Oral Cancer Foundation News Team – A – Page 20

Grim reaper tattoo used in throat cancer reconstruction

Source: www.bbc.co.uk Author: staff Surgeons used skin from a man's arm - including a tattoo of the grim reaper - to reconstruct his tongue and voice box in a life-saving operation. Colin Reilly from Bristol, had to record his own voice before surgery in case he lost the ability to speak in the operation to remove a tumour. As part of the operation his jaw had to be split and the lower half of his face reconstructed when it was completed. Mr Reilly said there is "not enough" he can do for the hospital that saved him. Mr Reilly, 50, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2020 and an endoscopy found a tumour at the back of his tongue. Between October and December 2020 he underwent six weeks of radiotherapy and was fed through a tube, but it became clear the tumour was very advanced and without treatment Mr Reilly would have six months to live. The grim reaper tattoo was taken from his forearm Mr Reilly amazed doctors when he was able to speak soon after the surgery Ear, nose and throat specialist Dr Oliver Dale said he was willing to carry out the surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, despite the position of the tumour making the surgery high risk - with the chance Mr Reilly would not be able to speak or eat again. "Mr Dale was amazing," said Mr Reilly. "He told us that he believed he could do the surgery, despite [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-03-11T09:31:30-07:00March, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Can liquid biopsy predict oropharyngeal cancer recurrence?

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Liam Davenport A liquid biopsy test may accurately predict recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) earlier than standard clinical and imaging assessments, a new analysis indicates. Of 80 patients who tested positive for circulating tumor tissue-modified viral (TTMV)-HPV DNA during surveillance, 74% (n = 59) had no other evidence of disease or had indeterminate disease status. And of those patients, 93% (n = 55) "later had proven recurrent, metastatic disease on imaging and/or biopsy," according to Glenn Hanna, MD, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, who presented the results February 24 at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium. "This is the first study to demonstrate broad clinical utility and validity of the biomarker in HPV-driven oropharyngeal cancer," Hanna said in a press release. Although patients with HPV-driven OPSCC generally have favorable outcomes, up to 25% will experience recurrence after treatment. Posttreatment surveillance currently relies on physical examinations and imaging, but Hanna and colleagues wanted to determine whether a routine circulating cell-free TTMV-HPV DNA test could detect occult recurrence sooner. Hanna and colleagues analyzed the records of 1076 patients with HPV-driven OPSCC at 118 sites in the US who had completed therapy more than 3 months previously and undergone an TTMV-HPV DNA test (NavDx, Naveris) between June 2020 and November 2021. The results of the test, which used ultrasensitive digital droplet PCR to identify HPV subtypes 16, 18, 31, 33, and 35, were compared with subsequent clinical evidence of OPSCC via nasopharyngolaryngoscopy, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-03-03T07:23:02-07:00March, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Throat cancer survivors don’t have to sacrifice ability to swallow and taste

Source: southfloridahospitalnews.com Author: staff Tamarac resident Kenneth Goff was home shaving morning when he felt a small lump on the left side of his neck. “There was no pain, no nothing, but I could feel it by the way the razor moved,” said the 58-year-old father of five and grandfather of eight. “It wasn’t visible at all, but I could feel it right below the jaw line.” After a CT scan at Broward Health Medical Center in August 2020, Goff was diagnosed with HPV-mediated squamous cell carcinoma, a type of throat cancer. This cancer is similar to what actors Michael Douglas and Stanley Tucci have battled. The treatment of HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma may include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or combination of the treatments. Ryan H. Sobel, M.D., a head and neck surgical oncologist at Broward Health Medical Center, prescribed radiation to treat Goff’s isolated neck mass. Prior to radiation treatment, Dr. Sobel performed a submandibular, or saliva gland transfer, an intricate surgery only a handful surgeons across the country are skilled at performing. He is currently the only surgeon utilizing this technique in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Dr. Sobel strategically relocated one of Goff’s saliva glands. It was moved about three inches from the right side of his throat to under the chin to place it out of direct range of the damaging effects of radiation. Patients diagnosed with throat cancer face a difficult choice: treat the cancer with radiation and risk losing their ability to swallow and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-24T15:03:37-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Wirral, UK cancer patient trials vaccine

Source: www.wirralglobe.co.uk Author: Craig Manning, Chief Reporter A Wirral man has become the first in the UK to trial a 'vaccine' that is hoped will stop his recurring head and neck cancer from returning. The clinical research team at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has given patient Graham Booth an injection of a therapy tailor-made to his personal DNA and designed to help his own immune system ward off cancer permanently. Graham first had head and neck cancer in 2011 and it then returned four times, each time meaning he needed grueling treatment, including facial surgery, reconstruction and radiotherapy. He is now hoping this new treatment – part of the Transgene clinical research study – will mean it does not come back. Dad-of-five Graham, 54, will have a year-long course of immunotherapy injections in a bid to keep him cancer-free, part of a research project designed to reduce deaths and recurrence in head and neck cancers, including of the throat, neck, mouth and tongue. Graham, from West Kirby, said he was not worried about being the first person in the UK to receive this pioneering treatment and that it "opened new doorways" which gave him hope that the cancer would not come back. He added: "When I had my first cancer treatment in 2011, I was under the impression that the cancer would not return. "My biggest fear was realised in 2016 when it came back and then in 2019 and then two cases in 2021. "Last year I had the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-07T13:33:09-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

WVU Medicine Head and Neck Cancer Team works to increase tonsil cancer awareness

Source: wvumedicine.org Author: staff, WVU Medicine News Head and neck surgical oncologists at WVU Medicine, the WVU Cancer Institute, and across the country are seeing increased incidences of tonsil cancer. “The majority of tonsil cancers, nearly 70 percent, are caused by human papilloma virus (HPV),” Meghan Turner, M.D., head and neck surgeon in the WVU Medicine Department of Otolaryngology, said. “In the last 10 years, tonsil cancer caused by HPV has become more common than cervical cancer caused by the same virus.” In most cases of HPV infection, the body fights off the virus like it would the common cold. In other cases, the virus remains in the body, increasing the risk of both tonsil and cervical cancer. Unlike cervical cancer, there is no regular screening for tonsil cancer. Most commonly, tonsil cancer is first diagnosed as a nontender mass in the neck. “Another common presentation for tonsil cancer is actually recurrent or persistent tonsil pain in spite of treatment for a throat infection,” Dr. Turner said. “This happens between the ages of 50 and 60. It may seem like recurrent strep throat, but it is uncommon for people in that age range to develop recurrent strep throat. If you’re having pain that isn’t resolved after a course of antibiotics, you should ask your doctor if it could possibly be something like tonsil cancer.” It is also regularly discovered during routine dental visits, appearing as asymmetrical tonsils. Those who have had their tonsils removed by tonsillectomy are not immune to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-05T10:20:45-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Trial underway for novel agent plus immunotherapy for HPV-related head and neck cancer

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: Brielle Benyon Results from a phase 2 clinical trial demonstrated promise for the combination of the novel agent PDS0101 plus Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in treating human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck cancer. As such, the trial will now progress to full enrollment of 54 patients who have not been previously treated with a checkpoint inhibitor. The trial, VERSATILE-002, involves two groups of HPV16-positive patients with head and neck cancer that is either metastatic or has returned after treatment. One group consists of patients who have no prior treatment with checkpoint inhibition immunotherapy, while the other group is made up of 21 patients whose disease failed checkpoint inhibition — assessment for this group is still ongoing. In the checkpoint inhibitor-naïve group, four or more of the 17 patients achieved an objective response, which was classified by a 30% or more reduction in tumor size. “The achievement of this important milestone in the VERSATILE-002 phase 2 clinical trial strengthens the evidence of our novel Versamune platform’s potential ability to induce high levels of tumor-specific CD8+ killer T-cells that attack the cancer to achieve tumor regression,” commented Dr. Lauren V. Wood, Chief Medical Officer of PDS Biotech, the developer of PFS101, in a statement. “The initial data solidifies our belief that PDS0101’s demonstrated preclinical efficacy when combined with Keytruda has the potential to significantly improve clinical outcomes for patients with advanced HPV16-positive head and neck cancers.” PDS0101 works by inducing large quantities of CD4+ helper and CD8+ killer T cells, a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-03T10:51:38-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Improving head and neck cancer treatment

Source: www.uc.edu Author: Tim Tedeschi, University of Cincinnati News When the medical community finds a treatment for a particular cancer, the work doesn’t stop. Researchers continue to study how treatments can be improved in order to reduce side effects and the possibility of the cancer recurring. University of Cincinnati researchers are leading a new clinical trial to examine if the combination of a more localized radiation treatment and immunotherapy can be a better treatment for patients with recurrent head and neck cancer. Chad Zender, MD, said head and neck cancers include cancers of the tongue, throat, tonsil and larynx, and about 30%-50% of patients treated through surgery and radiation will have their cancer return. Patients often then undergo additional surgery and/or radiation treatments, which can lead to side effects like problems with speech and swallowing. “The quality of life is significantly less in the patients that require [subsequent] surgery and then radiation with or without chemo,” said Zender, professor in the Department of Otolaryngology in UC’s College of Medicine, director of head and neck surgery and principal investigator for the new trial. Precision radiation Zender said the trial will test a more localized radiation delivery method through a radioactive seed, about the size of a grain of rice that emits an intense amount of radiation to the cancer and only minimal radiation outside to other areas. The radioactive Cesium-131 seeds are implanted directly into the operative site during surgery. This approach in early studies appears to give more localized radiation [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-03T10:44:13-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Light therapy fast-tracks healing of skin damage from cancer radiation therapy

Source: www.buffalo.edu Author: Marcene Robinson Light therapy may accelerate the healing of skin damage from radiation therapy by up to 50%, according to a recent UB-led study. The research found that photobiomodulation — a form of low-dose light therapy — lowered the severity of skin damage from radionecrosis (the breakdown of body tissue after radiation therapy), reduced inflammation, improved blood flow and helped wounds heal up to 19 days faster. The findings, published Dec. 28 in Photonics, follow prior reports on the effectiveness of light therapy in improving the healing of burn wounds and in relieving pain from oral mucositis caused by radiation and chemotherapy. The research was led by Rodrigo Mosca, visiting fellow from the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, both in Brazil. Carlos Zeituni, professor at IPEN and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, is a senior author. “To our knowledge, this is the first report on the successful use of photobiomodulation therapy for brachytherapy,” says senior author Praveen Arany, assistant professor of oral biology, UB School of Dental Medicine. “The results from this study support the progression to controlled human clinical studies to utilize this innovative therapy in managing the side effects from radiation cancer treatments.” Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a radiation source is implanted within the cancer tissue, exposing surrounding healthy tissue to lower doses of radiation than through teletherapy, a form that fires a beam of radiation through the skin to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-02-01T13:09:33-07:00February, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

New MSK radiation approach means fewer side effects for more patients with HPV-related head and neck cancer

Source: www.mskcc.org Author: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Robert Rosenfeld thought the lump he felt in his neck in late 2018 was just a symptom of a cold that wouldn’t go away. He visited an ear, nose, and throat specialist who saw nothing upon first examination, but Robert knew something was wrong and asked for a CT scan. The specialist called him with the bad news: It was almost certainly cancer. A biopsy confirmed he had stage 2 cancer at the base of his tongue and 2 nearby lymph nodes. The tumor was positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV). Robert, then a 69-year-old car salesman on Long Island, met with cancer doctors near his hometown of Hauppauge, New York, to learn about treatment options. He realized he faced a tough road: Standard treatment would be 7 weeks of radiation, during which he also would receive 3 rounds of chemotherapy. The standard radiation dose would likely cause mouth sores, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth (from damage to salivary glands), loss of taste, and nausea. Robert wanted a second opinion, and his medical oncologist strongly recommended Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. When Robert called, he was able to get in to see radiation oncologist C. Jillian Tsai the very next day. “When I met Dr. Tsai, she was amazing,” Robert says. “She told me what I was up against but also that the cancer I had was curable.” There was another major plus: Dr. Tsai was able to offer a significantly reduced radiation [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-01-20T12:49:57-07:00January, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Multimedia education platform appears effective in head and neck cancer

Source: www.cancernetwork.com Author: Ariana Pelosci Use of a multimedia education platform appeared to compliment traditional education methods and provide complementary information on treatment and recovery for those with head and neck cancer. Multimedia education platforms appear to be effective in conveying information on treatment, recovery process, mental health, family life, and supplementary services for patients with head and neck cancer, according to a study (NCT04048538) published in JAMA Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Patients who were given information via the education platform had an 11.3-point (Cohen d = 1.02; control group score, 61.1 of 80; treatment group score, 72.4 of 80) difference in 1 month in postoperative satisfaction. Despite both patients groups reporting to have received an adequate amount of information with regard to their disease, those in the treatment arm reported having more satisfaction with information regarding medical tests, treatments, and other services. “This randomized clinical trial found that use of a multimedia patient education platform increased patient satisfaction in individuals who were undergoing head and neck surgery. Leveraging novel information technologies during the perioperative period is a feasible, accessible, and effective intervention to address existing inadequacies in traditional, clinician-led surgical counseling,” the investigators wrote. At baseline, 121 patients completed the evaluations. Among this population, 100 patients, including 50 in the treatment and 50 in the control arm, completed the postoperative questionnaire 1 month following surgery and were included in the statistical analysis. Patients had similar characteristics between groups, but those in the control arm had fewer patients who [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2022-01-14T09:29:33-07:00January, 2022|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Cancer News
Compiled by The Oral Cancer Foundation

About Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A