February 2022 – Oral Cancer News

Tobacco and Your Oral Health

Author: Tricare Communications Source: newsroom.tricare.mil FALLS CHURCH, Va. – There’s a great deal of scientific information that proves using tobacco products is seriously harmful to your health. Nicotine products can increase your risks for cancer of the throat, lungs, and stomach. Also, tobacco products can negatively impact your oral health in several ways. “Tobacco use can lead to gum disease,” said Doug Elsesser, program analyst with the Defense Health Agency’s TRICARE Dental Program. “Smoking or chewing tobacco makes it tougher for your body to fight infection, including in the gums.” The more you use tobacco in any form, the greater the risk of gum disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And gum disease may require you to get deeper, more invasive teeth cleanings, or even surgery. The bacteria from gum disease can also worsen existing chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Besides gum disease, smoking and smokeless tobacco can have several other negative effects on your oral health. According to the American Dental Association, tobacco use can also lead to: Tooth staining Loss of tooth enamel Gum tissue loss Tooth loss Oral lesions Oral cancer Knowing these facts, you may want to quit tobacco. Or you may want to help a friend or family member quit. Keep in mind, quitting tobacco can be hard, and it may take several attempts. You may also need some support and resources to help you stay quit and get your health back on track. For information on TRICARE’s tobacco [...]

OCF News Team - B2022-02-28T10:22:29-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Throat cancer survivors don’t have to sacrifice ability to swallow and taste

Source: southfloridahospitalnews.com Author: staff Tamarac resident Kenneth Goff was home shaving morning when he felt a small lump on the left side of his neck. “There was no pain, no nothing, but I could feel it by the way the razor moved,” said the 58-year-old father of five and grandfather of eight. “It wasn’t visible at all, but I could feel it right below the jaw line.” After a CT scan at Broward Health Medical Center in August 2020, Goff was diagnosed with HPV-mediated squamous cell carcinoma, a type of throat cancer. This cancer is similar to what actors Michael Douglas and Stanley Tucci have battled. The treatment of HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma may include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or combination of the treatments. Ryan H. Sobel, M.D., a head and neck surgical oncologist at Broward Health Medical Center, prescribed radiation to treat Goff’s isolated neck mass. Prior to radiation treatment, Dr. Sobel performed a submandibular, or saliva gland transfer, an intricate surgery only a handful surgeons across the country are skilled at performing. He is currently the only surgeon utilizing this technique in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Dr. Sobel strategically relocated one of Goff’s saliva glands. It was moved about three inches from the right side of his throat to under the chin to place it out of direct range of the damaging effects of radiation. Patients diagnosed with throat cancer face a difficult choice: treat the cancer with radiation and risk losing their ability to swallow and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-24T15:03:37-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

What to know about palatine tonsils

Author: Medically reviewed by Nicole Leigh Aaronson, MD, MBA, CPE, FACS, FAAP — Written by Cara Williams on February 20, 2022 Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com The palatine tonsils sit in the back of the throat and are made up of lymphatic tissue. Along with the pharyngeal, tubal, and the lingual tonsils, they act as a defence against possible infections. The palatine tonsils are oval-shaped lymphatic tissue located at both sides of the back of the throat. People can see their palatine tonsils by opening their mouths and looking in the mirror. When a person refers to tonsils, they usually refer to the palatine tonsils. While they protect the body, complications such as infection and swelling can cause health problems. Overview The palatine tonsils serve as a component of Waldeyer’s ring. It also consists of the pharyngeal (adenoids), tubal tonsil, and lingual tonsil. The role of the palatine tonsils is to act as the firstTrusted Source defense against pathogens and help stimulate an immune response to fight off infection. Small crypts cover the surface of the palatine tonsils. These crypts give them a large surface area to catch incoming pathogens that may cause infection. The tonsil tissue also aidsTrusted Source in developing B cells and T cells, white blood cells that help fight off infection. Complications associated with palatine tonsils The palatine tonsils play an important role in trapping bacteria and viruses as they enter the body. However, this can make them prone to infection. Doctors refer to an infection in the tonsils as tonsillitis which is fairly common. This infection accounts for 1.3%Trusted Source of outpatient [...]

OCF News Team - B2022-02-24T13:41:44-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

MSSU student detects oral cancer

Source: www.fourstateshomepage.com Author: Mike Olmstead JOPLIN, Mo. — A routine cleaning last fall at Missouri Southern’s Dental Hygiene Clinic led to quite the discovery by a dental hygiene student. Senior Emily Valence was actually examining her future father-in-law, when she noticed a whitish area under his tongue. Mike Eddings, who lives in Ozark, has never smoked or chewed tobacco — so what was found came as a shock. He eventually saw a specialist who determined it was a pre-malignant cancerous lesion. “Very relieving. When they find something like pre-cancerous like that, it is best to get it removed as fast as possible, because normally oral cancer is a very fast-spreading cancer, so who knows how long, you know, it could’ve been until it was spreading to farther stages?” said Valence. “That is just an example of the program working and the education working and them actually absorbing it. And these are our hygienists of the future. They are who is going to be taking care of us 10, 20, 30 years from now,” said Dr. Dennis Abbott, MSSU Adjunct Clinical Supervising Dentist. Valence will graduate in May. Her future father-in-law is doing just fine.

OCF News Team - B2022-02-23T13:25:46-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Woman, 20, Diagnosed With Cancer After STD Fears Stopped Her Seeking Help

Author: BY AATIF SULLEYMAN Date: 2/15/2022 Source: www.newsweek.com Ayoung woman who was diagnosed with cancer said she delayed seeing a doctor for months because she was "embarrassed" that she might have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Olivia Wallace, from Sunderland in northeastern England, had been experiencing issues with her tongue for seven months before her father eventually took her to see a doctor. She was diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer, which had spread to her lymph nodes. Some 8,001 people aged between 20 and 24 years old were diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. in 2018 (the most recent year for which data exists), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She had first noticed a lump on her tongue in 2015, but initially thought that it was a recurring ulcer. However, when the lump continued to expand and became increasingly sensitive to the touch, to the extent that Wallace would be in pain whenever she tried to eat anything, she became convinced that she had contracted an STD, which is also known as a sexually transmitted infection (STI). "Luckily for me, my dad had taken me to the doctors and he was in the waiting room as I thought it was an STI and I was embarrassed," Wallace told Chronicle Live. "There is a stigma attached to young women and STIs, so that deterred me from getting checked out even though it was frightening me." Now aged 26, Wallace is cancer free. However, she fears that would [...]

OCF News Team - B2022-02-16T07:55:49-07:00February, 2022|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

First patient in UK gets ‘vaccine’ for cancer that should help immune system ward off cancer permanently

Source: City A.M. Date: February 14th, 2022 Author: Michiel Williams A Merseyside man has become the first in the UK to receive a ‘vaccine’ that is hoped will stop his recurring head and neck cancer from returning, in a clinical research trial which may help bring further ground-breaking treatments for the disease. The clinical research team at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has given patient Graham Booth an injection of a therapy tailor-made to his personal DNA and designed to help his own immune system ward off cancer permanently. Graham first had head and neck cancer in 2011 and it then returned four times, each time meaning he needed grueling treatment, including facial surgery, reconstruction and radiotherapy. He is now hoping this new treatment – part of the Transgene clinical research study – will mean it does not come back. Dad-of-five Graham, 54, will have a year-long course of immunotherapy injections in a bid to keep him cancer-free, part of a research project designed to reduce deaths and recurrence in head and neck cancers, including of the throat, neck, mouth and tongue. Graham, of West Kirkby, said he was not worried about being the first person in the UK to receive this pioneering treatment and that it “opened new doorways” which gave him hope that the cancer would not come back. Graham said: “When I had my first cancer treatment in 2011, I was under the impression that the cancer would not return. My biggest fear was realized in 2016 when [...]

Charlotte Parker2022-02-15T17:15:47-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Wirral, UK cancer patient trials vaccine

Source: www.wirralglobe.co.uk Author: Craig Manning, Chief Reporter A Wirral man has become the first in the UK to trial a 'vaccine' that is hoped will stop his recurring head and neck cancer from returning. The clinical research team at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has given patient Graham Booth an injection of a therapy tailor-made to his personal DNA and designed to help his own immune system ward off cancer permanently. Graham first had head and neck cancer in 2011 and it then returned four times, each time meaning he needed grueling treatment, including facial surgery, reconstruction and radiotherapy. He is now hoping this new treatment – part of the Transgene clinical research study – will mean it does not come back. Dad-of-five Graham, 54, will have a year-long course of immunotherapy injections in a bid to keep him cancer-free, part of a research project designed to reduce deaths and recurrence in head and neck cancers, including of the throat, neck, mouth and tongue. Graham, from West Kirby, said he was not worried about being the first person in the UK to receive this pioneering treatment and that it "opened new doorways" which gave him hope that the cancer would not come back. He added: "When I had my first cancer treatment in 2011, I was under the impression that the cancer would not return. "My biggest fear was realised in 2016 when it came back and then in 2019 and then two cases in 2021. "Last year I had the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-07T13:33:09-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

WVU Medicine Head and Neck Cancer Team works to increase tonsil cancer awareness

Source: wvumedicine.org Author: staff, WVU Medicine News Head and neck surgical oncologists at WVU Medicine, the WVU Cancer Institute, and across the country are seeing increased incidences of tonsil cancer. “The majority of tonsil cancers, nearly 70 percent, are caused by human papilloma virus (HPV),” Meghan Turner, M.D., head and neck surgeon in the WVU Medicine Department of Otolaryngology, said. “In the last 10 years, tonsil cancer caused by HPV has become more common than cervical cancer caused by the same virus.” In most cases of HPV infection, the body fights off the virus like it would the common cold. In other cases, the virus remains in the body, increasing the risk of both tonsil and cervical cancer. Unlike cervical cancer, there is no regular screening for tonsil cancer. Most commonly, tonsil cancer is first diagnosed as a nontender mass in the neck. “Another common presentation for tonsil cancer is actually recurrent or persistent tonsil pain in spite of treatment for a throat infection,” Dr. Turner said. “This happens between the ages of 50 and 60. It may seem like recurrent strep throat, but it is uncommon for people in that age range to develop recurrent strep throat. If you’re having pain that isn’t resolved after a course of antibiotics, you should ask your doctor if it could possibly be something like tonsil cancer.” It is also regularly discovered during routine dental visits, appearing as asymmetrical tonsils. Those who have had their tonsils removed by tonsillectomy are not immune to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-05T10:20:45-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Trial underway for novel agent plus immunotherapy for HPV-related head and neck cancer

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: Brielle Benyon Results from a phase 2 clinical trial demonstrated promise for the combination of the novel agent PDS0101 plus Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in treating human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck cancer. As such, the trial will now progress to full enrollment of 54 patients who have not been previously treated with a checkpoint inhibitor. The trial, VERSATILE-002, involves two groups of HPV16-positive patients with head and neck cancer that is either metastatic or has returned after treatment. One group consists of patients who have no prior treatment with checkpoint inhibition immunotherapy, while the other group is made up of 21 patients whose disease failed checkpoint inhibition — assessment for this group is still ongoing. In the checkpoint inhibitor-naïve group, four or more of the 17 patients achieved an objective response, which was classified by a 30% or more reduction in tumor size. “The achievement of this important milestone in the VERSATILE-002 phase 2 clinical trial strengthens the evidence of our novel Versamune platform’s potential ability to induce high levels of tumor-specific CD8+ killer T-cells that attack the cancer to achieve tumor regression,” commented Dr. Lauren V. Wood, Chief Medical Officer of PDS Biotech, the developer of PFS101, in a statement. “The initial data solidifies our belief that PDS0101’s demonstrated preclinical efficacy when combined with Keytruda has the potential to significantly improve clinical outcomes for patients with advanced HPV16-positive head and neck cancers.” PDS0101 works by inducing large quantities of CD4+ helper and CD8+ killer T cells, a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-03T10:51:38-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Improving head and neck cancer treatment

Source: www.uc.edu Author: Tim Tedeschi, University of Cincinnati News When the medical community finds a treatment for a particular cancer, the work doesn’t stop. Researchers continue to study how treatments can be improved in order to reduce side effects and the possibility of the cancer recurring. University of Cincinnati researchers are leading a new clinical trial to examine if the combination of a more localized radiation treatment and immunotherapy can be a better treatment for patients with recurrent head and neck cancer. Chad Zender, MD, said head and neck cancers include cancers of the tongue, throat, tonsil and larynx, and about 30%-50% of patients treated through surgery and radiation will have their cancer return. Patients often then undergo additional surgery and/or radiation treatments, which can lead to side effects like problems with speech and swallowing. “The quality of life is significantly less in the patients that require [subsequent] surgery and then radiation with or without chemo,” said Zender, professor in the Department of Otolaryngology in UC’s College of Medicine, director of head and neck surgery and principal investigator for the new trial. Precision radiation Zender said the trial will test a more localized radiation delivery method through a radioactive seed, about the size of a grain of rice that emits an intense amount of radiation to the cancer and only minimal radiation outside to other areas. The radioactive Cesium-131 seeds are implanted directly into the operative site during surgery. This approach in early studies appears to give more localized radiation [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-03T10:44:13-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|