Brian Hill, Author at Oral Cancer News

HPV vaccine leads to more than 80% drop in infections: What parents need to know

Source: Good Morning, America Date: April 2nd, 2021 Author: Katie Kindelan A new study has shown the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, and found a dramatic decline in human papillomavirus infections in both vaccinated and unvaccinated teen girls and young women in the United States. "This study shows that the vaccine works very well against a common virus, HPV," Dr. Hannah Rosenblum, lead author of the study and medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told "Good Morning America." "HPV can cause serious health problems later in life, including some cancers in both women and men," she said. "HPV vaccination is cancer prevention -- by vaccinating children at age 11 or 12, we can protect them from developing cancers later in life." HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and can cause health problems like genital warts in addition to cancer, which are most commonly cervical cancer in women and throat cancer in men, according to the CDC. The HPV vaccine was first authorized in the U.S. for females in 2006, and for males in 2011. There has since been a more than 80% decline in HPV infections nationally, according to the CDC study. The newly-released data from the CDC shows an 88% decrease in HPV infections among 14 to 19-year-old females and an 81% decrease among 20 to 24-year-old females. There has also been a drop in unvaccinated females, according to Rosenblum, who warned that does not mean people [...]

Brian Hill2021-05-11T10:31:22-07:00May, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Aggressive radiotherapy dose de-escalation confers benefits in HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Aggressively de-escalated adjuvant radiotherapy for patients with HPV-associated oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma produced local tumor control rates comparable to those of historical controls, according to results of a single-arm phase 2 study published in Journal of Clinical Oncology. The de-escalated treatment also was associated with decreased toxicity and slight improvement in swallowing function. “HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma represents a demographically and biologically distinct disease compared with historical head and neck squamous cell carcinomas,” Daniel J. Ma, MD, radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues wrote. “Patients are more likely to be younger and nonsmokers and have fewer medical comorbidities. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments have demonstrated that these tumors are more sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy compared with historical head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.” The current standard treatment for HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma is 7 weeks of radiotherapy at 70 Gy in combination with cisplatin or surgery followed by a 6-week regimen of adjuvant radiotherapy at 60 Gy to 66 Gy with or without cisplatin. However, these approaches result in significant toxicities. The two-cohort study by Ma and colleagues included 79 patients (mean age, 58.7 years; 89.9% men) with p16-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who had a smoking history of 10 years or less and negative margins. Patients in cohort A (n = 36) received 30 Gy delivered in 1.5-Gy fractions twice daily for 2 weeks in combination with 15 mg/m2 docetaxel once per week. Cohort B (n = 43), which included [...]

Brian Hill2019-07-29T16:20:52-07:00July, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Merck’s Keytruda wins FDA approval to treat head and neck cancer

Source: Reuters Date: June 11, 2019 Author: Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu; Editing by Shailesh Kuber (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc said on Tuesday its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat a type of head and neck cancer. The drug was approved for use as a monotherapy, as well as in combination with a common chemotherapy regimen, to treat previously untreated patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Merck said. The approval is based on results from a late-stage trial, where Keytruda showed a significant improvement in overall survival in cancer patients, Merck said. Keytruda, a type of immunotherapy called a PD-1 inhibitor, is already an approved treatment for several forms of cancer, including lung and skin cancers. Head and neck cancer includes tumors in the mouth, tongue, nose, sinuses, throat and lymph nodes in the neck. Merck estimates that there will be more than 65,000 new cases of head and neck cancer diagnosed in 2019 in the United States. Keytruda works by increasing the ability of patients’ immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells. The drug has been amassing approvals as a standalone therapy and in combination with other drugs to treat several forms of cancer. It is the leading immunotherapy for treating lung cancer, ahead of rival drugs from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche and AstraZeneca. Keytruda, first approved for advanced melanoma in 2014, is Merck’s most important growth driver. It has overtaken Bristol’s Opdivo as the [...]

Brian Hill2019-06-12T09:48:16-07:00June, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

The HPV Vaccine Is Already Dramatically Lowering Rates of Cervical Disease

Source: Gizmodo Date: 04/03/19 Author: Ed Cara A new study out Wednesday in the BMJ is the latest to showcase even the short-term benefits of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It found that the routine vaccination of preteen girls in Scotland, starting in 2008, led to drastically lower rates of cervical disease by the time the girls turned 20. That included conditions known to raise the risk of cervical cancer later on in life. There are over 100 different types of HPV that regularly infect humans. Most types cause no symptoms at all, while some can cause annoying but harmless warts on our hands, feet, or genitals, depending on where they like to call home. High-risk HPV types, however, linger in the cells that line the surfaces of our body, triggering changes that can eventually turn them cancerous. These HPV types account for nearly all cases of cervical cancer, as well as a substantial proportion of cancers in the mouth, throat, anus, and penis. We’ve had a vaccine available for two of the most common high-risk types of HPV since 2006, when it was at first recommended only for teen girls. Over the years, the window of opportunity for getting the vaccine has expanded, as has the number of HPV types it protects against. The newest version protects against seven high-risk types that account for 90 percent of cervical cancers (along with two types that cause genital warts). And young boys and men are now also encouraged to get the vaccine, as are women up [...]

Brian Hill2019-04-04T09:26:20-07:00April, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

The US surgeon general just issued a rare advisory about e-cigs like the Juul — here’s why vaping is so dangerous

In a rare national advisory, the top US public health official warned Americans of the dangers of e-cigarettes like the Juul, a popular device that lets users inhale nicotine vapor without burning tobacco. US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in the advisory on Tuesday that e-cigs like the Juul are a particular danger to kids and teens and called for fresh measures to halt their rising popularity. "We need to protect our kids from all tobacco products, including all shapes and sizes of e-cigarettes," Adams said in a statement, adding, "We must take action now to protect the health of our nation's young people." The advisory singles out Juul multiple times, saying the sleek devices are popular among teens because they're easy to conceal and don't emit much odor. It tells parents, health professionals, and teachers to be on the lookout for all forms of nicotine-delivery devices, including e-cigs. Adams' announcement comes on the heels of warnings from several other federal agencies about a rise in e-cig use, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. In November, after new CDC data pointed to a 78% increase in e-cig use among high-school students, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottliebannounced moves to further restrict sales of e-cigarettes to prevent them from getting into the hands of young people. That included a crackdown on flavored offerings, which researchers say appeal strongly to young people. Several days before the FDA's announcement, Juul Labs, the Silicon Valley startup behind the most popular e-cig in the US, temporarily halted sales of [...]

Brian Hill2018-12-19T16:41:28-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

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