ASCO urges expansion of cancer research to include more older adults

Source: www.asco.org Author: staff ASCO  issued landmark recommendations calling for federal agencies and the cancer research community to broaden clinical trials to include older adults. ASCO also called for redefining eligibility for clinical trials. Both calls to action were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. More than 60 percent of cancers in the United States occur in people age 65 and older, a population that will grow exponentially over the coming years. Yet, the evidence base for treating older adults is sparse because they are underrepresented in clinical trials and trials designed specifically for them are rare. “Older people living with cancer often have different experiences and outcomes in their treatment than younger cancer patients,” said ASCO President Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO.  “As we age, for example, the risk of adverse reactions from treatment significantly increases. Older adults must be involved in clinical trials so we can learn the best way to treat older cancer patients resulting in improved outcomes and manageable toxicity.” Developed by ASCO’s Cancer Research Committee, the ASCO position statement, “Improving the Evidence Base for Treating Older Adults with Cancer,” makes the five following over-arching recommendations: •    Use clinical trials to improve the evidence base for treating older adults. •    Leverage research designs and infrastructure to improve the evidence base for treating older adults. •    Increase Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to incentivize and require research on older adults with cancer. •    Increase clinicians’ recruitment of older adults with cancer into clinical trials. •    Utilize [...]

2015-07-22T06:21:10-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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For the war against oral cancer, what’s in your arsenal?

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Dennis M. Abbott, DDS The face of oral cancer has changed: No longer is oral cancer a disease isolated to men over 60 years of age with a long history of smoking and alcohol consumption. Today, the demographic for the disease includes younger people of both sexes with no history of deleterious social habits who are otherwise healthy and active. It spans all socioeconomic, racial, religious, and societal lines. In other words, oral and oropharyngeal cancer is an equal opportunity killer. Today, as you read this article, 24 people in the US will lose their battles with oral cancer. That is one person for each hour of the day, every day of the year. Each of those lost is someone’s sister, a father’s son, a small child’s mommy, or maybe even a person you hold dear to your heart. The truth is, oral and oropharyngeal cancer has several faces . . . and each of those faces is a human being, just like you and me. So how can we, as dental professionals, be instrumental in the war against oral and head and neck cancer? Views of the oropharynx, the base of the tongue, and the epiglottis, taken with the Iris HD USB 3.0 intraoral camera using different points of focus. Photos courtesy of the author. The answer, as with most other cancers, lies in early detection. When oral and oropharyngeal cancer is detected early, the five-year survival rate can be as high as 80% [...]

2015-07-22T05:02:02-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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B.C. detection test being used to catch oral cancer in early stages

Source: www.cbc.ca Author: staff Doctor says oral cancer is among the deadlier diseases yet rarely talked about. The Canadian Cancer Society estimates 4,400 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year. The deadly disease can often go undiagnosed because it is tough to screen for dormant symptoms. But now, researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC)  are developing a new test that will be able to detect oral cancer at a much earlier stage. Dr. Catherine Poh, an oral pathologist who also teaches dentistry at UBC, spoke with the Early Edition's Rick Cluff about the latest developments. What can you tell us about this new brushing test you're working on? We are a proposing a non-invasive approach to analyse genetic material collected from patients mouths using a simple brush. This can be done by a dentist or at a family doctor's office. This test would detect genetic change that happens in human genomes from the cells collected from the mouth. We have shown that it has prediction value for the risk for oral cancer development. How does your test compare to how oral cancer is detected right now? Right now the majority of oral cancer has been screened by dentists because many of the oral cancer [diagnosis] come with no pain or no symptoms. Through the dental regular checkups it can be detected early, otherwise patients come with a sore in their mouths that is essentially a delay in the diagnosis. What symptoms should people look out for? [...]

2015-07-22T04:48:50-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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Professor Harald zur Hausen: Nobel scientist calls for HPV vaccination for boys

Source: www.independent.co.ukAuthor: Charlie Cooper & Gloria Nakajubi  The UK should vaccinate all boys against the cancer-causing human papilloma virus (HPV), the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who discovered the link between HPV and cancer has said. Professor Harald zur Hausen, the German virologist whose theory that HPV could be a cause of cervical cancers led to global efforts to vaccinate girls against the virus, said that boys should also be protected. There is now a wealth of evidence that HPV also causes cancers in men, including anal, penile and throat cancer. Professor zur Hausen added that there was now a chance to “eradicate” HPV viruses altogether if the world developed global vaccination programmes for all children. Since 2008 the UK has offered free vaccinations against HPV to girls aged 12 to 13 – a programme that had an almost 87 per cent uptake from 2013 to 2014 and has led to falls in the number of pre-cancerous abnormalities of the cervix, according to research carried out among vaccinated girls in Scotland. Vaccine authorities in the UK, traditionally an international leader in the field of immunisation, are yet to make a judgement on a publicly funded vaccination programme for boys, which would follow in the wake of those already in place in Australia, Austria, Israel and parts of Canada. HPV is the name for a common group of viruses that can affect the moist membranes of the cervix, anus, mouth and throat. It is usually spread through sexual contact. Most sexually active people [...]

2015-07-13T17:09:58-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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Noncompliance to guidelines in head and neck cancer treatment; associated factors for both patient and physician

Source: 7thspace.com Author: staff Decisions on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treatment are widely recognized as being difficult, due to high morbidity, often involving vital functions. Some patients may therefore decline standard, curative treatment. In addition doctors may propose alternative, nonstandard treatments. Little attention is devoted, both in literature and in daily practice, to understanding why and when HNSCC patients or their physicians decline standard, curative treatment modalities. Our objective is to determine factors associated with noncompliance in head and neck cancer treatment for both patients and physicians and to assess the influence of patient compliance on prognosis. Methods: We did a retrospective study based on the medical records of 829 patients with primary HNSCC, who were eligible for curative treatment and referred to our hospital between 2010 and 2012. We analyzed treatment choice and reasons for nonstandard treatment decisions, survival, age, gender, social network, tumor site, cTNM classification, and comorbidity (ACE27). Multivariate analysis using logistic regression methods was performed to determine predictive factors associated with non-standard treatment following physician or patient decision. To gain insight in survival of the different groups of patients, we applied a Cox regression analysis. After checking the proportional hazards assumption for each variable, we adjusted the survival analysis for gender, age, tumor site, tumor stage, comorbidity and a history of having a prior tumor. Results: 17% of all patients with a primary HNSCC did not receive standard curative treatment, either due to nonstandard treatment advice (10%) or due to the patient choosing [...]

2015-07-13T13:44:32-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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Mouth cancer survivor: Dental check ups saved my life

Source: www.express.co.uk Author: Elaine McLaren “Nobody particularly enjoys visits to the dentist and I’m no exception, but I’ve always looked after my teeth and have never missed a six-month check. So that day back in May 2009, I wasn’t expecting there to be any problems. I hadn’t been in any pain or discomfort, so I was surprised when the dentist voiced his concern. ‘There’s a white patch on the side of your tongue,’ he told me through his mask. ‘It’s probably nothing but you should get it checked out by your GP, just to be on the safe side.’ Examination over, I sat up in the chair as he explained what he thought it could be – a condition called leukoplakia, which was harmless in its mild form and often disappeared without the need for treatment. So when, a few days later, I was sitting opposite my GP, I was shocked to hear the condition was closely linked to mouth cancer. My heart sank at the mere mention of the word. Just seven years earlier, I’d lost my dad to lung cancer. My thoughts immediately turned to my own children, Grace, who was then only eight, and Daniel, five, and whether they’d have to go through the same trauma as I had with Dad. As quickly as the notion had entered my head, I brushed it aside. I was only 38 then, I didn’t smoke or drink heavily and I ate healthily. Nothing made me a high risk. But that [...]

2015-07-13T13:33:09-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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HPV vaccine now free for ‘at-risk’ boys and men under 26

Source: www.vancitybuzz.com Author: Jill Slattery The government of B.C. announced this week the HPV vaccine for human papilloma virus will now be available free of charge to boys and men under age 26 who classify as ‘at-risk’. Beginning in September, the free HPV vaccine program currently only available to young women will become available to men who have sex with males or who are “street-involved”. “Providing the vaccine for all girls protects heterosexual boys as well, but leaves at-risk boys and young men unprotected. This change will address that gap,” said the province in a media release. “The human papilloma virus is the most common sexually transmitted infection,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “It can lead to serious health problems and could develop into an HPV-related cancer. Our vaccination program will help protect all young British Columbians from cancers and other diseases caused by HPV infection.” HPV can be contracted by having sex with another person infected by the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV is “spread easily during anal or vaginal sex, and it can also be spread through oral sex or other close skin-to-skin touching during sex. HPV can be spread even when an infected person has no visible signs or symptoms.” While HPV may cause little to no symptoms in some, it can lead to genital warts and certain kinds of cancer. In men, oropharyngeal cancers (cancers at the back of the throat) are the most common. “In general, HPV is [...]

2015-07-10T12:36:14-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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Cancer patient has his mouth and tongue rebuilt using tissue from arm

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: Madlen Davies When David Barwell was diagnosed with the advanced mouth cancer, he feared he would never speak or eat again. But now, British surgeons have rebuilt his entire oral cavity using tissue from his arm, in a 15-hour operation. They had to remove a tumour the size of a plum from his throat, forcing them to cut away the bottom of his mouth and tongue. But medics were able to use skin and blood vessels from his arm to rebuild the oral cavity, and re-model his tongue. The operation will allow him to eat, drink and one day speak again, they hope. British-born Mr Barwell, who was living in Poland when he was diagnosed, travelled across Europe in a campervan to come back to Britain for treatment. Now recovering from the operation, he and his wife of 28 years, Barbara, have praised the NHS and its staff as 'incredible'. Mrs Barwell, a 67-year-old mother-of-one, was fought back tears as she thanked the NHS for its work. She said: 'These people are amazing. After working for 15 hours to save David's life and rebuild his mouth the surgeon, Mr McVicar, called me personally to tell me the operation had worked, and I could not believe it. I have never seen treatment so good, not anywhere in Europe.' Mrs Barwell, who grew up in Poland but moved to Nottingham in the 1980s to study, added: 'We used to make plans, both as a family and a business, but now we just can't. [...]

2015-07-07T09:16:54-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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Hey, Ontario — boys deserve protection from HPV, too

Source: news.nationalpost.com Author: Robyn Urback For years now, groups including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization have been petitioning the Ontario government to cover the cost of the HPV vaccine for boys. Since 2007, the province has paid to immunize girls against the common sexually transmitted infection — which is known to cause cervical, vaginal and other cancers in women, and mouth and throat cancers in men — but boys still have to shell out around $400 or more for three doses (though recent studies show that two doses may be sufficient) of the demonstrably effective, safe vaccine. Alberta and Prince Edward Island already cover the cost of the immunizations for both boys and girls, and so too will Nova Scotia as of this coming fall. And there’s good reason for that: doctors say that the rates of oral cancers among men have risen dramatically over the past several years, with HPV present in about two-thirds of cases. The good news is that the survival rate of these HPV-positive cancers is about 80 per cent; the bad news is that there can be lifelong effects, including problems with swallowing, hearing, tasting and in extreme cases, dependence on a feeding tube. But here’s more good news: we know the HPV vaccine works. In the U.S., for example, it has been shown to reduce the rates of infection among 14- to 19-year-old girls by more than 56 per cent since it was introduced [...]

2015-07-03T18:37:03-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Works Globally to Fight Antismoking Measures

Source: www.nytimes.comAuthor: Danny Hakim  A demonstration against World No Tobacco Day in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2013. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its foreign affiliates have joined efforts to fight antismoking laws around the world. Credit Romeo Gacad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images KIEV, Ukraine — A parliamentary hearing was convened here in March to consider an odd remnant of Ukraine’s corrupt, pre-revolutionary government. Three years ago, Ukraine filed an international legal challenge against Australia, over Australia’s right to enact antismoking laws on its own soil. To a number of lawmakers, the case seemed absurd, and they wanted to investigate why it was even being pursued. When it came time to defend the tobacco industry, a man named Taras Kachka spoke up. He argued that several “fantastic tobacco companies” had bought up Soviet-era factories and modernized them, and now they were exporting tobacco to many other countries. It was in Ukraine’s national interest, he said, to support investors in the country, even though they do not sell tobacco to Australia. Mr. Kachka was not a tobacco lobbyist or farmer or factory owner. He was the head of a Ukrainian affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, America’s largest trade group. From Ukraine to Uruguay, Moldova to the Philippines, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its foreign affiliates have become the hammer for the tobacco industry, engaging in a worldwide effort to fight antismoking laws of all kinds, according to interviews with government ministers, lobbyists, lawmakers and public health groups in Asia, [...]

2015-06-30T09:53:56-07:00June, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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