Charlotte Parker, Author at Oral Cancer News

CDC reveals no drop in smokeless tobacco use among U.S. workers

Source: philly.comAuthor: Margaret Steele, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, June 5, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Cigarette smoking continues to decline among Americans who work, but use of smokeless tobacco -- a known cause of cancer -- has held steady since 2005, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. Certain types of jobs -- construction and mining, especially -- are hotbeds of smokeless tobacco use, according to a study conducted by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Looking at tobacco use over five years, the researchers found a decline in cigarette smoking among working adults -- from about 22 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2010. But use of smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco and snuff inched up slightly -- from 2.7 percent in 2005 to 3 percent in 2010."These findings can help health professionals direct assistance to working men and women to stop using smokeless tobacco, a known cause of oral, esophageal and pancreatic cancer," the researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The CDC called on employers to try to snuff out all forms of tobacco use. New smokeless tobacco products such as snus (finely ground moist snuff) and candy-flavored dissolvable tobacco, combined with increased marketing, might explain smokeless tobacco's steady use, the CDC authors said. However, snus and some other products weren't included in the questionnaire so it's possible smokeless tobacco use is underestimated, study author Dr. Jacek Mazurek, of the division of respiratory disease studies, and colleagues noted. Chewing tobacco and snuff aren't safe, research has shown. [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-06-06T10:47:15-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Study finds low public awareness of head and neck cancer

Source: www.sciencecodex.comAuthor: The JAMA Network Journals Bottom Line: Public awareness of head and neck cancer (HNC) is low, with few Americans knowing much about risk factors such as tobacco use and human papillomavirus (HPV). Author: Alexander L. Luryi, B.S., of the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. Background: HNC is the 10 th most common cancer in the United States. It is a potentially preventable disease with about 75 percent of cases caused by tobacco use. In recent years, HPV has been established as a risk factor for HNC. Increased public awareness of HNC and its risk factors could help improve outcomes. How the Study Was Conducted: An online study of 2,126 adults was conducted in 2013. Results: About 66 percent of the participants were "not very" or "not at all" knowledgeable about HNC. Smoking and chewing or spitting tobacco were identified by 54.5 percent and 32.7 percent of respondents as risk factors for mouth and throat cancer, respectively. Only 0.8 percent of respondents identified HPV as a risk factor. Discussion: "Awareness of HNC is low compared with other cancers, which is concerning given the importance of risk factor avoidance and modification, as well as early patient detection, as drivers of prevention and improved outcomes." *This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Charlotte Parker2014-06-06T10:19:47-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton begins to put post-cancer struggle behind him

Source:http://www.tv3.ieAuthor: Staff Aerosmith's Tom Hamilton admits the after effects of cancer treatment came back to ''bite'' him. The bass player, who was told his throat and tongue cancer had returned in 2011, had a difficult year last year after he pulled out of the band's tour of Australia and was replaced by David Hull due to health issues. He told digitaljournal.com: ''I had a couple of situations last year that I'm past. Sometimes the after effects of cancer treatment sort of come back to bite you later on down the road. That happened last year, but I'm feeling great now ... having an awesome time out here.'' The 62-year-old musician is now looking forward to touring the US with his Aerosmith band mates - Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer - and he realises there might not be many more opportunities to play live which is why the band put their differences aside. He said: ''I think we all know that we're nearer the end than the beginning of this whole thing and nobody wants to miss anything - I certainly don't. ''I don't want to miss all the amazing stuff there is out in the world for us right now just because of an argument or because somebody is too burned out and they lash out or something. Everything is forgivable when you consider what's out there for us if we can keep it together...'' Asked if he had considered retiring from the group, he replied: ''Yeah, [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-06-05T11:45:36-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Aspen Dental and The Oral Cancer Foundation join together and conducted over 2,400 oral cancer screenings in April

Source: sacbee.comAuthor: Aspen Dental SYRACUSE, N.Y., May 29, 2014 -- Aspen Dental, one of the largest and fastest-growing networks of dental care providers in the U.S., conducted 2,420 oral cancer screenings at Aspen Dental locations during the month of April, resulting in a $12,100 donation to The Oral Cancer Foundation. The program, which included a $5 donation for each screening conducted, was run throughout the Aspen Dental network, which includes more than 450 practices across 27 states. Since 2010, Aspen Dental has donated more than $63,000 to The Oral Cancer Foundation. "Each year, oral cancer kills more people in the U.S. than other more widely known forms of cancer, including skin, lymphatic, thyroid, and cervical cancers," said Jamie O'Day, Director of Operations for The Oral Cancer Foundation. "The funds raised through Aspen Dental's oral cancer screening campaign in April are imperative to help OCF continue to sponsor research, provide patient support, education, and early detection initiatives which are all related to our mission. We are proud to be associated with an organization that makes oral cancer screenings a priority in their practices." According to The Oral Cancer Foundation, approximately 43,250 people in the US will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2014. This is the eighth year in a row in which there has been an increase in the rate of occurrence of oral cancers, in 2007 there was a major jump of over 11% in that single year. "Unfortunately many patients are not familiar with the risk factors or symptoms that serve as warning signs of [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-06-05T11:35:53-07:00June, 2014|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Internal lymphedema causes swallow dysfunction among patients with head and neck cancer

Author: Bryant FurlowSource: oncologynurseadvisor.com CHICAGO, IL— Treatment-related dysphagia symptoms are likely caused by internal lymphedema among patients with head and neck cancer, according to research presented at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. “Internal lymphedema (correlated with subjective and objective measures of swallow dysfunction,” said lead author Leanne Kolnick Jackson, MD, at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee. “Most of the time patients have silent aspiration, which is most dangerous. So if a patient ever says they have dysphagia, it warrants an exam” including imaging as well as endoscopy, Jackson said. External lymphedema is visible and recognizable, but internal lymphedema—which occurs in up to 90% of cases of external lymphedema—can go undetected, the coauthors noted. “External lymphedema is just the tip of the iceberg,” said senior author Barbara A. Murphy, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “Only 10% of patients with lymphedema have only external lymphedema.” Secondary lymphedema and fibrosis are “ubiquitous and underreported” late effects among patients with head and neck cancers, Jackson reported. Using the Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom Survey (VHNSS) version 1.0, the researchers collected patient-reported swallow dysfunction among study participants undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer. They subsequently studied patients' swallow function and internal lymphedema, using endoscopic assessments, modified-barium videofluoroscopy, the Dysphagia Outcome and Severity Scale (DOSS), and National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS). Endoscopy does not detect internal lymphedema well “for every site,” Jackson noted. “Some sites are not well evaluated by endoscopy.” At 18 months posttreatment, VHNSS swallow/nutrition scores [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-06-02T11:03:51-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

New Study Shows Variable Risk in HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Cancer

by Kate Johnson for Medscape Deintensification of chemotherapy might not be the best option for all patients with oropharyngeal cancer whose disease is associated with human papillomavirus (HPV). However, such an approach might be reasonable for patients with a low risk for distant recurrence; namely, those with less advanced disease and limited exposure to smoking, according to a large retrospective institutional study conducted by Brian O'Sullivan, MD, from the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues. The study was published in the February 10 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The findings "provocatively suggest there is a limit to the favorable biology of HPV-associated OPSCC [oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma]," write Harry Quon, MD, and Arlene Forastiere, MD, from the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in an accompanying editorial. "It could be that today's treatment paradigms result in the over treatment of many patients (and the consequent late effects on swallowing function) and under treatment of a smaller subset," they add. There is growing concern among OPSCC experts about patients' risks for radiation-related morbidity, particularly severe late swallowing complications, Dr. Forastiere told Medscape Medical News. "The potential for this damage is increased when chemotherapy is added to the radiation," she explained. "One simple strategy is to drop the chemotherapy from the treatment of those with a low risk for recurrence of tumor in the oropharynx or the regional lymph nodes in the neck." However, she pointed out that Dr. O'Sullivan and colleagues "have refined this 'risk definition' [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-05-30T22:37:54-07:00May, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

In Some HPV-positive Head and Neck Cancers Lower Dose Radiation may be a possible future.

May 30, 2014. 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO): Abstract LBA6006. CHICAGO — Oropharyngeal cancer patients who test positive for human papillomavirus (HPV) could be treated with lower than standard doses of radiation, which reduces the risk for adverse effects, suggest results from a phase 2 study. Patients were first treated with induction chemotherapy, and the results suggest that those who respond can safely forgo standard radiation therapy in favor of a lower dose with fewer adverse effects, according to results from the ECOG 1308 study. This "chemoselection" can guide radiotherapy treatment strategies aimed at lowering acute and late toxicities," researcher Anthony Cmelak, MD, professor of radiation oncology at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, told Medscape Medical News. This story was vetted for accuracy by the Oral Cancer Foundation scientific review staff "The lower dose allows patients to avoid long-term dysphagia, fibrosis, xerostomia, dental problems, strictures, or long-term percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes," Dr. Cmelak commented. "The risks of these types of complications escalate rapidly after 54 Gy intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and become the most commonly seen long-term problems in patients when treated to the standard dose of 70 Gy." The study, highlighted during a press briefing here at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology® (ASCO), included 90 patients with stage III/IV HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma who received induction chemotherapy with paclitaxel, cisplatin, and cetuximab. Based on having a complete clinical response to chemotherapy, meaning no signs of cancer on endoscopic exam, 62 patients were selected to [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-05-30T22:22:29-07:00May, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Recent Study reveals over two thirds of Americans harbor HPV

Source: medscape.comAuthor: Pam Harrison More than two thirds of healthy US residents harbor at least 1 type of human papillomavirus (HPV), most of which are undetectable by widely used commercial screening kits, a large genetic analysis shows. However, the relevance of this is at present unclear, commented an expert not connected with the study. The study identified 109 different HPV types in tissue samples taken from 103 men and women whose tissue DNA was made available through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Microbiome Project. Only 4 individuals carried either HPV 16 or 18, considered to be among the most oncogenic HPV types and associated in particular with cervical cancer. "There are more than 170 HPV types, so it's a very heterogeneous virus, and current methods only detect about 20 to 30 of them," senior investigator Zhiheng Pei, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology, New York University School of Medicine, in New York City, told Medscape Medical News. "[Because] non-risk or low-risk HPV types have been very understudied, we would like to see if these non-cancer-causing HPV types play a role in cancers other than cervical cancer or, conversely, if HPV infection is in fact beneficial in an asymptomatic population," Dr. Pei commented. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston, Massachusetts. Shotgun Sequencing For the study, researchers decoded DNA assembled by a technique called shotgun sequencing. In this method, researchers fragment long DNA strands into short fragments and then randomly sequence each [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-05-29T09:45:58-07:00May, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Early nutrition intervention creates proactive approach for treating head and neck cancer patients

Author: Megan BrooksSource: medscape.com Oncologists treating patients with head and neck cancer are taking a proactive approach when it comes to home enteral nutrition support, a new study suggests. The study of 172 patients with gastrostomy tubes found that half had the feeding tubes placed prior to beginning treatment for head or neck cancer. Most of these patients were put on home enteral nutrition support to help them maintain their current weight during treatment, as opposed to being put on it after treatment to try to regain lost weight, researchers found. The study was presented at the Oncology Nursing Society 39th Annual Congress in Anaheim, California. An estimated 55,000 people in the United States develop head and neck cancers each year. "These patients have many nutritional concerns because of the location of the cancer, which often causes trouble swallowing," said investigator Noreen Luszcz, RD, MBA, CNSC, nutrition program director for Walgreens Infusion Services. "They can't eat, won't eat, or can't eat enough," she told Medscape Medical News. Many of these patients have impaired nutrition status at the time of diagnosis, she noted. In addition to losing weight prior to the diagnosis, they can lose 10% of their pretherapy body weight during treatment. Enteral nutrition can help head and neck cancer patients minimize weight loss, maintain quality of life, manage symptoms, and improve tolerance to treatment, Luszcz said. Home enteral nutrition coordinated by a multidisciplinary nutrition support team has been shown to be safe and beneficial in these patients, she added. Early Screening, Assessment [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-05-12T11:22:34-07:00May, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

High-Risk HPV Prevalent in Oropharyngeal Cancers

Author: Roxanne NelsonSource: medscape.com A larger percentage of oropharyngeal cancers might be related to human papillomavirus (HPV) than previously thought. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in a large sample of invasive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas, 72% were positive for HPV and 62% were positive for high-risk HPV types 16 and 18, which are covered by the 2 commercially available vaccines (Gardasil, Merck & Co.;Cervarix, GlaxoSmithKline). On the basis of these data, the CDC researchers suggest that vaccines could prevent most oropharyngeal cancers in the United States. The vaccines are marketed mainly for the prevention of cervical cancer, but there is hope, and some evidence, that the vaccines might also protect against oropharyngeal cancer. For example, last year, the Costa Rica HPV Vaccine Trial found that the Cervarix vaccine reduced oral HPV infections in women by more than 90%. However, the effect of the vaccines could vary by demographic factors; HPV prevalence differed by sex and race/ethnicity, the researchers note. In their study, Martin Steinau, PhD, senior scientist at the CDC, and colleagues report that the current global incidence of oropharyngeal cancers is estimated to be 85,000 annually, although there is considerable geographic variation. In the United States, there are about 12,000 new cases diagnosed every year, and most are classified histologically as squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). The retrospective analysis was published in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. Study Details Dr. Steinau and colleagues sought to determine prevalence of HPV types detected in oropharyngeal cancers in the American population, and to [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-05-02T14:43:57-07:00May, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

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