February 2019 – Oral Cancer News

Woman gets new tongue made from her arm after cancer battle

Source: www.mirror.co.uk Author: Laura Elvin A woman who lost her tongue while fighting cancer has had a new one made from her arm. Despite being a non-smoker Joanna Smith, 58, was diagnosed with tongue cancer after she found a tiny 'ulcer' in her mouth. The grandmother-of-four was given eight months to live unless she had it removed, so went through with a 15-hour surgery. Doctors removed her tongue via a hole in her neck and made a new one using skin, muscle and a long vein from her left arm . The cleaner, from Bedfordshire, was able to talk as soon as she woke up and can now eat and drink on her own. However, she has no taste buds on the new organ and has to eat slowly to avoid biting it - but is cancer free and expected to make a full recovery. The mum-of-two said: "It's a bit weird. I look at my arm and I can see where my tongue has come from. "I think 'that's in my mouth now but yet I can talk' and that's really weird. I can't stick my tongue out and I can't say it really feels like a tongue. It feels a bit surreal. Before I had it done I was thinking to myself 'how it that going to work' but now I've had it I'm like 'wow'." "It's really weird but it shows what they can do now." Joanna noticed a tiny dot on the side of her tongue [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-19T07:27:18-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

E-cig users develop some of the same cancer-related molecular changes as cigarette smokers

Source: EurekAlert! Date: February 14, 2019 If you think vaping is benign, think again. A small USC study shows that e-cig users develop some of the same cancer-related molecular changes in oral tissue as cigarette smokers, adding to the growing concern that e-cigs aren't a harmless alternative to smoking. The research, published this week in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, comes amid a mushrooming e-cig market and mounting public health worries. On a positive note, recent research found vaping is almost twice as effective as other nicotine replacement therapies in helping smokers quit. But among adolescents, vaping now surpasses smoking, and there's evidence that e-cig use leads to nicotine addiction and future smoking in teens. "The existing data show that e-cig vapor is not merely 'water vapor' as some people believe," said Ahmad Besaratinia, an associate professor at Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study's senior author. "Although the concentrations of most carcinogenic compounds in e-cig products are much lower than those in cigarette smoke, there is no safe level of exposure to carcinogens." Besaratinia emphasized that the molecular changes seen in the study aren't cancer, or even pre-cancer, but rather an early warning of a process that could potentially lead to cancer if unchecked. The researchers looked at gene expression in oral cells collected from 42 e-cig users, 24 cigarette smokers and 27 people who didn't smoke or vape. Gene expression is the process by which instructions in our DNA are converted into a functional product, [...]

Charlotte Parker2019-02-18T10:40:06-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Pioneering surgery to regrow woman’s jaw hailed a ‘success’

Source: www.breakingnews.ie Author: staff A pioneering operation to regrow a woman’s jaw from her own skin and bone after she lost it from cancer has been branded a “significant success”. Val had her entire lower jaw removed including her glands, chin, lower lip and part of her tongue after being diagnosed with cancer in 2015, leaving her unable to eat, drink or talk. The 55-year-old from Wolverhampton eventually under went a pioneering surgical technique – known as distraction osteogenesis – to encourage her jaw to grow back after two previous attempts to reconstruct it failed. This involved surgeons at trust’s maxillofacial service at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust’s Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) fitting her with a facial frame to act as “scaffolding” around which her own bone and tissue can grow back. Val has had two further operations including one last month to remove the frame, and was discharged on Thursday. Doctors said 90mm of bone had grown since the operation in January 2018 – and branded the procedure a “significant success”. Val after the pioneering operation to regrow her jaw (Nottingham University Hospital) Val said it had been a “leap of faith” to undergo the surgery – which was the first time it had been carried out in the UK. She added: “Just over a year ago I was resigned to the fact I would have to wear a prosthetic chin for the rest of my life, but after one of our brainstorming sessions at my local [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-15T14:21:45-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Scientists to test light therapy as relief from side effects of cancer treatment

Source: www.photonics.com Author: staff University at Buffalo (UB) researchers have received part of a $1.5 million grant to investigate light therapy as a replacement for prescription opioids in treating oral mucositis, painful ulcers, and swelling in the mouth that result from chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer. Funded by the National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research Small Business Innovation Research program, the grant will help the researchers determine the effectiveness of photobiomodulation in prevention and treatment of oral mucositis after cancer treatment. At a high power, light, often in the form of a laser, is used in medicine to cut or destroy tissue. But at a low level, it has the ability to relieve pain and promote healing. Courtesy of Douglas Levere, University at Buffalo The grant was awarded to Cleveland-based MuReva Phototherapy, a spin-off company of lighting solutions manufacturer Lumitex, to further develop the light technology. UB received $511,000 of the award to test the technology. The research, led by Praveen Arany, DDS, assistant professor in the UB School of Dental Medicine, will be performed in collaboration with faculty from the Departments of Radiation Medicine and Oral Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The current epidemic of opioids has impacted cancer care, especially for cancer pain relief,” Arany said. “This treatment offers a simple, nondrug, noninvasive treatment approach to relieve pain and improve quality of life for cancer patients. The striking lab and clinical evidence for photobiomodulation treatments in supportive cancer care has demonstrated tremendous [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-15T14:14:51-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

E-cigarette users show cancer-linked genetic changes

Source:news.usc.edu Author: Leigh Hopper If you think vaping is benign, think again. While studies have indicated that vaping can help smokers quit, USC researchers say the health consequences of using a e-cigarettes may be worse than widely believed. (Photo/Pixabay) A USC study in 93 people shows that e-cigarette users develop some of the same cancer-related molecular changes in oral tissue as cigarette smokers, adding to the growing concern that e-cigarettes aren’t a harmless alternative to smoking. The research, published this week in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, comes amid a mushrooming e-cigarette market and mounting public health worries. On a positive note, recent research found vaping is almost twice as effective as other nicotine replacement therapies in helping smokers quit. But among adolescents, vaping now surpasses smoking, and there’s evidence that e-cigarette use leads to nicotine addiction and future smoking in teens. “The existing data show that e-cig vapor is not merely ‘water vapor’ as some people believe,” said Ahmad Besaratinia, an associate professor at Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study’s senior author. “Although the concentrations of most carcinogenic compounds in e-cig products are much lower than those in cigarette smoke, there is no safe level of exposure to carcinogens.” E-cigs and cancer: Early warning in oral cells Besaratinia emphasized that the molecular changes seen in the study aren’t cancer, or even pre-cancer, but rather an early warning of a process that could potentially lead to cancer if unchecked. The researchers looked at gene [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-15T14:06:43-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

The epidemic of throat cancer sweeping the industrialized world

Source: www.mercurynews.com Author: Dr. Bryan Fong Tonsils - Angina Pectoris Over the past three decades, a dramatic increase in a new form of throat cancer has been observed throughout the industrialized world. The good news is that it’s potentially preventable — if parents get their children vaccinated. The disease shows up primarily in men, typically between the ages of 45 and 70. Those who are affected often lead healthy lifestyles. They do not have extensive histories of smoking tobacco or consuming alcohol, which are risk factors for traditional throat cancers. The rate of this new cancer has been increasing 5 percent per year and today, it is more than three times as common as in the mid-1980s. If you think this scenario sounds like a slow-moving infectious medical drama (think Contagion or World War Z), you would be right. The source of this cancer is a virus, the human papillomavirus (HPV) — the same virus that causes most cervical cancer in women. It’s widely known that parents should get their girls vaccinated. Now, with the surge in oral HPV cancers, especially in men, parents should get their boys vaccinated too. Currently, vaccination against HPV is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control for children and young adults ages 9-26. The vaccination includes a series of two or three injections; the side effects are mild. Ideally, the vaccinations should be administered before someone becomes sexually active. That’s because HPV is spread via sexual activity. Risk of HPV infection and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-15T08:18:22-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Minimally-invasive treatment option for early stage oral cancer reduces recovery time, improves survival

Source: www.newswise.com Author: Henry Ford Health System Henry Ford Cancer Institute is a leader in providing a minimally invasive procedure called a sentinel lymph node biopsy for patients with early stage oral cancer. The biopsy can be performed at the same time oral cancer is surgically removed, and it can determine if the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes. For Henry Ford patient Marlene Calverley, the biopsy meant having three lymph nodes removed versus 30-60 lymph nodes, and a two-inch scar instead of a five-to-six-inch scar. It also meant no neck drains, no physical therapy, and a decreased risk of complications. “We are one of the few – if not the first – medical center in the State of Michigan to adopt this new paradigm for treating early oral cavity squamous cell cancers,” says head and neck cancer surgeon Tamer A. Ghanem M.D., Ph.D., director of Growth, Access, and Service for the Department of Otolaryngology at Henry Ford Cancer Institute. This new paradigm is based on a standard treatment for breast cancer and melanoma skin cancer. The early data shows that sentinel lymph node biopsy may improve patients’ survival rate. Research also demonstrates a significant decrease in recovery time, complications, and effects attributed to a treatment, says Steven Chang, M.D., director of the Head and Neck Oncology program and the Microvascular Surgery Division at the Henry Ford Cancer Institute. Head and neck cancers are among the most common cancers in the U.S. and globally. At the time patients are [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-12T14:19:17-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Merck’s Keytruda looks to zoom past Opdivo with fast head and neck cancer review

Source: Fierce Pharma Date: February 11, 2019 Author: Carly Helfand Merck & Co.’s Keytruda is duking it out with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo in the head and neck cancer marketplace, but Keytruda just took one step toward a green light that would give it a big edge. The FDA has tagged Merck’s approval application for the immuno-oncology superstar—alone or in tandem with chemo—with its priority review designation in previously untreated patients with head and neck cancer. The move, which Merck announced Monday, sets Keytruda up for a quick trip down the regulatory pathway; the agency expects to have a decision by June 10, Merck said. FDA staffers based their decision on data Merck trotted out at last year’s European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in October. Results showed that solo Keytruda, when pitted against a standard-of-care regimen dubbed by doctors as “Extreme,” could cut the risk of death by 22% in patients testing positive for the biomarker PD-L1. In patients with high levels of PD-L1 in their tumors, that figure shot up to 39%. And when paired with chemo, Keytruda pared down the risk of death by 23% regardless of patients’ PD-L1 status. Based on “the limited interaction we’ve had with key opinion leaders, I think this is seen as practice-changing,” Roy Baynes, Merck SVP and head of global clinical development, said when the data were released. And in addition to shaping opinions on clinical practice, the results also confirmed Keytruda’s place in the second-line setting, where it had previously suffered a narrow trial miss. [...]

Charlotte Parker2019-02-11T11:48:00-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Why salivary diagnostics for dental practices?

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Barbara Kreuger, MA, RDH I recently had the opportunity to visit OralDNA Labs and learn more about the process of running salivary diagnostic tests. Admittedly, when I first heard about salivary diagnostics, I didn’t immediately embrace the tests and what they had to offer. I was not convinced that they were necessary, believing they would not change how we treat dental disease. However, we’ve been fortunate to use salivary diagnostics in practice and see the benefits in our patients firsthand. These tests have proven to be a great addition to our prevention tool box. Salivary diagnostics can play an important role in helping us produce high quality outcomes for patients and create awareness of their oral-systemic risk factors. Bacterial identification There are numerous salivary diagnostic tests available. The most widely used test from OralDNA Labs is MyPerioPath, which tests for the 11 pathogens that are known to contribute to periodontal destruction.(1) Once the test reveals which pathogens are contributing to the patient’s periodontal disease, it also offers antibiotic recommendations that target these specific bacteria. When combined with periodontal maintenance visits and patient homecare, this test can lower a patient’s bacterial load, thus increasing positive outcomes. Retesting has shown that this reduction in bacteria can have a dramatic effect. We’ve seen tough cases—patients who were compliant with homecare but still exhibited clinical signs of periodontal disease—that improved dramatically after being treated with the test’s recommended systemic antibiotic. Periodic monitoring with MyPerioPath combined with periodontal maintenance treatment can help [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-08T14:32:58-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

‘They needed something more after treatment’

Source: www.nursingtimes.net Author: Claire Reed Lesley Taylor wanted to examine the lack of support for patients at the end of treatment, so the decision was made to explore the impact of a wellbeing clinic on care, Claire Read reports. When the results of the study came back, they confirmed what Lesley Taylor and her colleagues had long suspected. The patients for whom they cared were getting good support for their actual medical issues, but their post-treatment needs weren’t always being identified or met. Ms Taylor is the Macmillan advanced oncology nurse specialist at NHS Tayside, as well as the head and neck cancer nurse specialist at the same organisation. It was on these patients which Ms Taylor’s study was focused. “We could look down into their mouths and throats and say there was no evidence of any cancer, and that was great, they appreciated that. But what we didn’t have time to do in that medically-led clinic was look at things like dry mouth, and swallow, and the emotional aspects and the social aspects that come alongside what are often life-changing diagnoses and treatments,” she remembers. “It became clear they needed something very much more at the end of treatment.” And so the decision was taken to instigate a nurse and allied health professional-led wellbeing clinic. The idea was to provide the sort of support that had been lacking; the holistic look at someone’s life in the immediate aftermath of the end of treatment. The team worked together to reshuffle [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-08T14:23:51-07:00February, 2019|Oral Cancer News|