute at Cleveland Clinic, told dailyRx News. “Functions like speech, swallowing, taste and salivation can all be affected,” said Dr. Nwizu, who was not involved in this study. Treatment can also affect appearance, cause dry mouth and increase the risk of aspiration (sucking food into the airway), according to the authors. For this study, the researchers asked 211 head and neck cancer survivors to complete a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-08-16T06:11:21-07:00August, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Walk/Run will raise money for oral cancer research

Published Aug 12, 2013 at 2:06 pm (Updated Aug 12, 2013)Source: The Sparta Independent ANDOVER — On Saturday, Sept. 21 , the sixth annual Oral Cancer Foundation Walk/Run for Awareness in Memory Of David Nasto will take place at Perona Farms in Andover. The annual event is held in honor of a local, young man who lost his life to oral cancer seven years ago. Susan Lauria, David’s sister, hosts the walk each year and is excited to announce the special features of the 2013 event. Participants will have access to free oral cancer screenings by local dentists and oral surgeons as well as free blood pressure screenings. All participants will enjoy live music and raffles, as well as the complimentary breakfast and barbecue, facepainting for kids and more. Stage IV Oral Cancer Survivor Michael White will speak about his battle with the disease and how he is thriving today. In person registration will begin at 8 am. The first 150 walkers/runners to arrive will receive free goody bags! To date, hundreds of participants in David’s Memorial Walk have helped raise over $80,000 for the Oral Cancer Foundation, for awareness initiatives and to conduct life-saving research. Fundraising efforts have started for 2013 and community members are encouraged to form teams or fundraise individually to aid in the fight against oral cancer. An iPad3 will be given to the person who raises the most donations over $2,000 on their personal fundraising page. Any dental office team who raises the most donations [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-08-15T10:27:38-07:00August, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

UCLA Dentistry receives $5 million to study extracellular RNA in saliva

Research could yield new method for detecting stomach cancer and other diseases By Brianna Deane Source: UCLA NewsroomDate: August 13, 2013 Imagine having a sample of your saliva taken at the dentist's office, and then learning within minutes whether your risk for stomach cancer is higher than normal. That futuristic-sounding scenario may actually not be too far from reality. The UCLA School of Dentistry received $5 million in funding from the National Institutes for Health to study biological markers in saliva to attempt to develop a tool for detecting stomach cancer. The study has the potential to create a new paradigm in the field of salivary diagnostics, and it could supply concrete evidence that saliva can be used in the detection of life-threatening diseases, including diabetes and cancers of the pancreas, breasts, ovaries and stomach. The award comes from the NIH Common Fund, a program established to overcome obstacles in biomedical research that have hindered scientific discovery and its translation into improved human health. The funding awarded to the School of Dentistry comes from the Common Fund's Extracellular RNA Communication initiative, which has awarded leading research institutes around the world a total of $160 million to address the transformative potential of the emerging field of salivary diagnostics. Leading UCLA's five-year project is Dr. David Wong, a pioneer in the field of salivary diagnostics, the dentistry school's associate dean of research, and the Felix and Mildred Yip Endowed Professor in Dentistry. His team will develop and definitively validate salivary extracellular ribonucleic [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-08-14T15:05:23-07:00August, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Most youth who use smokeless tobacco are smokers, too

By Anne HardingNEW YORK | Thu Aug 8, 2013 5:17pm EDTSOURCE: bit.ly/13INoAt Pediatrics, online August 5, 2013. (Reuters Health) - Most young people in the U.S. who use newer smokeless tobacco products are smoking cigarettes too, according to new research. "These findings are troubling, but not surprising, as tobacco companies spend huge sums to market smokeless tobacco in ways that entice kids to start and encourage dual use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco," Vince Willmore, vice president of communications at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, told Reuters Health in an email. "From 1998 to 2011, total marketing expenditures for smokeless tobacco increased by 210 percent - from $145.5 million to $451.7 million a year, according to the Federal Trade Commission," he added. Swedish-style "snus," introduced to the U.S. in 2006, and dissolvable tobacco products, introduced in 2008, are arguably less harmful than conventional chewing tobacco because they contain fewer nitrosamines, and have been promoted as safer alternatives. But public health experts have been concerned that these products could serve as a "gateway drug" to use of conventional smokeless tobacco and to cigarette smoking. To better understand the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among young people, Dr. Gregory Connolly of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and his colleagues looked at data from the 2011 National Youth Tobacco Survey, which included nearly 19,000 sixth- to 12th-graders from across the country. Overall, the researchers found, 5.6 percent of young people reported using any type of [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-08-09T12:33:36-07:00August, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

R.J. Reynolds Not Expanding Distribution of Dissolvables

Source: CSP Daily NewsDate: August 5, 2013 Camel Orbs, Sticks, Strips will remain available in current test markets WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is limiting the marketing of its trio of dissolvable tobacco products: Camel Orbs, Camel Sticks and Camel Strips, reported The Winston-Salem Journal. The company has been testing the products in five markets for more than four-and-a-half years. Reynolds began testing the dissolvable products in early 2009. By comparison, it took only two-and-a-half years--from April 2006 to Oct. 2008--to take its Camel Snus products from test markets to national distribution. Reynolds spokesperson Richard Smith said the products will remain in limited distribution in Charlotte, N.C., and Denver at point-of-sale (POS) sites. "At this time there are no plans for any marketing beyond these channels," Smith told the newspaper. "We've found in our conversations with adult tobacco consumers that while there's strong interest in the category, a different product form may present a better option over the long term. Though for now, Camel Sticks, Strips and Orbs will remain available while we continue to gather learnings." Reynolds has carved out an important and profitable niche as the industry's leading manufacturer of innovative smokeless products, said the report. The dissolvable products are made of finely milled tobacco and come in flavor styles of fresh and mellow. The products last from two to three minutes for the strips, 10 to 15 minutes for the orbs and 20 to 30 minutes for the sticks. They [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-08-07T11:22:45-07:00August, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Enhanced Radiation Sensitivity in HPV-Positive Head and Neck Cancer

Source: American Association for Cancer Research Received February 28, 2013.Revision received April 9, 2013.Accepted April 26, 2013. Abstract Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV+)–associated head and neck cancer (HNC) show significantly improved survival outcome compared with those with HPV-negative (HPV−) tumors. Published data examining this difference offers conflicting results to date. We systematically investigated the radiation sensitivity of all available validated HPV+ HNC cell lines and a series of HPV− HNC cell lines using in vitro and in vivo techniques. HPV+ HNCs exhibited greater intrinsic radiation sensitivity (average SF2 HPV−: 0.59 vs. HPV+: 0.22; P < 0.0001), corresponding with a prolonged G2–M cell-cycle arrest and increased apoptosis following radiation exposure (percent change 0% vs. 85%; P = 0.002). A genome-wide microarray was used to compare gene expression 24 hours following radiation between HPV+ and HPV− cell lines. Multiple genes in TP53 pathway were upregulated in HPV+ cells (Z score 4.90), including a 4.6-fold increase in TP53 (P < 0.0001). Using immortalized human tonsillar epithelial (HTE) cells, increased radiation sensitivity was seen in cell expressing HPV-16 E6 despite the effect of E6 to degrade p53. This suggested that low levels of normally functioning p53 in HPV+ HNC cells could be activated by radiation, leading to cell death. Consistent with this, more complete knockdown of TP53 by siRNA resulted in radiation resistance. These results provide clear evidence, and a supporting mechanism, for increased radiation sensitivity in HPV+ HNC relative to HPV− HNC. This issue is under active investigation in a series of clinical trials attempting [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-08-01T13:59:40-07:00August, 2013|Oral Cancer News|