September 2018 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Why I tell Everyone I have HPV

Source: bustle.com Author: Emma McGowen I have HPV. Or, to be more accurate, I was diagnosed with HPV when I was 19 and found a little bump on my vulva in an area where there was no chance it could be an ingrown hair. The nurse at the health clinic at my college put acid on it, watched while it turned white, and told me it was definitely a wart. That was the one and only “outbreak” I’ve ever had, but it was enough for me to say, sure, I have HPV. And I’m not shy about telling people that. But I wasn’t always this chill about it. When I was diagnosed, I basically lost it. I fell right down the slut-shaming hole. I told myself that was “what I get” for sleeping around, and cycled through the usual you can never have sex again/HPV doesn’t go away/your vagina is going to be covered in hideous warts/YOU’RE A TERRIBLE PERSON thoughts that so many of us go through when we get an STI diagnosis. Mid-freak out, I called a close friend. “Oh yeah, I have it, too,” she said. I got the same response from a female family member. And that’s when I calmed down and realized — HPV isn’t a big deal. Or, at least, the type of HPV I have isn’t a big deal. What I didn’t know at the time of diagnosis — but learned with a little Googling and had reinforced since, in my training as [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-09-11T10:41:04-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Italy Is Living Through What Happens When Politicians Embrace Anti-Vaxxers

Source: Huffingtonpost.com Author: Nick Robins-Early Italy’s Five Star movement, which was founded by a man who once called HIV a hoax, campaigned against mandatory vaccinations ahead of the country’s elections in March — and won. Last month, party leaders pushed through a law that ended compulsory immunizations for children attending public school. The new law has made Italy the darling of the global anti-vaxxer movement. But now the country is struggling to stop a measles outbreak that has already infected thousands of people, and Europe is recording its highest number of cases in a decade — an inevitable and foreseeable result of anti-vaccine policies and rhetoric, experts say. “Europe now is a good example of what happens when coverage of vaccinations is in decline,” said Vytenis Andriukaitis, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety. The efforts of Five Star and its far-right coalition partner, the League, have particularly complicated the global campaign to combat measles, an extremely contagious virus that often spreads among children and can result in severe complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis. The World Health Organization in 2012 set the goal for Europe to eliminate the disease by 2015. Instead, an estimated 41,000 people across the continent have been infected in the first six months of this year. Even a slight dip in a population’s vaccination rate can have disastrous effects: Countries need at least a 95 percent coverage rate to be measles-free. So when fewer people get vaccinated, kids get sick. “We’ve got this terrible self-inflicted [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-09-10T10:17:01-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Study: HPV cancer survivors at risk for second HPV cancer

Source: www.bcm.edu Author: Dipali Pathak A retrospective study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health found that survivors of HPV-associated cancers have a high incidence of developing second HPV-related cancers. Their findings, which were reported today in JAMA Network Open, suggest the need for increased screening for HPV-associated precancerous and early cancerous lesions among people who are survivors of the disease. Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a sexually transmitted infection that can lead to gynecological (cervical, vaginal and vulvar), anogenital (anal and penile) and oropharyngeal (throat and mouth) cancers. Cervical cancer is the most common HPV-associated cancer in women, and oropharyngeal cancers are the most common in men. “HPV is a virally mediated cancer, so it makes sense if somebody is infected in one site with the virus that they would be infected in other sites as well. It is important for people who have had one HPV-related cancer to know that they are at increased risk for HPV-related cancers in another site, and they are encouraged to have screening for these other cancers, if screening is available. Currently, screening is available for cervical and anal precancers,” said Dr. Elizabeth Chiao, professor of medicine in the section of infectious diseases at Baylor and with the Houston VA Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety. Chiao also is a member of the NCI-designated Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-09-08T09:35:00-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck Cancer: Overcoming Challenges in Treatment

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: staff Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc., shares the story of his initial diagnosis and treatment for cancer of the head and neck, outlining the challenges that came along with treatment, with fellow board member of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S. Transcript: Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S: Dr. Brook, can you please share your story about your cancer diagnosis in 2006 and the treatment that followed and also the subsequent surgery that you went through? Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc.: Once I learned I had cancer and my doctors removed it when they had to biopsy, I needed to receive radiation therapy. I did not get any chemotherapy, and the radiation therapy lasted six weeks, five days a week. It was very difficult to experience the radiation, and the side effects start to accumulate within a few days. And I had to deal with inflammation of the mouth, mucositis, difficulty in swallowing and pain in my throat, and I experienced a burning of the skin around the area of radiation, weakness and then difficulty maintaining intake of food. After a while, I could lose weight, and I tried to persevere because I knew that I had to receive the treatment to get better and soldier through it until it was over. Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S: Exactly. And some people have such severe side effects from the radiation that they actually require a feeding tube to support them during their treatment. In that case, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-09-04T13:05:32-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer: An overview of head and neck cancer

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: staff Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S, and Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc., board members of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, discuss the prevalence of cancers of the head and neck, emphasizing the potential risk factors and importance of prevention. Transcript: Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S: Welcome to this CURE Connections® program titled “Head and Neck Cancer: Through the Eyes of a Patient.” I’m Meryl Kaufman, a certified speech-language pathologist and founder of Georgia Speech and Swallowing LLC. I am joined today by Dr. Itzhak Brook, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2006. Together we will discuss the prevalence of head and neck cancer, what unique challenges patients may face and how one can adjust to life after receiving treatment for their disease. Dr. Brook and I also serve as board members on the Head and Cancer Alliance. Dr. Brook, let’s talk about head and neck cancer in general. What’s the difference between head and neck cancer associated with the traditional risk factors, such as smoking and drinking, and HPV-related head and neck cancers? Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc.: The traditional head and neck cancer is related to smoking and alcohol consumption. It’s usually associated with a high rate of laryngeal cancer. And HPV-related cancer is a relatively new arrival on the scene of head and neck cancer, and it’s associated with a condition of infection by a venereal disease. The virus HPV is usually associated with [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-09-04T13:04:43-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer: Novel treatment approaches

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: staff Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S, and Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc., board members of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, share insight into the role of novel treatment approaches like immunotherapy, robotic surgery and de-escalation in the management of cancers of the head and neck. Transcript: Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S: Dr. Brook, traditionally the treatment for head and neck cancer has been surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or some combination of those three. But there are some new and emerging treatment approaches to head and neck cancer along with many other cancers. Can you tell us a little bit about immunology? What is immunotherapy in the care of the head and neck cancer patient? Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc.: Most days, we don’t get cancer because our immune system is like the police department of our body. They detect cancer early and eliminate it. Unfortunately, in the case of cancer, the cancer cells can fool the immune system, and they go undetected and cause the disease. The main advantage of immunotherapy is that we are using the body’s defenses, the immune system, to kill the cancer in a much better way than the chemotherapy. Chemotherapy destroys the cancer cells, but it also affects the body cells. Immunotherapy is more precise. It is directed only to the cancer cells, so the rest of the body stays unscathed. That’s the beauty of immunotherapy. So, immunotherapy is an evolving field in cancer. They have many, many new drugs in the pipeline, and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-09-04T12:56:32-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer: Getting a diagnosis of head and neck cancer

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: staff Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S, and Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc., board members of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, discuss which symptoms should lead one to seek a diagnosis of head and neck cancer and which tests are available to aid in evaluation. Transcript: Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, BRS-S: When we talk about the HPV-related cancers, those are primarily in the oropharynx, which is the tongue base and the tonsil. But the traditional cancers typically can also involve the tongue, the lips, the floor of the mouth, the jaw, the gums and the hard palate. And the pharynx; that includes the nasopharynx behind the nose. We’ve addressed the oropharynx but also the hypopharynx, near the larynx. And in your case, laryngeal cancer that involves the larynx, the voice box, and the epiglottis. So, head and neck cancers can occur in any of those places. Can you talk about some of the signs and symptoms people can look out for in those areas? Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc.: Well, the important signs that are common to oral cancers are having a sore throat, a feeling that you cannot swallow and difficulty in swallowing. In advanced stages, it can interfere with breathing. If you have increased lymph glands in the neck and are also feeling like a lump or something is stuck in your mouth, those could be a sign. Sometimes they have symptoms such as pain in the ear or pain in the throat. And there are specific [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-09-04T13:05:12-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|