June 2018 – Oral Cancer News

Aussie researchers discover way to reverse drug resistance in major cancer

Source: www.xinhuanet.com Author: staff Australia's University of Queensland researchers on Thursday said they have discovered a way to reverse drug resistance in skin and mouth cancers, by adding a new drug to an existing treatment. The squamous cell carcinoma form of skin and mouth cancer "was curable when diagnosed early but difficult to eradicate once the cancer spread," the university's Associate Professor Nicholas Saunders said in a statement. The cancer kills about 1,400 Australians each year, he said. "The drugs used to treat squamous cell carcinomas that have spread to other parts of the body only work for a small fraction of patients. "In our study, we successfully added a new drug to an existing treatment to make squamous cell carcinomas responsive to treatment," said Saunders. The researchers found that a particular protein was controlling drug resistance in the affected cells and by administering a drug that helps keep it in the relevant cell nucleus, the cancer cells would react to existing chemotherapeutic treatments, said Saunders.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-28T07:58:55-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Doctors push HPV vaccine, Merck asks FDA to expand Gardasil 9 age range

Source: www.drugwatch.com Author: Michelle Llamas, Emily Miller (editor) Doctors, national cancer organizations and 70 nationally recognized cancer centers banded together in June to increase HPV vaccinations and improve cervical cancer screening. But they’re not the only ones pushing for more vaccinations. HPV vaccine maker Merck requested the FDA expand the recommended age range for Gardasil 9. Gardasil 9 is currently the only HPV vaccination available in the U.S. Nearly 80 million Americans get HPV infections each year. Of those people, about 32,500 get HPV-related cancers, according to the CDC. Studies show the HPV vaccine is effective in protecting against the human papilloma virus. The virus can lead to several cancers. These include cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, penile or throat cancers. HPV vaccination rates in the U.S. remain low. Doctors and cancer centers say low vaccination rates are a public health threat. “HPV vaccination is cancer prevention,” Dr. Deanna Kepka, assistant professor in the University of Utah’s College of Nursing, said in a statement. “It is our best defense in stopping HPV infection in our youth and preventing HPV-related cancers in our communities.” Right now, the vaccination rate among teens ages 13 to 17 is 60 percent. Doctors are pushing for an 80 percent HPV vaccination rate in pre-teen boys and girls. “[Vaccination] combined with continued screening and treatment for cervical pre-cancers … could see the elimination of cervical cancer in the U.S. within 40 years,” Dr. Richard Wender, chief cancer control officer for the American Cancer Society, said in a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-23T08:31:54-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

State not allowed to investigate death at cancer center

Source: kdvr.com Author: Rob Low Lakewood, Colo. - When 80-year-old Virginia Cornelius died at a Rocky Mountain Cancer Care Centers' location in Lakewood on February 27, the on-site doctor insisted it must've been a heart attack. But the adult children of Cornelius aren't convinced and tell the FOX31 Problem Solvers their efforts to find the truth have been stymied, partly because cancer centers generally aren't regulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Cornelius was receiving radiation treatment for cancer of the larynx in her throat. But her daughter, Susan Hutt, says her mother's general health on February 27 was fine. "They took her vital signs. They were better than mine," Hutt said. She said she was later told by a radiation tech that her mother was having trouble swallowing just before the procedure began but the treatment was allowed to continue anyway, when something went very wrong inside the patient room. "All the sudden the door flies open and a curtain and the therapist is screaming in the hall, somebody call 911, somebody find the doctor," remembered Hutt. Hutt and her brother Gary Cornelius always sat in a waiting area next to the radiation room for all of their mother's treatments having no idea that during every procedure their mother's hands were strapped to a bed. "We walk in and there is our mother on the table, hands restrained, the mask for radiation therapy with the oxygen that goes into it is up on a table, is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-22T07:59:49-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Praised West Palm attorney fought for many, but is now fighting for his life

Source: www.mypalmbeachpost.com Author: Daphne Duret - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer A knock on a door stopped Richard Tendler mid-sentence. His back straightened almost instinctively in his chair, just as it has at the first sign of every verdict. Two decades as a criminal defense attorney in Palm Beach County have taught the 51-year-old West Palm Beach man to never predict how things will go. “I’ve had cases I thought I won come back guilty,” Tendler had said hours earlier. “Then there were cases I was sure I lost, and the jury would come back not guilty.” Another certainty: Tendler knew was that he would go home a free man that night, regardless of his client’s fate. This time was different. Tendler was seated in an examination room at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, where he is one of 10 patients in an exclusive clinical trial for cancer patients whom other doctors have told to prepare to die. Knocking on the door was Dr. Christine Chung, who is treating Tendler and nine others with an immunotherapy regimen as part of a trial that includes 500 patients in the U.S. and around the world. Chung, the chief of head and neck oncology at Moffitt, was ready to deliver her own verdict — on the results of Tendler’s third six-week cycle. She greeted Tendler’s larger-than-usual entourage that day with polite handshakes and a tight smile. After the first two cycles, she said, the treatments have cut in half the size of one [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-21T19:59:41-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Smoking hits new low; about 14 percent of US adults light up

Source: https://flipboard.com Author: Mike Strobbe, AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Smoking in the U.S. has hit another all-time low. About 14 percent of U.S adults were smokers last year, down from about 16 percent the year before, government figures show. There hadn't been much change the previous two years, but it's been clear there's been a general decline and the new figures show it's continuing, said K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina. "Everything is pointed in the right direction," including falling cigarette sales and other indicators, Cummings said. The new figures released Tuesday mean there are still more than 30 million adult smokers in the U.S., he added. Teens are also shunning cigarettes. Survey results out last week showed smoking among high school students was down to 9 percent, also a new low. In the early 1960s, roughly 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked. It was common nearly everywhere — in office buildings, restaurants, airplanes and even hospitals. The decline has coincided with a greater understanding that smoking is a cause of cancer, heart disease and other health problems. Anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans are combining to bring down adult smoking rates, experts say. The launch of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity has also likely played a role. E-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine into a vapor without the harmful by-products generated from burning tobacco. That makes them a potentially useful tool to help smokers quit, but some public health experts [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-06-20T10:10:36-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

How often should you see a dentist?

Source: www.bbc.com Author: staff Margie Taylor says seeing a dentist once a year - or even once every two years - is enough for many patients. Some dentists argue this could make it harder for them to spot diseases such as mouth cancer. And they say it could see the wealthy paying for private dental care - while the poor have less access to a dentist. Ms Taylor met representatives of the British Dental Association (BDA) in Stirling on Wednesday afternoon to discuss their concerns. What is the Scottish government proposing? The Scottish government published its Oral Health Improvement Plan earlier this year, which says NHS dental services should focus on preventing oral health disease, meeting the needs of the ageing population, and reducing oral health inequalities between Scotland's rich and poor. The document says there is no clinical evidence that all patients need basic check-ups every six months - regardless of their oral health - as is currently the case. It quotes National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, which state that "patients who have repeatedly demonstrated that they can maintain oral health and who are not considered to be at risk of or from oral disease may be extended over time up to an interval of 24 months." Risk assessment Under the new system outlined by the government plans, an Oral Health Risk Assessment (OHRA) would be introduced for every patient - with the frequency of check-ups determined by their overall score. This may mean that [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-07T07:53:50-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

The rise of HPV-related cancers in men

Source: www.tmc.edu Author: Alexandra Becker Scott Courville admired his full beard and round belly in the mirror: He was ready for the upcoming holiday season. It was November 2015 and Courville, who plays Santa Claus in Lafayette, Louisiana, was too excited about his favorite time of year to worry much about the pain developing in his jaw. By February, though, the ache had worsened and was accompanied by new symptoms: white spots on his right tonsil, difficulty swallowing and lumps in his throat. He finally made his way to a walk-in clinic where he was diagnosed with tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics. “They sent me home and said, ‘In two weeks everything should clear up,’” Courville recalled. But his symptoms only worsened. Courville made an appointment with a local ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist who also diagnosed Courville with tonsillitis. The doctor prescribed more antibiotics and steroids, but two weeks later there were no improvements. Courville was referred to a dentist—“In case they see something we don’t”—but that, too, was a dead end. Courville’s dentist insisted he return to his ENT, where he ultimately had a CT scan that revealed a mass in his throat. That was June 6, 2016. Two days later, Courville underwent a biopsy. When he awoke from the surgery, his doctor was standing over him. Courville always gets choked up retelling this part of his story. “The hardest part for me is always remembering when the doctor said, ‘I’m sorry, but you’ve got cancer.’” Courville was [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-06T12:31:29-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Ask the Dentist: Cancer patients should be aware how radiotherapy can affect saliva

Source: www.irishnews.com Author: Lucy Stock SALIVA – we normally give little thought to our spit but we definitely notice when it's not there. Every day in the UK 31 people are diagnosed with a head and neck cancer. With increasing numbers of people undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancers there are more people living with the side-effects of not having enough saliva. Dry mouth, termed xerostomia, is common after radiotherapy. It's not only extremely uncomfortable, it makes speaking and swallowing more difficult and alters how things taste. Food can taste saltier, metallic; you can lose your sense of taste totally; and perhaps even worse, foods can taste foul, like sour milk. Not being able to chew and swallow easily can reduce how much you eat and how well you eat, leading to weight loss and poor nourishment. Saliva performs numerous jobs. It starts digestion by breaking down food and flushes food particles from between the teeth. Crucially, saliva contains minerals such as calcium and phosphate that keep teeth strong. So no saliva means that teeth decay rapidly and extensively. Even voice quality can change. Without enough saliva, bacteria and other organisms in the mouth take the opportunity to grow uncontrollably. Nasty sores and mouth infections, including yeast thrush infections, are run-of-the-mill. Luckily a dry mouth is usually a temporary nuisance that clears up in about two to eight weeks but it can take six months or longer for the salivary glands to start producing saliva again after radiotherapy ends. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-06T11:32:58-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Nivolumab Plus Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Fails To Improve Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer

June 02, 2018 By: James Nam, PharmD Source: https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com CHICAGO—Although the addition of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to nivolumab did not increase toxicity, it did not lead to any improvement in response rates or survival outcomes among patients with metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), according to an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2018 Annual Meeting on Friday, June 1. Researchers sought to determine whether or not SBRT to a single lesion plus nivolumab would improve abscopal responses (tumor regression in non-irradiated lesions) and other outcomes among this patient population. In this phase 2 interventional study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02684253), researchers randomly assigned 53 patients with metastatic HNSCC to receive nivolumab alone every 2 weeks or with SBRT between the first and second doses of nivolumab. The 2 study arms did not have any significant differences in terms of age, EBV/HPV viral status, primary site, or median lines of previous chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 12.8 months. Results showed that the overall response rate (ORR) was 26.9% (95% CI, 13.7-46.1) compared with 22.2% (95% CI, 10.6-40.8) in the nivolumab alone arm and nivolumab plus SBRT arm, respectively (P = .94). Patients receiving nivolumab alone did not have an evaluable median duration of response (DOR) compared with 9.3 months (95% CI, 55.2-not reached [NR]) among patients in the SBRT arm. The 1-year overall survival rate was 64% (95% CI, 47-88) in the nivolumab alone arm compared with 53% (95% CI, 36-79) in the nivolumab plus SBRT arm [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-06-04T10:12:12-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|