2023 July

Dysphagia-optimized IMRT for head and neck cancer beneficial to swallowing function

Source: www.oncologynurseadvisor.com Author: Vicki Moore, PhD Treatment with dysphagia-optimized (DO) intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) improved patient-reported swallowing function in patients with pharyngeal cancer compared with standard IMRT. These results of a phase 3 study were published in the journal Lancet Oncology. Dysphagia-optimized IMRT was found to reduce radiation dose to the throat structures, thereby improving dysphagia and aspiration function compared with standard IMRT. Source: Getty Image “Our findings suggest that reducing dose to the pharyngeal constrictor muscle translates into patient benefit through improved swallowing function,” the study investigators wrote in their report. The phase 3 DARS study (ISRCTN Registry Identifier: ISRCTN25458988) was conducted across radiotherapy centers in the UK and Ireland. Enrolled patients had biopsy-confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx or hypopharynx in addition to meeting certain eligibility criteria. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive either DO-IMRT or standard IMRT over 6 weeks. The radiotherapy target dose was 65 Gy to the primary and nodal tumor, while the remaining tumor subsite and nodal regions considered at risk of occult microscopic disease had a target dose of 54 Gy. With DO-IMRT, there was a 50-Gy mean dose constraint for the superior and middle pharyngeal constrictor muscle or inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle residing beyond the high-dose target volume. The primary endpoint of the study was the MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) composite score at 12 months following treatment in the modified intention-to-treat population, which included patients completing this assessment. In this study, 112 patients were assigned to treatment, with [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-07-30T06:27:06-07:00July, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

High-risk sexual behavior alone may not increase risk for oropharyngeal cancer

Source: www.healio.com Author: Matthew Shinkle High-risk sexual behavior may not be the primary contributor to the development of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, according to data published in Cancers. Although patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma appear more likely to self-report having their first sexual intercourse before age 18 years, study findings did not show an association between high-risk sexual behavior and the disease, researchers wrote. “The consistent absence of high-risk sexual behavior in the overwhelming majority of HPV-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas stands against the argument of a lowered frequency of HPV-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in our cohort ... that would have lowered the chance to detect an impact on high-risk sexual behavior on the development of HPV-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma,” Gunnar Wichmann, PhD, head of the ENT ResearchLab at University of Leipzig Medical Center, and colleagues wrote. Background and methodology Certain studies have provided evidence to establish a potential link between high-risk sexual behavior, the persistence of HPV DNA in saliva and the presence of oncogenic high-risk HPV subtypes in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Researchers conducted a case-control study of patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and propensity score-matched unaffected controls from a large population-based German cohort study. The investigators interviewed patients and provided them with questionnaires on main risk factors — including age, sex, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption — as well as logging information regarding sexual behavior categories. The study included 329 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, of whom 317 patients answered [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-07-30T06:12:27-07:00July, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Introduction to teledentistry and its benefits

Source: dentistry.co.uk Author: Khad Shah The COVID-19 pandemic led to numerous lockdowns across the globe. Countless industries left offices redundant but many workforces still intact working from home, and some even over performing. Healthcare, particularly dentistry, came to a standstill due to the majority of our clinical jobs requiring dental surgery equipment and face to face contact with patients. During the pandemic there was a rise in demand for telemedicine with virtual dental appointments made necessary due to lockdown measures. England and Scotland have continued with remote and hybrid working patterns according to data from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). When asked in February 2022 the survey found that more than eight in 10 workers who had worked from home during the pandemic planned to continue with hybrid working. Alongside this shift in some of our patients’ working patterns, how will dentistry respond? This article aims to explore the benefits and scope of remote working with virtual appointments in dentistry. Advantages Time efficiency Offering virtual appointments in dentistry can offer significant advantages in accessibility and convenience for patients. This shift in our industry can offer patients residing in remote areas or with limited mobility the chance to receive high quality and specialised dental care, without needing to travel. Furthermore, this change can improve time and cost savings for both patients and dental professionals alike. This valuable time patients would have otherwise been spent commuting and waiting in the clinic can be utilised more efficiently. With improved efficiency dental professionals [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-07-30T06:03:20-07:00July, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Coping With Fear of Cancer Recurrence

Source: health.clevelandclinic.org Author: staff Making it through cancer treatment can be a grueling process. And when it’s done, people want to “get back to their lives” as much as possible. But the fear of cancer coming back — or recurring — can make that process difficult. It’s natural for people who’ve lived (or are currently living) with cancer to be afraid of a recurrence. And it’s equally natural to want to get rid of that fear, especially when it interferes with quality of life. But well-meaning advice to “stay positive” may fall short. We spoke with psychologist Karen Hurley, PhD, about cancer anxiety: How to recognize it, tips for addressing it and what to do if it’s gotten bigger than you can handle. Redefining fear According to Dr. Hurley, the process of getting back on track after cancer treatment isn’t always easy. “There may be ways which you can re-engage with your goals, and there may be some goals that need to be changed or dropped altogether, which is a painful process, and one that requires time to sort through. “Making plans or cultivating hopes again feels vulnerable,” she continues. “If those dreams have been knocked over to the side once, what’s to stop that from happening again? It may have always been there, but there’s a new sensitivity to how vulnerable our plans for the future really are.” Dr. Hurley elaborates, “You may feel lost because no one can promise you that it won’t come back, even if you [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-07-29T13:16:04-07:00July, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Woman, 45, fought 7 months for a tongue cancer diagnosis. She’s part of a larger trend

Susan Smith noticed a small bump on the side of her tongue that hurt when she ate. When she visited her dentist for a check-up, she mentioned it. The dentist wasn't too worried but recommended Smith see an ear, nose and throat doctor. Over the next five months, she saw three doctors who had her try various mouth rinses. Still, the lump remained. Finally, a fourth doctor sent her for a CT scan, and Smith learned what was wrong: She had tongue cancer. “What was on the surface of my tongue was the tip of the iceberg, and I actually had a four-centimeter mass that was inside the tongue into the floor of my mouth,” Smith, 48, of Fairfield, Connecticut, tells TODAY.com. “They diagnosed me as having stage 4A tongue cancer that spread to the lymph nodes in my neck.” Susan Smith visited four doctors before learning that the bump on her tongue was stage 4A tongue cancer.Courtesy Susan Smith Smith is part of a group called Young Tongues. They’ve noticed that tongue cancer, which has historically impacted older men who drink and smoke, seems to be occurring in younger patients. Emerging data reveals that the demographic of tongue cancer patients is changing, but experts are unsure why. For patients, that can mean months of being misdiagnosed or ignored before ultimately receiving the proper diagnosis. “I felt dismissed,” Smith says. “Anger followed pretty quickly after that because I was so far along. I was stage 4A.” Bump on the tongue, ear pain The [...]

Webmaster2023-07-28T09:05:28-07:00July, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Smoking and HPV found to increase risk of head and neck cancer

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM Tobacco smoking and human papillomavirus (HPV) are both well-known risk factors for head and neck cancer, but there is ample evidence to show they can interact to increase still further the risk of contracting the disease, according to a study by scientists at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil and the University of Chile. An article on the study is published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. The results of the study clarify aspects of the molecular mechanisms involved in head and neck cancer, paving the way for novel strategies of prevention and treatment, or other interventions that could benefit patients. Head and neck cancer is a group of cancers of the mouth, nose, sinuses, tonsils, throat and thyroid. It affected some 830,000 people worldwide in 2020, causing the death of more than 50%. In Brazil it caused almost 21,000 deaths in 2019, according to the most recent data from the National Cancer Institute (INCA). Historically speaking, its main causes have been alcohol, tobacco and poor oral hygiene, but in recent decades HPV has become a significant risk factor, especially for younger people and relatively well-off patients. Head and neck cancer is now one of the fastest-rising types of cancer associated with HPV in the world. "Instead of continuing to analyze smoking and HPV as oncogenic factors separately, we set out to focus on their possible interaction." Enrique Boccardo, penultimate author of the article and professor in the Department [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-07-04T11:44:15-07:00July, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Inpatient, discharge opioid doses often mismatched after head and neck surgery

Source: www.medpagetoday.com Author: Charles Bankhead, Senior Editor, MedPage More than 80% of patients undergoing head and neck surgery received mismatched opioid prescriptions at discharge, exceeding or falling short of their inpatient prescriptions, a review of 1,705 cases showed. Almost two thirds of patients received discharge prescriptions that exceeded their inpatient prescription by more than 5 morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs). An additional 19.2% left the hospital with prescriptions that were more than 5 MMEs lower than what they received during their hospital stay. Patients with lower prescribed opioid doses at discharge had higher refill rates, suggesting the patients might have been undertreated, reported Zhonghui Guan, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and co-authors in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. "The task of postsurgical opioid management is to control opioid underprescription as well as overprescription," the authors said of their findings. "We propose to prescribe discharge opioids with inpatient consumption in mind to provide patient-centered pain management. "A limitation of this study was the initial attempt to set 5 MME as the cutoff to determine mismatched opioid prescriptions," the team wrote. "More studies are needed to identify the proper range for discharge opioid prescription in clinical practice." Criticism About Inherent Limitations Emese Zsiros, MD, PhD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, who was not involved with the research, criticized the study, noting several limitations that add up to an "inherently flawed" publication. "Firstly, the fundamental premise of the paper, which asserts that postoperative patients [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-07-03T08:37:46-07:00July, 2023|Oral Cancer News|