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OCF Founder Brian Hill in Wall St Journal Article on Early Detection of Cancers

11/16/2004 Amy Dockser Marcus The Wall Street Journal Efforts emerge to recognize cancer symptoms earlier All too often, the pain of a cancer diagnosis is compounded by the realization that the disease could have been caught sooner if only the early symptoms had been recognized. Indeed, for all the enormous strides in cancer-screening technologies, some very basic red flags -- back pain, constipation, fatigue, even a hoarse voice -- are often overlooked because they resemble the symptoms of benign diseases. Patients are unlikely to call a doctor right away, and when they do, doctors may spend months looking for other causes before suspecting cancer. But there is a growing recognition in the cancer community that identifying physical symptoms is vital. Existing screens still miss many tumors, and no effective screens even exist for some particularly lethal cancers, such as pancreatic and ovarian. As a result, a concerted effort is under way to educate patients, doctors and medical students to identify early symptoms of cancer. Diagnostic tools are also in the works that can help physicians put the pieces together and see when a particular constellation of symptoms may indicate cancer. A challenge in this, of course, is how to encourage patients and doctors to recognize symptoms without creating panic over every itch and twinge. Cramping and fatigue can be signs of colon cancer, but they could also signify less threatening digestive problems. Coughing and chest pain are early symptoms of lung cancer, but also of a bad cold. Pain in [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:10:49-07:00November, 2004|OCF In The News|

Actress Blythe Danner films public service announcement for TV with OCF

9/18/2004 Newport Beach OCF New release, PR Newswire Actress Blythe Danner, a star in the new Showtime television series "Huff" and widow of the late producer/director Bruce Paltrow, recently donated her time to create a television public service announcement on behalf of the Oral Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes annual screenings and early detection to reduce the death rate from the disease that claimed her husband in 2002. The PSAs will begin airing on television stations nationwide in October and November. At the time of the PSA filming, TV shows Entertainment Tonight and Insider filmed interviews with Danner in which the actress, mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and writer-director Jake Paltrow, explains her drive for awareness about oral cancer, which strikes approximately 30,000 Americans annually. Only half of those diagnosed with it will survive five years-- that's a death rate of one person every hour of each day. The message-- that if found early the cancer is highly survivable, and that an annual screening for the disease should be part of everyone's medical routine-- is the focus of her statement. The PSA was a collaboration involving effort from longtime Hollywood personalities including writer-producer Eric Lapidus, producer-director Scott Winant, actress Blythe Danner, assisting Oral Cancer Foundation founder Brian Hill. All donated their time and assets to make the PSA possible. Even the film crew of Winant and Danner's new TV series, Huff, donated their lunchtime on the set to film the PSA. “I was really touched by how everyone [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:20:13-07:00September, 2004|OCF In The News|

Actor Jack Klugman Lends His Voice to Oral Cancer Prevention

8/15/2004 Malibu, CA PR Newswire Three-time Emmy winner and cancer survivor, actor Jack Klugman couldn't speak for more than three years after his cancer treatments. Now that he has regained his voice, he's lending it to the Oral Cancer Foundation's effort to educate the public through television PSAs about the need for an annual screening to catch oral cancers in their early, most survivable stages. The public service announcements began airing September 15th, and will continue to air in several hundred markets in the US through the end of the year. Klugman, who is most famous for his television roles portraying compulsive slob Oscar Madison in "The Odd Couple," and medical examiner Quincy in "Quincy, M.E.," recently made his return to television with an appearance as a medical examiner on "Crossing Jordan" and in live theater to rave reviews in the production of "An Evening with Jack Klugman." Klugman returns to the stage again this month at the Falcon Theatre in "Golf With Alan Shepard," directed by Skip Greer; and in the spring will play a movie director in "The Value of Names," to be staged at New York's Queens Theatre in the Park. Klugman credits early detection for his survival of cancer and his subsequent return to stage and screen. "When I contacted Jack about doing the PSA for the Oral Cancer Foundation, he responded immediately," said Brian Hill, foundation executive director. "He said, 'I'm your perfect candidate--I'm here today only because my doctors found it and treated it [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:14:55-07:00August, 2004|OCF In The News|

OCF founder featured in NYU Nexus Magazine

1/22/2004 New York, NY New York University OCF Founder Brian Hill was the subject of an article in Nexus, a publication of New York University. The Dean of the university's dental school, Dr. Michael Alfano has been a supporter of the foundation's efforts since the inception of OCF. Content of the article follows: BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ORAL CANCER FOUNDATION Late stage oral cancer patients have a significantly poorer survival rate than those who have their cancer caught early. Early detection of the disease can make a difference in whether or not a patient survives their encounter with cancer or not. Brian Hill was one of the lucky ones. As a late stage 3 survivor, he is acutely aware of the issues related to oral cancer and its early detection, and now works to bring that awareness to others. He has established The Oral Cancer Foundation, a national, non-profit organization designed to reduce suffering and save lives through early detection, education, research, advocacy, and support, an act which has led him to discover a new mission in life. In 1993, Brian Hill was living the American dream. Still in his early 40s, he had recently sold the successful company he founded, Implant Support Systems, Inc., which designed, manufactured, and distributed dental implants, to Lifecore Biomedical, a firm specializing in synthetic body fluids and implantable devices. The sale left him financially secure, and with a lifestyle that he describes as being “on top of the world.” But that American dream [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:16:45-07:00January, 2004|OCF In The News|

Dental Abstracts magazine features editorial by OCF founder Brian Hill

8/10/2003 Brian Hill Dental Abstracts Magazine,. Mosbey Publishing This month's issue of Dental Abstracts, from Mosbey Publishing, features an editorial regarding the need for additional efforts on the part of the US dental community in the early detection of oral cancers written by OCF founder Brian Hill. The Spanish language version of the magazine also carries the editorial outside the US. “ I was surprised but pleased that a US dental magazine would invite me to write a piece on the foundation's perspectives related to the late diagnosis of oral cancer here in the US,” says Hill. “I believe this is largely a result of Dr. Larry Meskin becoming the editor of this journal. Dr. Meskin has a long history as an advocate for oral cancer screening within the dentist community. Hill has long believed that more could be done by American dentists to discover these lesions in their earliest, highly curable stages. The content of the editorial follows. Dental Lifesavers? An oxymoron? Perhaps not. We know that dentists and hygienists are not thought of by the public, and do not think of themselves, as people who engage in the saving of lives. After all, they are not ER doctors. But when either of these dental professionals finds an oral cancer in the course of their examinations, especially if at an early stage one or two, they have undoubtedly saved a life. The Oral Cancer Foundation has begun a Dental Lifesavers Program, designed to raise the visibility, awareness, and recognition [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:18:22-07:00August, 2003|OCF In The News|

Fiber In The Diet May Protect Against Oral And Throat Cancer

3/5/2001 NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net The on-again/off-again status of dietary fiber as a player in cancer prevention may be on again when it comes to cancers of the mouth, throat, and esophagus. Taking into consideration patients' age, gender, alcohol and/or tobacco use, education, and caloric intake, researchers in Italy report that the odds of developing oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal cancers were lower for study subjects who consumed more fiber in their diets. M. Soler and colleagues at Milan's Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacology Research based their conclusion on a food-frequency study of 902 cancer patients (271 with oral cancer, 327 with pharyngeal cancer, 304 with esophageal cancer) and 1,950 patients with acute, non-cancerous disease who served as controls ("Fiber intake and the risk of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancer," International Journal of Cancer, February 1, 2001;91(3):283-287). Fruit fiber conferred the highest protective value, followed by grain, then vegetable fiber. By fiber constituents, highest to lowest protective values were conferred by cellulose, insoluble non-cellulose polysaccharide, total (Englyst) fiber, lignin, soluble fiber, and total insoluble fiber. In October 2000, researchers reported in the journal The Lancet, that dietary fiber may be linked to increased recurrence of benign colorectal growths that often are precursors of cancerous tumors. The corresponding author for this study is C. Bosetti, Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacology Research, Via Eritrea 62, I-20157 Milan, Italy. Key points reported in this study include: * Dietary fiber may offer some protection against development of oral, throat, and esophageal cancers * Fruit fiber offers [...]

Webmaster2009-03-20T10:08:36-07:00March, 2001|Archive|

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