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HPV-related head and neck cancer on the rise among middle-aged white men

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: staff Research led by Lauren Cole, a public health graduate student, and Dr. Edward Peters, Associate Professor of Public Health and Director of the Epidemiology Program at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, reports that the incidence of head and neck cancer has risen at sites associated with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection, with the greatest increase among middle-aged white men. At the same time, younger, Non-Hispanic blacks experienced a substantial decrease in these cancers. They also found that the disease process for tumors associated with HPV is different from those caused by exposure to tobacco and alcohol, with implications for treatment. The findings are published this month in the PLoS ONE journal. Tobacco and alcohol are the most common risk factors for cancers of the head and neck, but HPV infection is emerging as an important risk factor as well. The objectives of this study were to assess the recent incidence of head and neck cancer in the United States and to investigate the trends of these cancers associated with HPV infection. Using incidence data for 1995-2005 from 40 US population-based cancer registries, the researchers described the epidemiology of head and neck cancer (HNC) in the US and examined the variation in cancer rates by age, sex, race/ethnicity, stage and cancer location. As some HNC sites are strongly associated with a tendency for HPV infection, they also examined if rates varied by those sites associated with HPV. "During 1995-2005, we observed a significant overall increase in [...]

2012-03-30T05:12:03-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Viruses recruited as killers of tumors

Source: nytimes.com Author: Rachel Nuwer In 1951, a 4-year-old boy with leukemia contracted chickenpox. His liver and spleen, swollen by the cancer, soon returned to normal, and his elevated blood cell count fell to that of a healthy child. His doctors at the Laboratory of Experimental Oncology in San Francisco were thrilled by his sudden remission, but the blessing was short-lived. After one month, his leukemia returned and progressed rapidly until the child’s death. In the early 1900s, not much could be done for cancer patients. Unless surgeons could excise a tumor, the disease typically spelled a swift and inevitable end. But in dozens of published cases over the years, doctors noticed a peculiar trend: Struggling cancer patients sometimes enjoyed a brief reprieve from their malignancies when they caught a viral infection. It was not a coincidence. Common viruses sometimes attack tumor cells, researchers discovered. For decades, they tried to harness this phenomenon, to transform it into a cancer treatment. Now, after a long string of failures, they are nearing success with viruses engineered to kill cancer. “It’s a very exciting time,” said Dr. Robert Martuza, chief neurosurgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of neuroscience at Harvard Medical School. “I think it will work out in some tumor, with some virus.” Candidates are already in advanced trials, he noted. Cancer cells are able to replicate wildly, but there’s a trade-off: They cannot ward off infection as effectively as healthy cells. So scientists have been looking for ways to [...]

2012-03-20T12:21:26-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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New indicator may help Identify patients with increased risk from throat cancer

Source: www.onclive.com Author: staff Patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who had "matted" lymph nodes -- nodes that are connected together -- are more likely to metastasize than those without matted lymph nodes, according to a study published online in the journal Head & Neck. Metastases account for about 45% of the deaths among patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma, wrote Douglas B. Chepeha, MD, MPH, an associate professor of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. "Our findings may help doctors identify patients who are at higher risk for having their cancer metastasize and who would benefit from additional systemic therapy," he said, adding that the opposite was also true -- those without matted nodes might benefit from reducing therapy. The researchers tracked 78 patients who were part of a clinical trial evaluating 2 cancer drugs with intensity-modulated radiation therapy. All of the treatment-naive patients had stage III-IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx. Sixteen of the 78 patients had matted nodes. They found that patients with matted nodes had a 69% survival rate over 3 years, compared with 94% for patients without matted nodes. The risk was independent of other prognostic factors, such as the patient's history of smoking, alcohol use, or human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Matted nodes appear to be an especially strong indicator of increased risk among patients who are HPV-positive. However, HPVpositive patients had better overall outcomes than HPV-negative patients did. The patients with the best outcomes were HPV-positive [...]

2012-03-19T07:12:42-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Oral gel contains cancer-preventing compounds derived from black raspberries

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS, with the assistance of Allison Walker Maria Perno Goldie (MPG): I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Susan Mallery, who is a humble as she is intelligent. I had the assistance of Allison Walker, a freelance journalist who has been involved in dental publishing for more than 20 years. Dr. Susan Mallery (SM) is a Professor in the Division of Oral Surgery, Oral Pathology, and Anesthesiology at The Ohio State University, College of Dentistry, in Columbus, Ohio. Her research interests include oral cancer initiation, AIDS-related oral cancer and chemoprevention. Dr. Mallery has published articles in journals such as Cancer Research, Cancer Prevention Research, Molecular Pharmaceutics, Carcinogenesis and Clinical Cancer Research, to name a few. She graduated from The Ohio State University with her DDS and later returned to receive her oral pathology specialty training and a PhD in Pathology. Dr. Mallery is licensed by the Ohio State Dental Board and board certified by the American Board of Oral Pathology and American Academy of Oral Pathology. She belongs to the American Academy of Oral Pathology, American Board of Oral Pathology, American Association for Cancer Research, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is a consultant at The Ohio State University and James Cancer hospitals. MPG: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) will be diagnosed in more than 36,000 Americans this year and has a particularly high mortality rate—as it will kill approximately 8,000 patients this year. As [...]

2012-03-15T11:56:00-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Green tea’s status as a ‘superfood’ grows: A study finds it even abolishes bad breath (it already helps prevent cancer and heart disease)

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: staff Green tea can help beat bad breath, according to scientific research. The study found that antioxidants in the tea, called polyphenols, destroy a number of compounds in the mouth that can lead to bad breath, tooth decay and even mouth cancer. The study from Israel’s Institute of Technology will add to green tea’s status as one of nature’s so-called ‘superfoods’. It is already said to help prevent cancer and heart disease and lower cholesterol – and even ward off Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Writing in the Archives of Oral Biology, the scientists called for more studies, adding: ‘All together, there is increasing interest in the health benefits of green tea in the field of oral health.’ Green tea is made from the same plant as black tea but processed in a different way that means it retains less caffeine and more polyphenols. It has been drunk in China and the Far East for thousands of years and is fast becoming popular in Britain particularly because of its health benefits. It is also more likely to be drunk without milk or sugar so it tends to contain fewer calories too. The study, published in the journal Archives of Oral Biology, examined the properties of the polyphenol called epigallocatechin 3 gallate (EGCG) in particular. It reported: ‘EGCG constitute the most interesting components in green tea leaves. ‘Tea polyphenols possess antiviral properties, believed to help in protection from influenza. ‘Additionally green tea polyphenols can abolish halitosis through modification of odorant sulphur [...]

2012-03-14T12:18:27-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Oral HPV infection affects 7% of the US population

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Ben Leach Approximately 7% of Americans are infected with oral human papillomavirus (HPV), and men are 3 times as likely to be infected as women, according to an analysis that helps define a leading factor in the rise of oropharyngeal cancer. The findings of the HPV prevalence study were presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona, in January and concurrently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.1 The cross-sectional study was based on samples taken from 5579 men and women between the ages of 14 to 69 years that were obtained at mobile examination centers as part of the National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2010. The samples were obtained through an oral rinse and gargle, with subsequent DNA samples used to determine HPV type. Demographic data were obtained using standardized interviews. HPV prevalence in the overall study population was 6.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7%-8.3%). HPV type 16, which accounts for 90% of HPVpositive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas, was the most common form, affecting 1.0% of the study population (95% CI, 0.7%-1.3%). Prevalence of HPV was significantly higher in men versus women (10.1% [95% CI, 8.3%- 12.3%] for men compared with 3.6% [95% CI, 2.6%- 5.0%] for women; P < .001]). Sexual contact was identified as a major factor in the rate of infection, with 7.5% of those who had experienced any form of sexual contact (95% CI, 6.1%-9.1%) infected, compared with 0.9% (95% CI, 0.4%-1.8%; P < .001) [...]

2012-03-14T12:09:29-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Dentists key to quitting ‘smokeless tobacco’

Source: http://www.dentistry.co.uk/ The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is recommending a key role for dental professionals in their public health intervention proposals to help stop the use of smokeless tobacco by people of South Asian Origin. Dentists, dental nurses and dental hygienists may be asked to play a leading role as part of new proposals to stop the use of smokeless tobacco in the UK. NICE has published a consultation on their proposals, which recommends a key intervention and education role for dental professionals. It is also recommending more training for dental professionals to help them gain a greater understanding of smokeless tobacco including terminology, symptoms and approaches to successful intervention. Smokeless tobacco is associated with a number of health problems including nicotine addiction, mouth and oral cancer, periodontal disease, heart attacks and strokes, problems in pregnancy and following childbirth and late diagnosis of dental problems as smokeless tobacco products can often mask pain. Smokeless tobacco is mainly used by 'people of South Asian origin', which includes people with ancestral links to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. The draft guidance recommends that dental professionals take specific actions including: • Asking patients about their smokeless tobacco use and record the outcome in their patient notes • Making users aware of the potential health risks and advise them to stop, using a brief intervention • Referring users who want to quit the habit to tobacco cessation services that use counsellors trained in behavioural support • Recording the [...]

2012-03-07T15:45:16-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Taiwan reports highest oral cancer survivor rate

Source: www.chinapost.com.tw/ Taiwan has reported the highest five-year survival rate for patients with oral cancer in the world, a hospital official said yesterday. On average, more than 70 percent of the oral cancer patients treated at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) live for more than five years after being diagnosed, said Ko Jeng-yuh, head of the hospital's division of head and neck oncology. Citing a survey carried out by the American Joint Committee on Cancer, Ko said the survival rate in the United States for such patients in late stages of the disease was lower than 30 percent in 2010. The NTUH treated 1,288 patients with oral cancer between 2004 and 2009 and after complete treatment, more than 55 percent of the 476 stage-four patients lived for at least five more years, the hospital said. Taiwan has the world's highest number of patients suffering from oral cancer, as the majority of patients are middle-aged men who are also the bread winners for their families, said Lou Pei-jen, an NTUH doctor.

2012-03-07T15:33:15-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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HPV exposure increases men’s risk of cancer

Source: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/ Author: Zen Vuong “We’re at the precipice of this epidemic,” said Dr. Ezra Cohen, who specializes in head and neck cancers. The culprit is sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus-16. Human papillomavirus-positive head and neck cancer cases have been rising about 3 percent every year for the last three decades, said Cohen of The University of Chicago Medicine, an institution that includes the University of Chicago Hospitals. HPV-16 infection is three times more likely in men than in women, he added. Cells of the upper respiratory system of both men and women are very similar to the surface of the cervix in women, said Dr. Kenneth Alexander, chief of infectious diseases at The University of Chicago Medicine. HPV is linked to cervical cancer as well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 10,800 new cases of HPV-associated cervical cancer in the United States each year. This number is nearly 35 percent larger than the 7,100 cases of HPV-associated head and neck cancers found in the United States each year. Oral sex is “probably the most important risk factor” in contracting HPV-16-related head and neck cancer, which “will become more common than cervical cancer in this decade,” he added. Some 5,600 men are diagnosed with HPV-associated head and neck cancers each year, whereas only 1,500 women suffer the same fate, according to the CDC. HPV-16, one of more than 150 strains, is a sexually transmitted condition. More than 40 HPV types can be sexually transmitted, according to the National Cancer Institute. [...]

2012-03-07T15:30:30-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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