Charlotte Parker, Author at Oral Cancer News

Nivolumab Improved Survival For Patients With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Source: www.aacr.orgAuthor: AACR Newsroom Staff NEW ORLEANS — Treatment with the immunotherapeutic nivolumab (Opdivo) improved survival for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy compared with single-agent chemotherapy of the investigator’s choice, according to results from the CheckMate-141 phase III clinical trial presented here at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016, April 16-20. “Recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that is not responsive to platinum-based chemotherapy progresses very rapidly, and patients have a very poor prognosis,” said Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. “Treatment usually involves single-agent chemotherapy. However, no therapy has been shown to improve survival for this patient population. New treatment options are desperately needed. “This study is the first randomized clinical trial to clearly demonstrate improved overall survival for patients with platinum-refractory recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,” continued Gillison. “We hope that the results will establish nivolumab as a new standard of care option for this patient population and thereby fulfill a huge unmet need.” CheckMate-141 was a randomized, phase III clinical trial designed to determine whether the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab could extend overall survival for patients with platinum-refractory recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma compared with treatment of the investigator’s choice, which was any of the commonly used therapeutics docetaxel, methotrexate, or [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-19T10:49:39-07:00April, 2016|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Minimizing Imaging for Recurrence of HPV-Associated Head & Neck Cancer

Source: www.journals.lww.com/oncologytimesAuthor: Robert H. Carlson SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.—Most recurrences of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) can be found through imaging and physical exams within six months after treatment, according to a study from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Fla. “For most patients with HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer who have had a negative three-month PET scan, physical exams with history and direct visualization are sufficient to find recurrences,” said Jessica M. Frakes, MD, Assistant Member of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the institute and lead author on the study, in a presentation at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head & Neck Cancer Symposium. “Minimizing the number of exams that do not compromise outcomes not only helps decrease anxiety and stress for our patients, but also eases the financial burden of cancer care,” she said. The study also supports the effectiveness of specialist teams in treating HPV-positive OPSCC with definitive radiation therapy. Frakes said local control at three years was 97.8; regional control 95.3 percent; locoregional control 94 percent; and freedom from distant metastases 91.4 percent. Three-year overall survival was 91 percent. “The number of OPSCC patients and survivors is growing, so there is a great need to determine the general time to recurrence and the most effective modes of recurrence detection in order to guide optimal follow-up care,” Frakes said. But National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for treatment of OPSCC are “one size fits all,” she said, with the same follow-up recommendations whether the disease [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-18T17:27:00-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Head & Neck Cancer Patients Face Social Isolation, Financial Burdens

Source: www.journals.lww.com/oncologytimesAuthor: Robert H. Carlson SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC) has high morbidity and is expensive to treat. The cost of the disease, not only in financial burden but also degradation of the patient's quality of life, was highlighted in a recent study from University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. The study, using data from 73 treatment-naïve LAHNC patients, showed that 69 percent relied on one or more lifestyle-altering cost-coping strategies while managing their cancer, including spending savings (62 percent), borrowing money (42 percent), selling possessions (25 percent), and having family members work more hours (23 percent). A more subtle disruption of patients' lives was also identified, that of perceived social isolation— defined as a lack of social support coupled with increased loneliness—as a risk factor for less than optimal medication adherence and use of health care resources during treatment. That meant more days of missed medication, more missed appointments, and longer inpatient hospital stays. The study was presented at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head & Neck Cancer Symposium, sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “Physical side effects are not the only ones our head and neck cancer patients endure,” said Sunny Kung, a second-year medical student and lead author on the study. “It is important for physicians to screen for social isolation just as we screen for depression and identify patients with high social isolation so we can intervene earlier on before they experience these negative financial side [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-18T17:15:40-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

ASCO Urges Aggressive Efforts to Increase HPV Vaccination

Source: www.medscape.comAuthor: Zosia Chustecka Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have now been available for 10 years, but despite many medical professional bodies strongly recommending the vaccine, uptake in the United States remains low. Data from a national survey show that about 36% of girls and 14% of boys have received the full schedule of HPV vaccines needed to provide protection (Vaccine. 2013;31:1673-1679). Now the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has become involved, and in a position statement issued today the organization calls for aggressive efforts to increase uptake of the HPV vaccines to "protect young people from life-threatening cancers." "With safe and effective vaccines readily available, no young person today should have to face the devastating diagnosis of a preventable cancer like cervical cancer. But unless we rapidly increase vaccination rates for boys and girls, many of them will," ASCO President Julie M. Vose, MD, said in a statement. "As oncologists, we see the terrible effects of these cancers first hand, and we have to contribute to improving today's alarmingly low vaccination rates," she added. The new policy statement is published online April 11 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The statement notes that HPV vaccination has been previously recommended by many US medical societies, including the American Cancer Society, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Committee, the American Dental Association, the American Head and Neck Society, the American Nurses Association, the American Pharmacists Association, the Association of Immunization Managers, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-18T13:12:04-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Cowboy raises awareness for oral cancer

Source: www.kristv.comAuthor: Annie Sabo In an environment where smokeless and spit tobacco is prevalent, cowboy, Cody Kiser, says he feels like the luckiest guy in the world to represent the Oral Cancer Foundation. He told us, "I just happened to be in a class with a classmate. Their sister works for the oral cancer foundation...one thing led to another and they said we've been looking for a cowboy that doesn't smoke or chew and we'd love to be able to work out some kind of deal where we help you out you help us out...now I'm here." Although Cody has not been personally affected by the cancer, he wears a special patch on his shirt to raise awareness for the deadly disease. He said, "I'm very lucky that I haven't had any family members or friends be affected by oral cancer. I've made friends with people that have been now and it's a real eye opener." Since partnering with the oral cancer foundation, he works hard to promote this message: "Be smart don't start...we want to get out to the kids and fans who haven't smoking or chewing yet." Cody says the best part about working for the oral cancer foundation is serving as a role model for children. He told us, "You can be an elite athlete and an amazing cowboy without having to smoke or chew. That's our goal is to get to those kids before they do that. I just want to be a good role model for [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-15T10:41:00-07:00April, 2016|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Merck Says FDA Accepts Its SBLA For Keytruda For Treatment Of Head & Neck Cancer

Source: www.finchannel.comAuthor: Fin Channel News Editorial Staff The FINANCIAL -- Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, on April 13 announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), the company’s anti-PD-1 therapy, for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. The application is seeking approval for KEYTRUDA as a single agent at a dose of 200 mg administered intravenously every three weeks. The FDA granted Priority Review with a PDUFA, or target action, date of Aug. 9; the sBLA will be reviewed under the FDA’s Accelerated Approval program, according to Merck. “Starting in the early days of our development program, we have explored the role of KEYTRUDA for patients with head and neck cancer, a difficult-to-treat and debilitating disease with very few treatment options,” said Roger Dansey, M.D., senior vice president and therapeutic area head, oncology late-stage development, Merck Research Laboratories. “We are encouraged by the data emerging from our program in this type of cancer, and welcome today’s news as this is an important step toward making KEYTRUDA available to these patients.” Merck currently has the largest immuno-oncology clinical development program in head and neck cancer and is advancing multiple registration-enabling studies with KEYTRUDA as a single agent and in combination with chemotherapy. *This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-13T11:58:01-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

The burden of cancer isn’t just cancer

Source: www.news.doximity.comAuthor: Carolyn Y. Johnson Money is low on the list of things most people want to think about after a doctor says the scary word "cancer." And it's not just patients — physicians also want to weigh the best treatment options to rout the cancer, unburdened by financial nitty gritty. But a growing body of evidence suggests that, far from crass, ignoring cost could be harmful to patients' health. In the age of $10,000-a-month cancer drugs and health plans that shift more of the cost of health care onto patients, research suggests we've been underestimating one of cancer's real harms: "financial toxicity." The financial difficulties that stem from dealing with cancer can lead people to avoid or delay care or drugs, studies suggest, and also may cause stress that can lead to mental and physical health problems. "When people are diagnosed, it behooves the provider to assess their financial risk at baseline — to find out if they’re at risk, and if they are, to be very aggressive with getting them to financial planning, to patient assistance programs to reduce their likelihood of having financial devastation," said Scott Ramsey, a health economist and physician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who showed in 2013 that people with cancer are 2.65 times more likely to file for bankruptcy than people without cancer. "We think unless you do, it’ll be hard to keep people from ending up in this situation." For years, the evidence has accrued that cancer patients experience greater financial challenges than other groups of sick people. A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-11T10:54:10-07:00April, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Suicide: A Major Threat to Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship

Source: www.jco.ascopubs.comAuthors: Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, Eric Adjei Boakye, and Ronald J. Walker , Mark A. Varvares TO THE EDITOR: The article by Ringash that was recently published in Journal of Clinical Oncology provided a compelling narrative of both the improvements made in head and neck cancer survivorship, as well as the challenges created by longer-term treatment and associated toxicities. There are currently at least 280,000 head and neck cancer survivors in the United States. As the article by Ringash stated, the upturn in head and neck cancer survivorship in the last three decades has coincided with the emergence of human papilloma virus-positive oropharyngeal cancer, as well as a decrease in tobacco use in the general population. These make it a challenge to isolate survival gains as a function of improved therapy from the natural prognostic value of a diagnosis of human papilloma virus-positive oropharyngeal cancer. Whatever the case, the fact that more than one-quarter million Americans are currently alive after a diagnosis of head and neck cancer means there needs to be a more deliberate effort in longer-term management of treatment-related toxicities, some of which are lifelong. We agree with Ringash’s conclusion that new models of care need to be developed in response to the significant quality-of-life issues faced by patients with head and neck cancer. The Institute of Medicine publication From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition, also cited by Ringash, called for a clear individualized survivorship plan for cancer patients. There is a serious need for this model to [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-03-24T15:06:02-07:00March, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

The Oral Cancer Foundation’s Founder, Brian R. Hill, honored by the Global Oral Cancer Forum – International oral cancer community honor his accomplishments in the field.

Source: www.prnewswire.comAuthor: The Oral Cancer Foundation NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At the recent Global Oral Cancer Forum (GOCF), Brian R. Hill, Executive Director and Founder of the Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF), was honored for his work as an advocate and innovative thinker in the oral cancer arena. The GOCF organizers and community awarded Hill the 2016 Global Oral Cancer Forum Commitment, Courage and Innovation Leadership Award for his dedication and contributions to the field of oral cancer over the last 18 years. Upon accepting the award, Hill received a standing ovation from those in attendance, which included global oral cancer thought leaders, researchers, treatment physicians, other non-profit organizations and representatives from various government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health / National Cancer Institute, and the World Health Organization (WHO). When asked about being honored Hill said, "In the beginning and for many years I was alone at OCF and it was just the seed of an idea. Those grassroots efforts matured into a robust network of important relationships with a common goal. Today OCF is so much more than just me and my singular efforts. Through the benevolence of the many OCF supporters, particularly in the RDH, dental/medical professional communities and survivor groups, OCF has grown into a powerful national force for proactive change of the late discovery paradigm, access to quality information, disease and patient advocacy, funding of research, and patient support." Hill acknowledges that he had the mentorship of some of the brightest minds [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-03-11T10:35:36-07:00March, 2016|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Why a Cure For Cancer Is Possible

Source: www.fortune.comAuthor: Robert Mulroy Cutting drug prices is not out of the question. A crapshoot is defined as a risky or uncertain matter; something that could produce a good or bad result. President Obama’s moonshot on cancer is different in terms of its greater complexity and higher moral purpose — but unfortunately, not in its probability of success. The Audacity of Scope President Obama has asked Congress for $755 million to “focus” on immunotherapy, combination therapy, vaccines that prevent cancer causing viruses, and early detection techniques. According to Vice President Joe Biden, who will coordinate 13 government institutions in this research, “Our job is to clear out the bureaucratic hurdles, and let science happen.” It is hard not to welcome such an initiative. Cancer has deposed heart disease as the number one killer in 22 American states. Experts project the number of global cancer cases will double in the next 15 years. But we are better at projecting the demand for innovation than we are at producing it; and we are even better at making promises we can’t keep and polices that don’t work. President Roosevelt created the National Cancer Institute in 1937. Nixon declared a “war on cancer” with the National Cancer Act in 1971. The Bush administration spoke in 2003 of spending $600 million per year to rid the world of cancer by 2015. Obama and Biden made campaign promises to fight cancer in 2008, and should be lauded for trying to keep them, but their approach needs [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-03-01T10:52:43-07:00March, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Cancer News
Compiled by The Oral Cancer Foundation

About Charlotte Parker