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Instant screening device is the best defense for detecting deadly oral cancer

Source: worldental.org Author: staff Every year, over 34,000 Americans develop oral cancer. Many die, and many others must undergo surgery that leaves them permanently disfigured. In the March 2010 issue of Esquire magazine, film critic Roger Ebert shared his story about his battle with the oral cancer disease. After multiple surgeries, he lost his lower jaw, along with his ability to speak and eat solid food. Ebert brings publicity to a disease that hasn’t received much. Oral cancer can be a serious diagnosis, mainly because it usually goes undetected until it has reached an advanced stage and has spread throughout the body. People in their 60s who use tobacco and/or alcohol were once thought to be most at risk of getting oral cancer, but new evidence suggests a more disturbing cause. Oral cancer is now linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV), the same virus that causes cervical cancer. This means that oral cancer can be spread via oral sex, which puts sexually active younger adults in a higher-risk category. Dentists are usually the first to diagnose oral cancer, but 75 percent do not check their patients for signs of the disease. What’s more, the early signs of oral cancer are invisible to the naked eye, so even those who look for it may not spot it. Luckily, there is a technology to detect the earliest signs of oral cancer. It’s called the VELscope, and it’s being used in approximately 500 dental practices throughout the United States. Dr. Michael Koczarski of [...]

2010-03-05T07:22:53-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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New technology helps those affected by HPV

Source: news10now.com Autor: Marcie Fraser Scott Vitale certainly does not fit the criteria for the HPV virus which causes warts, and in rare cases, it's found in the throat. Most often, infants get it from their mothers while they pass through the birth canal. Why or how he got the virus, no one knows for sure. "In terms of the voice box areas, the throat, it is not that clear cut. We think there may be some sexual transmission but it's hard to pin point how these patients actually get these papillomas,” said Dr. Stanely Shapshay, Laryngologist. He had symptoms for about a year. He had trouble breathing and he nearly lost his voice. The tumors had obstructed his airway. "Papilloma virus affects the vocal cords and the throat in general and some of our patients like you have seen today have little tumors called papilloma. Papillomas are viral caused tumors that either change the vocal cord function, in terms of the voice or sometimes even breathing,” said Shapshay. Thankfully the tumors were not on his vocal cords. Laryngologist Dr. Stanley Shapshay was able to do tests right in the office with a high tech camera called the Distal Chip Technology. By simply numbing the nasal passage, this flexible scope can be inserted down the throat which provides clear 3D images. "The Distal Chip Technology gives us a beautiful view, a panorama of the throat to be able to see detail we have not seen before,” said Shapshay. Once the [...]

2010-03-05T07:13:23-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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Racing to addiction: tobacco company auto racing sponsorships

Source: www.docstoc.com Author: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids staff Auto racing is the number one live spectator sport in the United States, the second most watched sport on TV, and "the hottest, fastest-growing spectator sport in American."1 With disproportionate numbers of youth viewers, auto racing offers prime marketing opportunities to promote products to kids -- and the cigarette and spit tobacco companies have been taking full advantage. Winston, Marlboro, Kool, and Skoal are all prominent brand-name sponsors of racing events and teams. But auto racing could easily thrive without tobacco dollars, and switching to other sponsors would significantly reduce the amount of tobacco marketing that directly reaches and attracts kids. Auto Races are Popular Family Events With Large Youth Audiences Contrary to tobacco industry claims, kids are a big part of both the crowds at auto races and their television viewers. While 12-17 year olds make up less than 11 percent of the total 12+ population, they are almost 14 percent of those who attended NASCAR auto races in 1996 and over 18 percent of those who attended sports car racing. In 1996, more than 25 percent of 1217 years olds, or over 100 million kids, watched auto racing on television.2 The racing industry also aggressively reaches out to kids. Race weekends often include live music, rides, contests, racing-related merchandise sales, and hospitality areas. Beyond the races are NASCAR Thunder stores, featuring a children’s area called NASKids with toddler and youth apparel, the new NASCAR Café family restaurants with racing [...]

2010-03-04T16:42:16-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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OralDNA Labs introduces OraRisk HPV salivary diagnostic test

Source: www.rdhmag.com Author: press release OralDNA Labs , a leader in advancing wellness in dentistry through salivary diagnostics and a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics, recently introduced a OraRisk HPV test. The test is a noninvasive, screening tool to identify the type(s) of oral human papillomavirus (also called HPV). Oral HPV is a mucosal viral infection that is a known risk factor for oral, head, and neck cancers. High-risk types of HPV that persist present an increased risk for cancers in these regions. This test will provide the dental clinician with the ability to establish risk for HPV-related cancers of the oral, head, and neck regions, and determine appropriate referral and monitoring conditions. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, which can be found in the oral cavity, tongue, tonsils, oropharynx, and larynx, affects approximately 40,000 individuals in the United States each year. The most common symptoms of SCCHN include sore throat, earache, hoarseness--and often--enlarged lymph nodes in the neck. Early detection of oral HPV presents an important opportunity to detect those at risk for these types of cancers before symptoms appear. According to OralDNA Labs' Medical Director Ronald C. McGlennen, MD, "The availability of the OraRisksm HPV test marks an important and timely advance in oral diagnostics, because the at-risk profile for oral cancer is rapidly changing." The use of tobacco and heavy alcohol consumption has traditionally been considered to be the primary risk factor for SCCHN, but an alarming number of new cases are being diagnosed each year [...]

2010-03-02T13:31:45-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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Determined to play: man uses air compressor to play saxophone

Source: www.theindependent.com Author: Tracy Overstreet Jerry True just has the music in him. "Anything I touch -- it plays for me," he said. So when throat cancer took away his voice box -- and the air he needed to play the saxophone -- he took up the drums. But that was only until he could manufacture a way to play his Selmer mark VI B-flat sax with an air compressor. "It took me two years to get it just right," True said. True is now back on the band circuit playing in the front row for the Paul Kothe band of Hastings. "We've been playing together for 35 years," True said of Kothe. "He sounds just like he always did," Paul Kothe said. "He has a beautiful sound." True was front and center at the Feb. 21 Kolache Shoot-Out in Elba playing his saxophone with the Kothe Band. The band paused long enough for judges to announce the kolache winners and then for the audience to sing "Happy Birthday" to True -- his 83rd. True was raised in Arcadia and taught himself how to play the sax when his father, a part-time string instructor, brought the instrument home and couldn't make it work. "He sounded like a Canadian goose," True said through the Servox voice simulator he touched to his throat. But the instrument Leonard True couldn't get to work, simply sang for his son. "I was in a dance band by the time I was 12," True said. True's [...]

2010-03-01T19:47:11-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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Ipsilateral radiation controls tonsil cancer

Source: www.medpagetoday.com Author: Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Patients with newly diagnosed tonsillar cancer can have long-term disease control and minimal risk of contralateral recurrence with ipsilateral (same side) radiation therapy, data from a large patient series showed. Only two of 102 patients had contralateral failure during a treatment experience dating back to 1970. Ipsilateral radiation therapy resulted in 100% locoregional control at the primary site and ipsilateral neck. "In properly selected patients, ipsilateral radiotherapy to the involved primary site and neck provides excellent local control with a low risk of contralateral nodal failure," Gregory Chronowski, MD, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reported at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. "High neck, nonbulky, N2b neck disease does not appear to be a contraindication to ipsilateral radiotherapy in patients with T1-T2 primary tumors. Neck dissection appears to offer reasonable salvage therapy in the event of isolated contralateral neck failure." Limiting radiation therapy to the ipsilateral primary site and neck offers potential advantages over more extensive irradiation. Limiting the treated area minimizes the risk of xerostomia and avoids complications related to exposure of the uninvolved contralateral vasculature, dentition, and musculature. A retrospective review of a large case series from Toronto provided the first evidence that a limited approach to radiation therapy offers good local control and minimal risk of contralateral failure (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2001; 51: 332-43). That analysis showed a three-year local control rate of 77%, cause-specific survival of 76%, and contralateral failure rate [...]

2010-03-01T19:21:16-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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Maximal standard uptake value predicted survival outcomes

Source: www.hemonctoday.com Author: Christen Haigh Maximal standardized uptake value measured from FDG PET readings from the primary tumor of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck predicted disease-specific survival, overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS). Additionally, pretreatment maximal standardized uptake value, or SUVmax, for lymphadenopathy was associated with distant metastasis, according to the findings of a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz. “FDG PET scan before treatment for head and neck cancer may help to guide future treatment of patients with high SUV in the tumor and node,” Min Yao, MD, PhD, radiation oncologist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, said during a news briefing. Researchers conducted a retrospective study of 295 patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy. There were 177 patients who had FDG PET pretreatment and had SUVmax for primary tumor and/or lymphadenopathy (SUV-LN). The three-year local recurrence-free survival rate was 95%; the regional recurrence-free survival rate was 95% and the local-regional recurrence-free survival rate was 92.6%. The three-year distant metastasis-free survival and disease-specific survival rates were both 78.8%. DFS was 63.95% and OS was 67.4%. Primary tumor SUVmax was significantly associated with DFS and OS. A strong association was noted for DFS as well, according to researchers. The three-year distant metastasis-free survival rate was 82.1% when SUV-LN was less than 11.3% and 63.4% when SUV-LN was greater than 11.3. “The findings of this study show that we may use SUV before treatment to personalize [...]

2010-03-01T19:08:50-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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Accelerated, shorter course radiation option for advanced head and neck cancer

Source: www.hemonctoday.com Author: Christen Haigh In patients with advanced head and neck cancer, using an accelerated, shorter course of radiation therapy combined with cisplatin allowed a decreased amount of chemotherapy, thus reducing toxicity, according to findings from the phase-3 RTOG 0129 trial presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz. Researchers analyzed data from patients with stage III to stage IV carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx or larynx. They assigned 360 patients to accelerated radiation with two cycles of cisplatin and 361 patients to standard radiation with three cycles of cisplatin. The median follow-up was 4.8 years. “There were no differences in treatment outcome or in acute and long-term toxicity,” Phuc Felix Nguyen-Tan, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at CHUM Notre-Dame in Montreal, Canada, said during a news briefing. OS was similar between treatment groups: 59% for the accelerated radiation group and 56% for the standard radiation group (HR=0.9; 95% CI, 0.72-1.13). DFS rates were 45% for patients assigned to accelerated radiation and 44% for patients assigned to standard radiation (P=.42). Local-regional failure rates were 31% with accelerated radiation and 28% with standard radiation (P=.76). Metastasis rates were also similar with rates of 18% with accelerated treatment and 22% percent with standard treatment (P=.06). There were no major differences between groups for grade-3 to grade-4 acute mucositis and worst grade-3 to grade-4 late toxicity: The acute mucositis rate was 33% with accelerated radiation and 40% with standard radiation, and the late toxicity rate [...]

2010-03-01T19:02:18-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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Alcohol’s hidden effects revealed in new National Health Service campaign

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff A new 6 million pound NHS campaign to reveal alcohol's hidden effects warns people of the unseen damage caused by regularly drinking more than the advised limits and highlights drinkers' affected organs while they sup their drink in the pub or at home. The campaign was launched recently by Public Health Minister, Gillian Merron. It forms part of a government-wide strategy to tackle the harmful effects of alcohol and is backed by major health charities. Merron said in a press statement that: "Many of us enjoy a drink - drinking sensibly isn't a problem." But, she warned that: "If you're regularly drinking more than the NHS recommended limits, you're more likely to get cancer, have a stroke or have a heart attack." The Department of Health developed the campaign with Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association. Part of it entails showing a series of strong messages on TV, in the press and outdoor posters, showing how much harm drinking more than the NHS advised daily limit can do to your body. In the TV campaign, one advert of three men drinking in a pub, shows one of them with a semi-transparent body, and as he sups his beer, different organs are highlighted to show which parts the narrator, who is explaining the risks of drinking alcohol, is talking about (for example, when high blood pressure is mentioned, the heart becomes more visible). The NHS advises that women should drink no more [...]

2010-03-01T18:58:24-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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Analysis of primary risk factors for oral cancer from select US states with increasing rates

Source: Tobacco Induced Diseases 2010, 8:5 Authors: Anthony BunnellNathan et al. Objectives: To examine the primary risk factor for oral cancer in the US, smoking and tobacco use, among the specific US states that experienced short-term increases in oral cancer incidence and mortality. Methods: Population-based data on oral cancer morbidity and mortality in the US were obtained from the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for analysis of recent trends. Data were also obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to measure current and former trends of tobacco usage. To comprehensive measures of previous state tobacco use and tobacco-related policies, the Initial Outcomes Index (IOI, 1992-1993) and the Strength of Tobacco Control index (SoTC, 1999-2000) were also used for evaluation and comparison. Results: Analysis of the NCI-SEER data confirmed a previous report of geographic increases in oral cancer and demonstrated these were state-specific, were not regional, and were unrelated to previously observed increases among females and minorities.  Analysis of the CDC-BRFSS data revealed these states had relatively higher percentages of smokers currently, as well as historically. In addition, analysis of the IOI and SoTC indexes suggest that many factors, including cigarette pricing, taxes and home or workplace bans, may have had significant influence on smoking prevalence in these areas. Trend analysis of these data uncovered a recent and significant reversal in smoking rates that suggest oral cancer incidence and mortality may also begin to decline in [...]

2010-02-23T21:13:40-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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