2013 – Page 12 – Oral Cancer News

Public lacks awareness of head and neck cancer

Source: www.alberniportal.ca Author: Leatitia Michael A survey reveals that the general public, including those who smoke, do not know very much about oral, head, and neck cancer (OHNC). There were nearly 40,000 new cases of oral, head and neck cancer diagnosed last year in the USA, of which 85 per cent could be linked to tobacco use and heavy alcohol consumption. Yet, according to a survey from the Medical University of South Carolina, the public remains largely unaware of the risks. In the study, over 1,000 members of the public were telephoned and 62 per cent said they were not knowledgeable about OHNC. Among smokers, the lack of awareness ran at 58 per cent. Under half of non-smokers and smokers knew that smoking was a risk factor. Hoarseness was correctly identified as a symptom by only one per cent of smokers and two per cent overall. But 17 per cent of the sample incorrectly named headache as a symptom. People can spot the signs and symptoms of OHNC themselves, but 94 per cent had not been told to look for problems like mouth sores that do not heal. And only 26 per cent had been check for this by a doctor. Clearly there is some way to go in raising awareness among the public of OHNC.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-05-14T08:35:21-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Michael Douglas: It took doctors nine months to figure out walnut-sized tumor at the back of my tongue was throat cancer

Source: www.nydailynews.com Author: Corky Siemaszko Michael Douglas said the tumor at the back of his tongue was the size of a walnut, but it still took doctors nine months to figure out it was throat cancer. “I knew something was wrong,” he said. “My tooth was really sore, and I thought I had an infection.” But the ear-nose-and-throat doctors and periodontists he consulted kept giving him antibiotics. “And then more antibiotics, but I still had pain,” he said. Finally, in 2010, a doctor in Montreal figured out that thing on his tongue was tumor. “Two days later, after the biopsy, the doctor called and said I had to come in,” Douglas recalled in a wide-ranging interview with New York magazine. “He told it me it was stage-four cancer. I said, ‘Stage four. Jesus.’ “And that was that. After complaining for nine months and them not finding anything, and then they told me I was stage four? That was a big day.” Douglas not only talked about his brush with mortality, he also chatted about his Hollywood comeback. He plays flamboyant piano tickler Liberace in an HBO biopic, “Behind the Candelabra,” that airs May 26. “Liberace loved sex,” he said. But the “Wall Street” star’s revelation that he had cancer sent a scare through Hollywood, where the words “stage four” were looked at as a death sentence. And for a time, Douglas looked like hell — losing 45 pounds as he subsisted on mostly on matzo ball soup as he healed. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-05-14T08:31:53-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Study examines role of DNA, HPV in oral cancer survival

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff High-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are increasingly associated with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). However, HPV-positive OPSCC is highly curable, and patients with HPV have better survival compared with HPV-negative patients, whose cancers are usually associated with alcohol and tobacco use. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying these differences, Jochen Hess, PhD, and colleagues at University Hospital Heidelberg monitored changes in DNA modifications in HPV-positive and HPV-negative OPSCCs (Journal of Clinical Investigation, May 1, 2013). They applied an array-based approach to monitor global changes in CpG island hypermethylation between HPV-negative and HPV-positive OPSCCs, and identified a specific pattern of differentially methylated regions that critically depends on the presence of viral transcripts. This DNA modification pattern was significantly correlated with improved survival in three separate groups of OPSCC patients, the researchers noted. "Our study highlights specific alterations in global gene promoter methylation in HPV-driven OPSCCs and identifies a signature that predicts the clinical outcome in OPSCCs," they concluded.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-05-14T06:56:32-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Drug Designed To Restore Cell Suicide In HPV-Related Head And Neck Cancer

Article Date: 10 Apr 2013 - 1:00 PDT Source: Medical News Today Researchers have discovered a new mechanism by which the human papilloma virus (HPV) causes head and neck cancer, and they have designed a drug to block that mechanism. Though further research is needed, the new agent might offer a safer treatment for these tumors when combined with a tapered dose of standard chemotherapy. HPV-positive head and neck cancer has become three times more common since the 1970s, and it could reach epidemic levels in the future, say researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) who led the study. "We believe these findings will help meet the real need for more effective and safer therapy for a growing number of HPV-positive head and neck cancer patients," says principal investigator Dr. Quintin Pan, associate professor of otolaryngology at the OSUCCC - James. The study was published in the journal Oncogene. The research, which mainly used head and neck cancer cells, shows that a protein produced by the virus blocks a protein made by the host cell. The cell protein, called p300, regulates a gene called p53. This gene both controls cell division and protects the body against cancer by causing cells to die before they become malignant. By blocking the cell protein, HPV forces the host cell to live instead of die and to proliferate and form tumors. The prospective new drug, called [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-05-09T16:09:59-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Nearly 6 Percent Of Lung Cancer Tissue Samples From Non-Smokers Show Signs That HPV May Have Triggered The Tumors

Article Date: 12 Apr 2013 - 1:00 PDT Source: Medical News Today A common virus known to cause cervical and head and neck cancers may also trigger some cases of lung cancer, according to new research presented by Fox Chase Cancer Center at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013. Examining tissue samples from lung cancer patients, the researchers found that nearly 6% showed signs they may have been driven by a strain of human papillomavirus (HPV) known to cause cancer. If HPV indeed plays a role in lung cancer in some patients, the next step is to better understand those tumors so they can be treated more effectively. "The ultimate goal," says study author Ranee Mehra, MD, attending physician in medical oncology at Fox Chase, "is to determine if we can target our therapies to the specific characteristics of these tumors." Studies from Asia have shown that lung tumors are frequently infected with HPV. The pattern makes sense, explains Mehra - the lungs are located very near the head and neck, which are known to be at risk of tumors upon exposure to some strains of HPV. To investigate, she and her colleagues examined 36 tissue samples from people diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer who had never smoked, part of the Fox Chase Cancer Center Biosample Repository. The reason they chose non-smokers, Mehra explains, is that smoking is a major cause of lung cancer - but in non-smokers, the explanation is often less obvious. The researchers found that 4 out [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-05-09T15:55:12-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Rx Target Found For HPV, Hep C And Related Cancers

Article Date: 15 Apr 2013 - 0:00 PDTSource: Medical News Today New discoveries by a team of scientists at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans for the first time reveal the inner workings of a master regulator that controls functions as diverse as the ability of nerve cells to "rewire" themselves in response to external stimuli and the mechanism by which certain viruses hijack normal cellular processes to facilitate their replication that can ultimately lead to cancer. The research was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The complex genetic programs controlling the function of cells and the organs, nerves, and tissues that they form are expressed through the concerted contributions of some 30,000 unique proteins that constitute the human genome. Coordination of these proteins is controlled by a small set of master regulators that sense the environment of the cell and alter subtle features of the genetic programs to maintain metabolic balance, called cellular homeostasis. More radical alterations in the genetic programs due to gene mutation or in response to viral or bacterial infection frequently lead to conditions that can result in cancer or developmental defects. Lead investigator Dr. Virginia Ronchi, a postdoctoral fellow, and research associate Jennifer Klein, working in the laboratory of Dr. Arthur Haas, Professor and Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, focused on the E6AP enzyme. This enzyme regulates the functions of several dozen different proteins involved in key homoeostatic processes. The E6AP protein belongs [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-05-09T13:10:26-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

When a virus causes cancer, surgical robot can help

Source: www.bizjournals.com Author: James Ritchie Dr. Keith Wilson finds robotic surgery to be a good approach for removing tumors growing deep in the throat, as I recently reported. As it turns out, such tumors are often part of an alarming trend. They’re often caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, also known as HPV. In decades gone by, oral cancer was almost always associated with tobacco and alcohol use. It was typically a disease of old men. No more. Many of Wilson’s patients are nonsmokers and very light drinkers. “I can’t tell you how surprised people get,” said Wilson, who is chief of staff at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. “We’re seeing younger, more affluent and more highly educated patients.” High-risk HPVs cause virtually all cervical cancers. They have in recent years been implicated in oropharyngeal cancers. The oropharynx is the middle part of the throat, including the soft palate, the base of the tongue and the tonsils. About 63 percent of oropharyngeal cancers, or 11,000 cases per year, are associated with HPV infection, according to the American Dental Association. They’re frequently under age 50. Fortunately for such patients, HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers have a better prognosis than those with other causes. Wilson said that cure rates can approach 90 percent. The da Vinci surgical robot is an effective tool for removing them, he said, because its long, joined arms can go where a surgeon’s hands can’t. But the machines, made by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical Inc., are gaining some criticism. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-05-03T14:06:57-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Radiosensitive Variation Key in HPV-Positive Head and Neck Cancer

Kate JohnsonMay 01, 2013Source: medscape.com GENEVA, Switzerland — Increased radiosensitivity likely contributes to improved outcomes in patients human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), according to a new study. The findings point to a potential new approach that could enhance radiosensitivity further in these tumors, said Thorsten Rieckmann, PhD, from University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf in Germany. The study results, which he presented here at the 2nd European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) Forum, were also published online April 19 in Radiation and Oncology. The work was named 1 of 2 top-scoring abstracts at the ESTRO meeting. Dr. Rieckmann and colleagues compared a panel of 5 HPV-positive and 5 HPV-negative HNSCC cell lines, and demonstrated a statistically significant difference in average radiosensitivity between the 2 panels. However, in the HPV-positive cells, "we saw a very high variation in radiosensitivity, so clearly not every HPV-positive cell line is equally highly radiosensitive," Dr. Rieckmann told meeting delegates. "Therefore, caution should be urged when considering the deintensification of therapy via dose reduction," the researchers write. "Additional stratification within the subentity of HPV/p16-positive HNSCC may be necessary to more precisely predict individual tumor sensitivity." "Until we have molecular markers to predict radiosensitivity in HPV-positive HNSCC, pack-years of smoking, as suggested by Ang et al [N Engl J Med. 2010;363:24-35], are probably the best option," he told Medscape Medical News. The study demonstrated that a compromised DNA repair process is likely the reason behind the more favorable prognosis for patients with HPV-positive HNSCC treated [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-05-02T10:12:42-07:00May, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Robotic surgery yields better quality of life for OC patients

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: Donna Domino, Features Editor Patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma maintain a high quality of life a year after having transoral robotic surgery, according to a new study in the JAMA Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery (April 10, 2013). But elderly patients and those treated with adjuvant treatments such as external-beam radiation therapy and chemoradiation therapy do not, according to the study authors. Patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) have historically been treated with primary open surgery. However, cure rates were low, complication rates were high, and patient health-related quality of life (HRQOL) decreased, the researchers noted. Efforts to minimize morbidity and preserve organs have shifted treatments to primary external-beam radiation therapy or chemoradiation therapy, but these treatments are often associated with significant side effects and decreased quality of life, they added. Transoral laser microsurgery was pioneered in the 1990s by Wolfgang Steiner, MD, for laryngeal tumors and eventually adapted to the oropharynx. Since then, primary laser microsurgery has yielded favorable treatment outcomes for OPSCC patients, the researchers noted. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS), a more minimally invasive approach, was introduced in 2005 and has since been recognized as "oncologically sound," while also preserving function in OPSCC patients. Complication rates are low and swallowing function remains high, according to the study authors. Research has shown that speech, eating, social, and overall quality of life tend to decrease but remain high three months after TORS. However, long-term results among a significant number of patients are lacking. Long-term quality [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-04-25T08:14:15-07:00April, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Be a trendsetter for oral cancer screenings

By Trish De Dios April 18, 2013Source: dentistryiq.com April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month. We are well-trained in hygiene school to perform a non-invasive visual and tactile oral cancer screening. We perform it on every patient we see and the patients of our school clinic are accustomed to the comprehensive nature of the exam we perform. We then are set free from the chains of dental hygiene school and unleashed into the world of professional private practice. Unfortunately, the transition from school to work can cause us to cut corners and be negligent in our oral cancer screening, due in part to the demands of being in private practice. Employers are often apprehensive of the time constraints of the exam and may be misinformed regarding how screenings would take place in their practice. My advice to the new grad is stay true to your ethical and clinical standards of care. Do not deviate from being thorough in your oral cancer screenings because of your newly acquired degree or work position. The most important part of a patient’s hygiene visit is this potentially life-saving exam, and once your patients and employer realize this, they will never undermine your clinical protocol. In addition to the great service you are providing your patients, it is a good business practice to create value in the dental hygiene appointment. Your patients are not just getting their teeth cleaned – convey to your employer and patients that when you are their hygienist, the hygiene visit will consist [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-04-24T16:51:37-07:00April, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|