2023 June

In head and neck cancer, better outcomes seen in patients with overweight

Source: www.mdedge.com Author: Jennie Smith Patients with head and neck cancer and overweight saw better treatment response and survival after chemoradiation, compared with patients with the same type of cancer but a normal weight, a new study finds. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, are the latest to parse the complex relationship between body mass index (BMI) and treatment in cancers that is sometimes called the “obesity paradox.” The researchers compared outcomes among patients with normal weight, overweight, and obesity. While higher BMI is an established risk factor for many types of cancer and for cancer-specific mortality overall, studies in some cancers have shown that patients with higher BMI do better, possibly because excess BMI acts as a nutrient reserve against treatment-associated weight loss. Methods and results For their research, Sung Jun Ma, MD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, N.Y., and colleagues looked at records for 445 patients (84% men, median age 61) at Dr. Ma’s institution with nonmetastatic head and neck cancer who underwent chemoradiotherapy between 2005 and 2021. Patients were followed up for a median 48 months, and those with underweight at treatment initiation were excluded. The researchers found that overweight BMI (25-29.9 kg/m2) was associated with improved overall survival at 5 years (71% vs. 58% of patients with normal weight), as well as 5-year progression-free survival (68% vs. 51%). No overall or progression-free survival benefit link was seen in patients with a BMI of 30 or higher, in contrast to some previous studies of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-30T18:09:32-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

7 Questions to ask your doctor if you’re Black with head and neck cancer

Source: www.everydayhealth.com Author: Oladimeji Ewumi, Medically Reviewed by Walter Tsang, MD of American College of Lifestyle Medicine Head and neck cancer affects the mouth, throat, or voice box, and is diagnosed in almost 800,000 people globally each year. This year in the United States, there were an estimated 54,540 new cases of oral and throat cancer. If you are a Black American recently diagnosed with head and neck cancer, it’s important to know that this cancer affects you differently than it does other people. Head and neck cancer has a 20 percent higher death rate in Black Americans than white Americans, as reported by the American Cancer Society. A study published in 2023 in the journal Cancers reported that Black people have worse overall survival rates for the different subtypes of head and neck cancers, are more likely to develop advanced forms of the disease, and usually require a longer duration of treatment than white people. Black Americans also receive less aggressive, appropriate, and timely treatments than white Americans with the same cancers, even when other factors such as insurance and tumor type are controlled, according to an analysis published in 2016 in the Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved. So, what is a Black person to do when faced with a diagnosis of head and neck cancer? "Knowledge is power, and asking the right questions can go a long way at the individual level to help your doctor learn new evidence," says Mihir Bhayani, MD, associate professor [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-29T16:03:35-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Newcastle innovator LightOx makes new breakthroughs in mouth cancer treatment

Source: www.business-live.co.uk Author: Coreena Ford, Chronicle and Journal business writer A Newcastle company says it has made breakthroughs in the treatment of early-stage mouth cancers on the back of an Innovate UK funding programme. Based in Newcastle city centre, LightOx uses technologies to develop light-activated treatment that can improve outcomes for patients and reduce the need for surgery. As well as a drug development arm, the company has a research tools business that sells products for research purposes. With funding from Analysis for Innovators (A4I), a grant funding programme run by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, the company is developing new light-activated chemotherapy for the treatment of early-stage oral cancer. It is the first of its kind in the UK and is currently completing pre-clinical testing. The company’s new class of light-activated chemotherapy should be administered by dentists or trained clinicians, who will apply a gel to the affected area and activate the drug with light. LightOx directors say the ground-breaking treatment is quick, simple and involves fewer side effects than surgery. They say the non-invasive treatment also significantly improves the overall patient experience, and has the potential to revolutionise light-based therapeutic markets globally. It lacked the research and development expertise to explore its potential further, and with help from A4I and its large network of partner organisations, the firm worked with Oxford-based Central Laser Facility (CLF), an institution of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, which gave the LightOx team access to its expertise and an unparalleled range [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-28T14:05:08-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Research shows ‘substantial’ cardiovascular risk among patients with head and neck cancer

Source: www.healio.com Author: Drew Amorosi Key takeaways: Individuals with newly diagnosed HNSCC showed evidence of suboptimally controlled cardiovascular risk factors. Black race appeared associated with increased risk for uncontrolled cardiovascular risk factors. Individuals with newly diagnosed head and neck squamous cell carcinoma are at high risk for adverse cardiovascular events, results of a retrospective study of U.S. veterans showed. Findings from the analysis, published in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, indicate suboptimal control of multiple cardiovascular risk factors among these patients, leading to increased risk for incident stroke, myocardial infarction (MI) and all-cause mortality. “We hope that these findings bring awareness to the fact that patients with head and neck cancers have a substantial burden of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and encourage providers, including oncologists and primary care physicians, to screen for and manage these risk factors to mitigate risk for cardiovascular events,” Lova Sun, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of hematology-oncology at Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, told Healio. “Overall, these findings highlight the cardiovascular risk in patients with HNSCC and underscore the critical need for targeted interventions to improve stratification and mitigation of cardiac risk in the growing population of HNSCC survivors.” Background The researchers hypothesized that patients with head and neck cancer may experience increased risk for cardiovascular events due to a number of shared risk factors and the use of cardiotoxic therapies to treat the disease. “Cardiovascular disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer, but our [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-23T04:37:49-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

‘How I knew I had throat cancer’: Four survivors share their symptoms

Source: www.mdanderson.org Author: Cynthia Demarco For high school football coach Mark Teague, the only symptom of throat cancer he noticed was a small lump beneath his jaw. “I’d been aware of it for a while,” says Teague, who was diagnosed with HPV-related throat cancer at age 49. “But I’d had sinus problems all my life, so I didn’t think anything of it. I just assumed it was another swollen lymph node.” George Brownfield had a similar experience. “I found a little lump on my neck one day while shaving,” says the senior systems analyst, who was diagnosed with the same disease at age 48. “I remember thinking, ‘Hey, why does that side of my neck look so puffy?’ and going to my general practitioner. He told me it was probably an infection and prescribed some antibiotics.” The most common throat cancer symptoms: painless neck lumps and swollen lymph nodes Mark and George’s experiences are not unusual. Most people with throat cancer don’t have any symptoms. But when they do, a swollen lymph node or a painless lump in the neck are among the most common. Why? “Lymph nodes are essentially tiny little sieves that capture dangerous particles circulating around our bodies,” explains head and neck cancer surgeon Miriam Lango, M.D. “Sometimes, cancer cells get caught in there and start growing in place. Eventually, they form tumors that can get big enough to grow out of the lymph nodes.” Other throat cancer symptoms, including (rarely) pain Other MD Anderson patients have [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-22T09:16:15-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

New research to develop AI to better predict risk of mouth cancer

Source: www.digitalhealth.net Author: Andrea Downey The University of Sheffield and Cancer Research UK have teamed up to develop artificial intelligence which will help predict the risk of mouth cancer. The study will look at the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to assist pathologists in spotting the disease, which has increased by 60% in the last 10 years. Samples of oral epithelial dysplasia (OED), pre-cancerous changes that can develop into cancer, along with five years of follow up data will be used to train AI algorithms. Currently, doctors must predict the likelihood of OED developing into cancer by assessing a patient’s biopsy on 15 different criteria to establish a score. This score then determines whether action is needed and what treatment pathway should be taken. But there are often huge variations in how patients with similar biopsy results are treated, researchers said. For example, one patient may be advised to undergo surgery and intensive treatment, while another patient may be monitored for further changes. Dr Ali Khurram, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Sheffield’s School of Clinical Dentistry, said: “The precise grading of OED is a huge diagnostic challenge, even for experienced pathologists, as it is so subjective. “Correct grading is vital in early oral cancer detection to inform treatment decisions, enabling a surgeon to determine whether a lesion should be monitored or surgically removed. “Machine learning and AI can aid tissue diagnostics by removing subjectivity, using automation and quantification to guide diagnosis and treatment. Until now [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-15T10:30:03-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

“Immunotherapy is keeping me alive” – John’s story

Source: www.icr.ac.uk Author: John Dabell On his daughter’s second birthday in 2009, John Dabell was diagnosed with advanced head and neck cancer. He went through extensive surgery and treatment and was on the road to recovery when he was diagnosed with cancer again – this time, a tumour in his throat. John was told he didn’t have long to live. But then he started immunotherapy. Here, he talks about its incredible impact and the opportunity it’s given him to spend more time with his wife and daughter. The first red flag telling me something was wrong was when my tongue started to swell. I soldiered on because I didn’t think there was anything sinister going on. That was a mistake. I started having difficulty eating and swallowing, but I put that down to my throat being sore. I was also extremely tired, but I had a young daughter at home and was busy being a primary school teacher. After about a month, things hadn’t improved. I found that I couldn’t utter my words in the same way and things started to get painful. Then my tongue inflated, and I went to see my GP, who recommended I see my dentist. My dentist immediately referred me to a head and neck specialist at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. My life changed forever A biopsy and MRI scan revealed that I had a tumour growing inside my tongue and it was stage four head and neck cancer. This knocked me for [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-15T05:51:09-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer experts warn about wave of HPV-related cancers in adults

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Experts are concerned about rapidly rising rates of HPV-related throat and mouth cancers, noting that if this trend continues they could quickly be among the most common forms of cancer in adults between ages 45 and 65. Recent estimates suggest that middle throat cancer (known medically as oropharyngeal cancer) may become one of the top three cancers among middle-aged men in the United States by 2045, and the most common form of cancer among elderly men in the next 10 years. According to Matthew Old, MD, a head and neck surgeon at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), this rise of middle throat cancers in this age group is due to the direct impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection before modern vaccines were introduced in 2006. HPV is a large group of viruses spread through skin-to-skin and oral contact that occurs during sexual activity. The virus spreads easily, and an estimated 98% of the population has been exposed to it. HPV can remain dormant for decades. High-risk strains of the virus have long been linked to increased risk of cervical cancer; however, data from the past decade shows high-risk HPV is also strongly linked to cancers of the head and neck (mouth, base of tongue and throat). In 2006, Gardasil introduced an HPV vaccine, which is administered in youth between the ages of 9 and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-15T05:38:03-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

PET/MRI proves value in following up head and neck cancers

Source: www.auntminnieeurope.com Author: Philip Ward, AuntMinnieEurope.com staff writer PET/MRI is a promising tool in the pre-therapeutic assessment of primary tumors of the upper aerodigestive tract with lymph node extension, particularly in the identification of predictive characteristics of recurrence or progression, a leading French research group has reported. "Lymph node PET/MR analysis has shown that the strongest predictors of recurrence were lymph node enhancement and SUVmax for the contralateral nodes and enhancement, SUVmax node shape for the homolateral nodes," noted Dr. Nadya Pyatigorskaya, PhD, a neuroradiologist at the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (l'Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, AP-HP) in Paris and a researcher in the MOV'IT multidisciplinary team at the Paris Brain Institute, and colleagues. Cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract mostly consist of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs), which account for 90% of stage I head and neck cancers and represent the sixth most common cancer worldwide. HNSCC have a high recurrence rate and represent one of the most common histological types to metastasize to regional lymph nodes, Pyatigorskaya explained in an e-poster presentation on 7 June at the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) meeting in Toronto. "Metastatic nodes are mostly homolateral to the primary tumor, but contralateral or bilateral nodes are not rare, especially when the primary tumor is medial or posterior," she stated. "The risk of lymph node metastasis occurs for the largest tumors, mostly T3-T4. The presence of metastatic nodes reduces significantly the five-year survival rate." Lymph nodes are generally assessed by [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-06-15T05:29:12-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Blood test for 50 types of cancer could speed up diagnosis, study suggests

NHS trial results of liquid biopsy indicate Galleri test has the potential to spot cancer in people with symptoms A blood test for more than 50 forms of cancer could help speed up diagnosis and fast-track patients for treatment, a study suggests. NHS trial results of the liquid biopsy, published at the world’s largest cancer conference in the US, suggest the Galleri blood test has the potential to spot and rule out cancer in people with symptoms. The test detects tiny fragments of tumor DNA in the bloodstream. It alerts doctors as to whether a cancer signal has been detected and predicts where in the body that signal may have originated. Experts welcomed the findings from the trial but said more research would be needed before the test, made by the California company Grail, could be rolled out in healthcare systems. The Symplify study, led by the University of Oxford, involved 5,461 people in England and Wales who were referred to hospital by their GP with suspected cancer. Its results are being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago. The test correctly revealed two-thirds of cancers among those in the study. In 85% of those positive cases, it was also able to pinpoint the original site of cancer. It was more accurate in older patients and those with more advanced cancers, according to the trial results. Mark Middleton, a professor of experimental cancer medicine at Oxford, who led the trial, said the test had “potential for identifying [...]

Webmaster2023-06-03T14:26:35-07:00June, 2023|Oral Cancer News|