March 2016 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Imaging, physical examination find most recurrences of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer

Source: www.oncologynurseadvisor.com Author: Kathy Boltz, PhD Posttreatment imaging at 3 months and physical examinations during the 6 months following treatment can detect most recurrences in patients treated with definitive radiation therapy for oropharyngeal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).1 This research was presented at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. A dramatic increase in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) cases associated with HPV has been reported by the American Cancer Society. Survival rates after definitive radiation therapy have also increased. This has led to the need to determine general time to recurrence and the most effective modes of recurrence detection, to guide standards for optimal follow-up care by oncology teams. This study examined 246 cases of HPV-positive or p16-positive non-metastatic OPSCC treated with definitive radiation therapy at a single, large-volume cancer center between 2006 and 2014. Follow-up care included a PET/CT scan 3 months after completing treatment and physical examinations every 3 months in the first year following treatment, every 4 months in the second year and every 6 months in years 3 through 5. Median follow-up care length for all patients was 36 months. Patient outcomes, including recurrence and survival rates, were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method from the end of radiation therapy. Most recurrences were detected either by persistent disease appearing on 3-month post-treatment imaging or by patients presenting with symptoms at follow-up examinations. Disease characteristics that increase the likelihood of recurrence include presenting with 5 or more nodes or having level 4 lymph nodes (P [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-03-02T14:35:28-07:00March, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer gene may aid researchers find how immune system can help treat cancer or predict outcomes

Source: immuno-oncologynews.com Author: Daniela Semedo, PhD University of Cincinnati scientists have recently discovered that DEK, a human gene known to cause cancer, can be detected in the plasma of patients with head and neck cancer. DEK may help clinicians understand how a person’s immune system can be used to treat cancer or predict outcomes for patients. The information, titled “The DEK oncogene can be detected in the plasma of head and neck cancer patients and may predict immune response and prognosis,” was presented via poster at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium Feb. 18-20 in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Head and neck cancer remains the sixth most common cancer worldwide,” said Trisha Wise-Draper, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Hematology Oncology at the UC College of Medicine, in a news release. Wise-Draper is a member of both the Cincinnati Cancer Center and UC Cancer Institute and she was the principal investigator on this study. “Although infection with the human papilloma virus, or HPV, has emerged as a factor for determining outcomes for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [head and neck cancer], leading to less intense treatment strategies for patients, no plasma biomarkers exist to predict tumor response to treatment or possible relapse,” she said. “One potential plasma biomarker is programmed by the human DEK gene, which has been found to promote cancer. DEK RNA and protein are highly increased in tissue specimens from several tumor types, including head and neck cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma, and antibodies to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-03-02T14:30:30-07:00March, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Why a Cure For Cancer Is Possible

Source: www.fortune.comAuthor: Robert Mulroy Cutting drug prices is not out of the question. A crapshoot is defined as a risky or uncertain matter; something that could produce a good or bad result. President Obama’s moonshot on cancer is different in terms of its greater complexity and higher moral purpose — but unfortunately, not in its probability of success. The Audacity of Scope President Obama has asked Congress for $755 million to “focus” on immunotherapy, combination therapy, vaccines that prevent cancer causing viruses, and early detection techniques. According to Vice President Joe Biden, who will coordinate 13 government institutions in this research, “Our job is to clear out the bureaucratic hurdles, and let science happen.” It is hard not to welcome such an initiative. Cancer has deposed heart disease as the number one killer in 22 American states. Experts project the number of global cancer cases will double in the next 15 years. But we are better at projecting the demand for innovation than we are at producing it; and we are even better at making promises we can’t keep and polices that don’t work. President Roosevelt created the National Cancer Institute in 1937. Nixon declared a “war on cancer” with the National Cancer Act in 1971. The Bush administration spoke in 2003 of spending $600 million per year to rid the world of cancer by 2015. Obama and Biden made campaign promises to fight cancer in 2008, and should be lauded for trying to keep them, but their approach needs [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-03-01T10:52:43-07:00March, 2016|Oral Cancer News|