Charlotte Parker, Author at Oral Cancer News

AACR says that new drug may assist therapy for Head and Neck Cancer

Source: hcplive.comAuthor: THURSDAY, Sept. 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The investigational drug alpelisib (previously known as BYL719) appears to inhibit activation of the pathway that leads to resistance to cetuximab, an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor agent used in the treatment of head and neck cancer. These findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's special conference "Targeting the PI3K-mTOR Network in Cancer," held from Sept. 14 to 17 in Philadelphia. Pamela Munster, MD, of the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues tested the combination of BYL719 and cetuximab in vivo in a cetuximab-sensitive and a cetuximab-resistant xenograft model of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In a phase Ib study, BYL719 was administered in combination with cetuximab in adults with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck that was resistant or intolerant to platinum-based chemotherapy; prior cetuximab therapy was allowed. The researchers found that the addition of BYL719 to cetuximab showed an additive effect in the cetuximab-sensitive model. BYL719 restored sensitivity to cetuximab in the cetuximab-resistant model. In the phase Ib study, as of March 10, 2014, 37 patients have received BYL719 and cetuximab, and the overall response rate is 11%. Based on the data from preclinical studies and the phase Ib study, the combination of alpelisib and cetuximab for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is being explored in a phase II study. "Treatment resistance is often conveyed through activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, and alpelisib is an inhibitor of this pathway," [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-09-22T12:45:41-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Many head and neck cancer patients can avoid neck surgery

Source: medicalxpress.comAuthor: Staff A new study shows that patients with human papillomavirus (HPV) – the same virus associated with both cervical and head and neck cancer – positive oropharyngeal cancer see significantly higher rates of complete response on a post-radiation neck dissection than those with HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancer. Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers presented the findings at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's 56th Annual Meeting on Wednesday, September 17. "For patients that achieve a complete response, neck surgery is probably unnecessary," says Thomas J. Galloway, MD, Attending Physician and Director of Clinical Research at Fox Chase and lead author on the study. After radiation and chemotherapy to remove tumors from the tonsils or back of the tongue, many head and neck cancer patients still have persistent lumps in their neck, albeit perhaps smaller than when they were first diagnosed. "The question is: Do we need to remove those lumps, as well, or can we just let them dissolve on their own?" asks Dr. Galloway. To investigate, he and his colleagues reviewed the medical records from 396 patients whose oropharyngeal tumors had spread to at least one lymph node. Within 180 days after completing radiation therapy, 146 patients underwent neck surgery. For 99 patients, their records indicated whether or not their tumors had likely been triggered by HPV. Interestingly, patients with HPV often respond better to treatment for their oropharyngeal tumors than those without. The researchers noted the same trend here – people who tested positive for HPV (measured by the presence of a protein called [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-09-18T10:27:59-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

The Debate Over E-Cigarettes Begins

Source: TIME.comAuthor: Mandy Oaklander The debate over the safety of e-cigarettes, and whether they will help smokers to quit, or simply make it easier for them to start or continue lighting up, heated up this week. On one side of the disagreement are those pushing for regulation. In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) began a review of data on e-cigarettes and based on studies conducted so far, last month recommended tighter regulation of the devices to protect consumers’ health. But in a new article published in the journal Addiction, other scientists argue that the WHO misinterpreted the data in a “misleading” way and that the group’s advice for more stringent oversight is problematic. In the Addiction paper, the authors take issue with nine of WHO’s conclusions, some of which surround the safety of e-cigarettes, their toxin levels, and how likely younger people are to adopt them. They cite some of the same data as the original WHO review did, but interpret it differently, arguing that the benefits of e-cigarettes, especially as an effective tool in helping some smokers to quit, outweigh potential risks from the chemicals and nicotine used in the devices. Therefore, they say, e-cigarettes should be more accessible than the WHO recommendations would allow. “…The WHO’s approach will make it harder to bring these products to market than tobacco products, inhibit innovation and put off smokers from using e-cigarettes, putting us in danger of foregoing the public health benefits these products could have,” said Ann McNeill, lead author [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-09-10T09:57:34-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Cancer Survivor Eva Grayzel Talks About Her Efforts to Make A Difference

Source: www.lehighvalleylive.comAuthor: Andrew James Sheldon As an oral cancer survivor, Eva Grayzel knows how lucky she is. She organizes an annual awareness walk for what she says is an often overlooked disease. "I was diagnosed sixteen years ago and I am so lucky to be articulate," she said. "I can't ethically live my life as I do without doing whatever I can to make sure what happened to me doesn't happen to other people." Grayzel survived stage four oral cancer, which is the most serious of the four stages. She has served as the chair of the oral cancer awareness walk in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, for six years. This year's walk is Sept. 27. Grayzel says that raising awareness is the key step to catching the disease early before it can do the most damage. Other survivors will join her in the walk. "There are going to be 20 survivors who have all been diagnosed late and most of them have facial disfigurements. They can't speak normally, some of them can't speak," she said. "It's devastating. Oral cancer steals things we take for granted such basic human needs, everything social." Grayzel's group helped organize a continuing education class for dentists to learn about oral cancer and its connection with the human papillomavirus. Symptoms of oral cancer are sometimes unrecognized by sufferers and doctors. Eileen Ciszak lost her daughter as a result of a misdiagnosis. "The doctor gave her an antibiotic and told her to see her dentist, that she probably had a cracked [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-09-03T15:56:09-07:00September, 2014|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

The Cancer Cure Parents Aren’t Using

Source: washingtonpost.comAuthor: Meredith Wadman Not so long ago, when my sons still had smooth cheeks and children’s voices, I had them vaccinated against human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease. It was late 2011, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just recommended that boys join girls in being vaccinated at age 11 or 12. I was certainly receptive: HPV, as it’s commonly called, causes cervical cancer, cancer of the tonsils, cancer of the back of the tongue and, less often, cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus and penis. It seemed important to ensure that my kids were protected. Yet numbers released last month by the CDC show that my sons, now 14 and 15, are among a small minority of adolescent males who have been vaccinated. In 2013, just 14 percent of American boys ages 13 to 17 had received all three recommended doses of the HPV vaccine. (The CDC also recommends “catch-up” vaccination for males up to age 21.) Not that parents are rushing to have their girls vaccinated either, even though the CDC first recommended the vaccine for prepubescent girls in 2007 and virtually all insurers pay for it. In 2013, fewer than 38 percent of American girls between 13 and 17 had received the full three-dose course. It is heartbreaking to watch a safe, effective vaccine go unused. Consider this: The CDC estimates that increasing the vaccination rate of American girls to 80 percent would prevent 53,000 cervical cancers during the lifetimes of girls who are now 12 and younger. When [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-25T11:08:26-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Curt Schilling Reveals his Diagnosis of Oral Cancer and Believes Chewing Tobacco was the Cause

Source: boston.comAuthor: Steve Silva Curt Schilling, the former Red Sox pitcher and ESPN analyst, announced today during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon that he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma -- which is cancer in the mouth -- in February. "This all came about from a dog bite," Schilling said. "I got bitten by a dog and I had some damage to my finger and I went to see a doctor, and the day that I went to see the doctor, I was driving and I went to rub my neck and I felt a lump on the left side of my neck. And I knew immediately it wasn't normal. So there happened to be an ENT [Ear, Nose, and Throat] right next door to the hand doctor, and I thought what the heck, let me just stop in and see and so I waited in the office and went in there and they did the biopsy, and two days later, they diagnosed me with squamous cell carcinoma. "You know what the amazing thing was? And I was just dumbfounded by it. You've just been told you have cancer and you walk out into the public and the world's still going on and it was really a challenge to wrap my head around that. My second thought was, 'Yeah, really, you think I can handle this too?' So after a couple of tests, I got sent over to Brigham and Women's and Dana-Farber and that's where I met Dr. Haddad [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-20T11:31:16-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

New Study Finds Editing HPV Genes Kills Cancer

Source: drbicuspid.comAuthor: DrBicuspid Staff August 14, 2014 -- Researchers have hijacked a defense system normally used by bacteria to fend off viral infections and redirected it against human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical, head and neck, and other cancers, according to a new study in the Journal of Virology (August, 6, 2014). Using a genome editing tool, researchers from Duke University were able to selectively destroy two viral genes responsible for the growth and survival of cervical carcinoma cells, causing the cancer cells to self-destruct. The study findings validate an approach only recently attempted in mammalian cells, and they could help in the development of antiviral strategies against other DNA-based viruses such as hepatitis B and herpes simplex. "Because this approach is only going after viral genes, there should be no off-target effects on normal cells," said senior study author Bryan R. Cullen, PhD, a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at the Duke University School of Medicine, in a statement. "You can think of this as targeting a missile that will destroy a certain target. You put in a code that tells the missile exactly what to hit, and it will only hit that, and it won't hit anything else because it doesn't have the code for another target." When examining the genomes of different types of bacteria, researchers noted long stretches where the same genetic sequence was repeated. But in between these repeated stretches were DNA sequences that varied from bacteria to bacteria. About a decade ago, researchers determined that [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-14T17:25:10-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Top cancer organizations push for FDA to regulate all tobacco products

Source: medicalexpress.comAuthor: Staff The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), in a joint letter responding to a proposal by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to extend its regulatory authority over tobacco products, today urged the agency to regulate electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigars, and all other tobacco products and to strengthen the proposed regulations for newly deemed products. "There is no safe form of tobacco use," said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. "Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, and among its dire health consequences are 18 different types of cancer. It is imperative that the FDA takes action to regulate all tobacco products. The future health of the American people, in particular our nation's children, depends on it." The AACR and ASCO applauded the FDA's proposal to regulate e-cigarettes. "We believe it is vitally important for the FDA to begin regulating these products, especially because we don't know much about the health effects of e-cigarette use. We are also quite concerned that e-cigarettes may increase the likelihood that nonsmokers or former smokers will use combustible tobacco products or that they will discourage smokers from quitting," said Peter P. Yu, MD, FASCO, president of ASCO. "There are insufficient data on the long-term health consequences of e-cigarettes, their value as tobacco cessation aids, or their effects on the use of conventional cigarettes. Any benefits of e-cigarettes are most likely to be realized [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-13T09:48:45-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

The National Academies of Science supports Report on Carcinogens assessments – formaldehyde still causes cancer

Source: switchboard.nrdc.orgAuthor: Jennifer Sass The National Academies of Science (NAS) issued its assessment of the cancer risks from formaldehyde, a common and highly toxic chemical found in our furniture, home building materials, and clothing. The National Academies conducted a thorough and rigorous scientific review, and concluded that it posed a threat to humans for three types of cancer: nasopharyngeal cancer; sinonasal cancer; and myeloid leukemia. And, in 2009 the World Health Organization also confirmed the science that formaldehyde causes cancer in people. What makes this NAS review novel is not the cancer findings, because those had already been identified by various international and national government scientific assessments. No, this review was politically motivated, the result of a campaign by the chemical industry and its allies in Congress to protect formaldehyde and styrene, another common chemical linked to cancer. Part of that effort has been a vicious attack on government scientific assessments, to distort and discredit any evidence linking toxic chemicals to diseases, disabilities, or death. In a “kill the messenger” campaign, the Report on Carcinogens – the prestigious biennial government report that alerts the public to chemicals that may cause cancer in people – was compelled to undergo review by the National Academies after it listed formaldehyde and styrene as “known” and “reasonably anticipated” to cause cancer, respectively. This NAS formaldehyde report, along with the recent NAS styrene report are the strongest possible statement from the scientific community that: the Report on Carcinogens got it right the first time; formaldehyde - and styrene – may cause cancer in humans; and our [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-12T15:46:52-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Tumour Suppressor Mutations Alone Cannot Explain Deadly Cancer

Source: www.domain-b.comAuthor: Staff Although mutations in a gene dubbed ''the guardian of the genome'' are widely recognized as being associated with more aggressive forms of cancer, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have found evidence suggesting that the deleterious health effects of the mutated gene may in large part be due to other genetic abnormalities, at least in squamous cell head and neck cancers. The study, published online 3 August in the journal Nature Genetics, shows that high mortality rates among head and neck cancer patients tend to occur only when mutations in the tumour suppressor gene coincide with missing segments of genetic material on the cancer genome's third chromosome. The link between the two had not been observed before because the mutations co-occur in about 70 per cent of head and neck tumours and because full genetic fingerprints of large numbers of cancer tumours have become available only recently. ''These two genetic malfunctions are not two separate stab wounds to the body,'' says co-senior author Trey Ideker, PhD, chief of the division of genetics. ''One exposes the Achilles tendon and the other is a direct blow to it.'' To patients with these cancers, the study's results mean that there may be therapeutic value in testing tumours for the two genetic identifiers, known as a TP53 mutation (short for tumour protein 53) and a 3p deletion (short for deletions of genetic information on the short arm ''p'' of the third chromosome). TP53 plays a key role in [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-08T10:12:06-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

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