May 2019 – Oral Cancer News

Queensland scientist develops new HPV cancer vaccine

Source: 9News Date: May 22, 2019 Author: 9News Staff *click Source to view video* Former Australian of the Year Professor Ian Frazer has developed a vaccine aimed at treating HPV-related cancers of the head, neck, throat and tongue. While funding is still being finalised, a trial of the vaccine is being prepared for people with incurable oropharyngeal cancers. Professor Frazer, the Scottish-born immunologist who developed and patented the vaccine against HPV-related cervical cancer, has been working on this vaccine for nearly 15 years. While the cervical cancer vaccine works as a preventative, this new vaccine is a treatment therapy. It works by teaching the patient’s immune system to target the cancer cells containing HPV. The patient will then be given immunotherapy drugs that supercharge the immune system. “This is all about a new way to treat cancer using the body's defence against infection,” Professor Frazer said. “This might give a second chance at life.” HPV-related throat cancer kills three Australians every day. “It's going to become a major problem in Australia, in fact in the US we've seen an increase in HPV-related throat cancers by 225 per cent," head and neck radiation oncologist Sandro Porceddu said. Professor Porceddu will conduct the trial at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. It should begin towards the end of this year if a further $700,000 in necessary funding is found. © Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2019

Charlotte Parker2019-05-22T16:06:08-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Greens and Genes

Source: Harvard Medical School Date: May 16, 2019 Author: Jacqueline Mitchell Your mother was right: Broccoli is good for you. Long associated with decreased risk of cancer, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables—the family of plants that also includes cauliflower, cabbage, collard greens, Brussels sprouts and kale—have now been found to contain a molecule that inactivates a gene known to play a role in a variety of common human cancers. In a new paper published May 16 in Science, researchers led by Pier Paolo Pandolfi, the HMS Victor J. Aresty Professor of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, demonstrate that targeting the gene, known as WWP1, with the ingredient found in broccoli suppressed tumor growth in cancer-prone lab animals. “We found a new important player that drives a pathway critical to the development of cancer, an enzyme that can be inhibited with a natural compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables,” said Pandolfi, who is also director of the Cancer Center and Cancer Research Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess. “This pathway emerges not only as a regulator for tumor growth control, but also as an Achilles’ heel we can target with therapeutic options,” Pandolfi said. One of the most frequently mutated, deleted, downregulated or silenced tumor suppressor genes in human cancersis PTEN. Certain inherited PTEN mutations can cause syndromes characterized by cancer susceptibility and developmental defects. Because complete loss of the gene triggers an irreversible and potent failsafe mechanism that halts proliferation of cancer cells, it’s rare for both copies of the gene (humans have one [...]

Charlotte Parker2019-05-20T11:00:28-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

The Problem With Supplements

Source: Elemental Date: May 6, 2019 Author: Markham Heid Earlier this year, federal authorities announced plans to strengthen oversight of the supplement industry. “The growth in the number of adulterated and misbranded products — including those spiked with drug ingredients not declared on their labels, misleading claims, and other risks — creates new potential dangers,” said U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb in a February press release. Heightened oversight is needed, Gottlieb argued, because expansion and change within the supplement industry has made it difficult for his agency to keep pace. “What was once a $4 billion industry comprised of about 4,000 unique products, is now an industry worth more than $40 billion, with more than 50,000 — and possibly as many as 80,000 or even more — different products available to consumers,” he said. From multivitamins and botanicals to probiotics and protein powders, roughly three out of four Americans now take some kind of supplement on a regular basis. Since the days of palliative tonics and snake-oil salesmen, Americans have been readily lured by the promise of health or longevity in the form of a drink, pill, or powder. While the terminology has evolved — “biohacking” and “nutraceuticals” are some of the buzzwords du jour — the implied benefits of most supplements still outpace or ignore the science. And despite recent studies that find supplements are frequently contaminated or that the best way to get nutrients is through food, Americans’ interest in supplements is only growing. And experts say many supplement users don’t recognize or appreciate the risks that accompany the [...]

Charlotte Parker2019-05-07T11:05:54-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Tackling side effects in head and neck cancer treatment – the end of the road for hyperbaric oxygen?

Source: Cancer Research UK Date: May 2, 2019 Author: Katie Roberts Some side effects appear years after cancer treatment. That’s the case for one side effect of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, called osteoradionecrosis. This painful condition results from damage to the jaw bone, which often doesn’t heal properly and can cause bone fractures or even bone death. It can develop without an obvious trigger, but it’s often linked to dental work like tooth extractions or implants. And it can happen even if the dental work is carried out 20 years after radiotherapy. Professor Richard Shaw, a Cancer Research UK-funded head and neck surgeon at the University of Liverpool, treats the difficult condition quite frequently through reconstructive surgery. Shaw says that these procedures are often bigger and harder than patients’ original cancer surgery, because they’ve already had so much treatment in that area. For that reason, researchers have looked for ways to prevent osteoradionecrosis from developing. And that’s where hyperbaric oxygen comes in. It started with a small trial in the 80s, which has influenced the way doctors prepare patients for dental surgery ever since. But new Stand Up To Cancer trial data, led by Shaw and published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, shows the hyperbaric oxygen hype may have been a bit premature. The trial of hyperbaric oxygen Back in the 1980s, a small trial in the US showed that giving hyperbaric oxygen before dental surgery could reduce the risk of osteoradionecrosis developing. What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy? Hyperbaric oxygen treatment involves [...]

Charlotte Parker2019-05-06T10:21:09-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Oral HPV DNA Persistence After Head and Neck Cancer Treatment Linked to Disease Progression

Source: genomeweb Date: May 2, 2019 Author: Staff Reporter NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Persistent traces of human papilloma virus DNA after treatment for HPV-positive head and neck cancer is linked to an increased recurrence risk, a new study has found. Head and neck cancers affect some 53,000 people in the US each year, according to the National Cancer Institute, and HPV has been implicated in many of those cases. In general, patients with HPV-positive tumors have higher survival rates than those with HPV-negative tumors. A team of MD Anderson Cancer Center-led researchers collected oral rinse samples from nearly 400 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas at diagnosis and as their treatments progressed. As they reported today in JAMA Oncology, the researchers found that viral load in patients' oral samples broadly decreased as they underwent therapy. But some patients' viral loads persisted despite treatment, which was linked to an increased risk of cancer recurrence and death, the researchers reported. "Our data suggest that a subset of patients with HPV-positive HNSCC at high risk for locoregional recurrence can be identified by detection of persistent, oral HPV after treatment," MD Anderson's Maura Gillison and her colleagues write in their paper. The researchers enrolled 396 patients with oral cavity, oropharyngeal, or unknown primary HNSCC in their study. They tested the patients' tumors for the presence of 13 high-risk HPV types using an mRNA expression test and found 202 patients had HPV-positive tumors. At the same time, the researchers collected oral rinse samples from patients [...]

Charlotte Parker2019-05-06T10:20:43-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Oral rinse could improve mouth pain associated with radiation therapy

Source: www.specialtypharmacytimes.com Author: staff An oral rinse containing diphenhydramine, lidocaine, and antacids, was found to significantly decrease pain caused by oral mucositis in patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer compared with placebo, according to a study published in JAMA. The multi-institution, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 clinical trial was led by Robert Miller, MD, an emeritus Mayo Clinic radiation oncologist. "Our group published a study in 2012 showing that an oral rinse of doxepin reduced oral mucositis-related pain compared to placebo," Miller said in a press release. "However, there were no large randomized controlled trials studying the potential benefits of magic mouthwash." The researchers evaluated 275 patients between November 2014 and May 2016. The study revealed that treatment with both doxepin and the mouthwash combination significantly reduced pain associated with oral mucositis compared with placebo. The doxepin and mouthwash combination treatment was also well-tolerated by patients, according to the study. "Radiation therapy may cause mouth sores because it is designed to kill rapidly growing cells, such as cancer cells," co-author, Terence Sio, MD, a Mayo Clinic radiation oncologist, said in a press release. "Unfortunately, healthy cells in your mouth also divide and grow rapidly, and may be damaged during radiation therapy, which can cause discomfort. We're glad to have identified a proven method to help treat the discomfort of this side effect."

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-05-02T14:02:15-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Twitter lends insight to HPV-associated oral cancer knowledge

Source: www.oncnursingnews.com Author: Brielle Benyon The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oral cancer has risen in recent years, and the virus has now surpassed tobacco and alcohol use as the leading cause of the disease. In fact, while the HPV vaccine is typically associated with preventing cervical cancer, there have been more cases of HPV-associated oral cancer than there have been cervical cancer.1 While the link between oral cancer and HPV may be well-known to healthcare professionals, researchers at Howard University recently took to Twitter to get a glimpse into the public’s knowledge about the topic. “By looking at the social media data, we wanted to know what people are hearing about oral cancer – especially HPV-caused oral cancer,” study co-author Jae Eun Chung, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Strategic, Legal & Management Communication at Howard University, said. “We wanted to see what the gaps are between the knowledge of the healthcare professionals and the public.” The researchers collected 3,229 unique tweets over the course of 40 weeks using search terms such as “HPV or papilloma” and “mouth or oral or throat or pharyngeal or oropharyngeal.” They then used a program called nVivo 12.0 to conduct a content analysis that looked at certain phrasing, terms, and themes that commonly appeared. More than half (54%; 1679 total) of the tweets had information about prevention, while 29% (910) were about the causes of oral cancer. Far fewer tweets were about treatment (5%; 141), diagnosis (3%; 97), symptoms (1%; 42), and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-05-02T13:58:40-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

‘Whitish patch’: increase in oral dysplasia in young adults

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Kristin Jenkins Most 8-year-olds with a wiggly tooth expect the Tooth Fairy to tuck some money under their pillow. In the case of one little Canadian boy, his wiggly tooth got him an incisional biopsy, a diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), a partial maxillectomy, and a defect that was closed with local advancement flaps. "This was the most unusual case we've seen," said Marco A. Magalhaes, DDS, PhD, assistant professor of oral pathology and oral medicine in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. "OSCC predominantly affects patients 40 years of age and older," write Magalhaes and colleagues in a case study report published in November 2016 in Oral Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology Oral Radiology. "It is extremely rare in patients younger than 20 years of age." The clinical, radiographic, and histologic findings in this young patient were distinctive. Although the diagnosis and treatment were challenging, the clinical course was favorable at follow-up, the authors said. This case illustrates the fact that even pediatric patients can be at risk for OSCC. Magalhaes said that he and other dentists are concerned about the rising number of OSCC cases in patients who are in their 20s and 30s. These patients have no known risk factors and are often without symptoms. Many are diagnosed with high-grade oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) that rapidly progresses to cancer, Magalhaes told Medscape Medical News. "When you look at the distribution of cases of oral dysplasia or [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-05-02T13:44:43-07:00May, 2019|Oral Cancer News|