March 2019 – Oral Cancer News

How do speech-language pathologists support cancer patients?

Source: syvnews.com Author: Aundie Werner Question: What are speech-language pathologists and how do they support cancer patients? It is estimated that about 100,000 people will be diagnosed with a head, neck or thyroid cancer this year. Although this does not grab headlines as often as many other cancers, for those affected the disease and treatment can have a significant impact on their lives. In general, most people survive head and neck cancer; however, side effects of treatment can sometimes be a long-term problem. The support and guidance of a speech-language pathologist (SLP) can do much to help promote recovery and cope with the difficult symptoms of treatment. Ideally, the SLP becomes involved when the patient has been identified as having head and neck cancer before their surgery or before their chemotherapy/radiation protocol. Counseling and education are provided as to the functions of voice, speech and swallowing. Assessment is made to determine the patient’s baseline and to provide guidance as to the patient’s role in their rehabilitation. Frequently, the SLP works with patients who have difficulty eating and drinking. Treatment is based on the cause of the problem: anatomical changes from surgery, decreased saliva, changes in taste, difficulty opening the mouth due to trismus, and problems protecting the airway, which can result in coughing and choking during meals. Maintaining nutrition after surgery and during treatment is necessary to help the body heal. At times, the patient may need to have a feeding tube to help with nutrition when it becomes too [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-03-26T11:50:47-07:00March, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Robot that can cut out hard-to-reach throat tumours through patients’ mouths: Pioneering operation reduces need for chemo and radiotherapy

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: Fiona McCrae, Roger Dobson British surgeons are using a cutting-edge robot to remove difficult-to-reach throat tumours – through the mouths of patients. The pioneering operation is designed to dramatically reduce the need for gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which can leave patients unable to swallow and dependent on a feeding tube for life. With growing numbers of people developing throat cancer, it is more important than ever to have a range of effective treatments that lessen the impact on quality of life, says Asit Arora, consultant head and neck surgeon at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust in London. Once most common in elderly people with a history of drinking and smoking, rates of head and neck cancers have soared by 31 per cent in the past 25 years and are now as common in people in their 50s as in those in their 80s. The 90 minute operation is designed to dramatically reduce the need for gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which can leave patients unable to swallow and dependent on a feeding tube for life Much of the rise is attributed to HPV – a range of viruses that can be passed on during intimate and sexual contact. At least 80 per cent of the adult population carries some kinds of HPV on their skin, although most will never know it. In some cases, HPV can cause skin or genital warts, and other types are a known cause of cervical and anal cancers. HPV can [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-03-11T13:59:53-07:00March, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

HPV infection may be behind rise in vocal-cord cancers among young nonsmokers

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: Public Release Massachusetts General Hospital A remarkable recent increase in the diagnosis of vocal-cord cancer in young adults appears to be the result of infection with strains of human papilloma virus (HPV) that also cause cervical cancer and other malignancies. Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) describe finding HPV infection in all tested samples of vocal-cord cancer from 10 patients diagnosed at age 30 or under, most of whom were non-smokers. Their report appears in a special supplement on innovations in laryngeal surgery that accompanies the March 2019 issue of Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology. "Over the past 150 years, vocal-cord or glottic cancer has been almost exclusively a disease associated with smoking and almost entirely seen in patients over 40 years old," says Steven Zeitels, MD, director of the MGH Division of Laryngeal Surgery, senior author of the report. "Today nonsmokers are approaching 50 percent of glottic cancer patients, and it is common for them to be diagnosed under the age of 40. This epidemiologic transformation of vocal-cord cancer is a significant public health issue, due to the diagnostic confusion it can create." The researchers note that the increase in vocal-cord cancer diagnosis appears to mimic an earlier increase in the diagnosis of throat cancer, which has been associated with infections by high-risk strains of HPV. After initially attributing incidents of vocal-cord cancer in nonsmokers, which they began to see about 15 years ago, to increased travel and exposure to infectious diseases, Zeitels and his [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-03-06T15:08:22-07:00March, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Suspect laryngeal cancer in patients with sore throat and hoarseness, GPs urged

Source: www.pulsetoday.co.uk Author: Isobel Sims GPs should suspect laryngeal cancer and consider urgent referral in patients who present with a persistent sore throat and hoarseness, according to a new study. A recurrent sore throat in combination with symptoms such as hoarseness, difficulty swallowing or ear pain increases the likelihood that a patient has laryngeal cancer and may warrant urgent referral, the authors said. The study, published in the British Journal of General Practice, was carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and looked at primary care data for just over 800 patients diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, as well as just over 3,500 controls. The researchers found hoarseness carried the greatest individual risk, with those presenting with the symptom having a 2.7% likelihood of having laryngeal cancer – just under the NICE (National Institue for Health & Care Excellene) threshold of 3% for urgent referral. Patients presenting with a recurrent sore throat in combination with hoarseness had a 12% likelihood of having laryngeal cancer. The likelihood of cancer was also increased above the NICE threshold when recurrent sore throat presented with dysphagia, recurrent dyspnoea, ear pain and raised inflammatory markers, the researchers said. They found that, ‘unexpectedly’, neck lumps were not associated with laryngeal cancer. The authors said the findings back up the NICE recommendation to consider referring patients with persistent unexplained hoarseness, but that GPs should also be vigilant about symptoms not currently listed in the NICE guidance. The paper said: ‘This evidence supports some of the recommendations [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-03-06T15:03:59-07:00March, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

How regular use of painkillers could boost survival rates from cancer

Source: www.mirror.co.uk Author: Miriam Stoppard In recent research, aspirin or ibuprofen were found to treble the chance of beating head and neck cancer. Could regular use of aspirin or ibuprofen boost survival rates from head and neck cancer? It seems it’s possible. In recent research, the common painkillers were found to treble the chance of survival (from 25% to 78%) for patients with a specific kind of cancer which contains an altered gene, known as PIK3CA. Around a third of head and neck cancers carry this mutation and it’s also found in other types of cancer. Head and neck cancer is newly diagnosed in more than 12,000 people in the UK each year, and in 65,000 in the US. It kills just over 4,000 people here and 14,000 in America. There are more than 30 areas in the head and neck where cancer can develop, such as the mouth and throat. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, looked at five-year survival rates for people diagnosed with the disease and found the regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen, significantly improved survival for a third or more of patients with the disease. All the patients had the mutated gene. NSAIDs, however, had no effect on tumours without PIK3CA mutation. The study included 266 patients from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center whose tumours were surgically removed. Altogether, 75 tumours (28%) in the study had a change in the PIK3CA gene. Among the patients who [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-03-06T10:00:16-07:00March, 2019|Oral Cancer News|