Oral Cancer Foundation News Team – A – Page 210

Cancers with virus less lethal, study says

Source: Columbus Dispatch (dispatch.com) Author: Misti Crane Oral-cancer patients with tumors that contain human papillomavirus are more likely to survive than those whose cancer does not involve HPV, a study found. The Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center doctor who led the new study said future research should focus on the differences between the groups. Dr. Maura Gillison, a medical oncologist and head and neck cancer specialist, shared her findings as part of a preview of studies to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Fla., this month. Details of her work were released with a handful of other studies, several of which highlighted an increasing focus on individualized cancer care. Chemotherapy patients are likely to cheer the findings from one of the studies shared yesterday: It found that ginger significantly reduces nausea. A study of patients at 23 private oncology practices compared nausea in those who took a placebo with those who took 0.5-gram, 1-gram and 1.5-gram doses of ginger in capsule form. All of the patients received standard anti-nausea medications. Those who took 0.5-gram or 1-gram doses of ginger reported about a 40 percent reduction in nausea, said lead researcher Julie Ryan of the University of Rochester. The study didn't look at foods or drinks that contain ginger, but Ryan said she suspects ginger in other forms also would be beneficial. She cautioned that some products contain ginger flavoring, not actual dried or fresh ginger. A gram of ground ginger is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-16T21:08:28-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Studies find two new methods for curbing nausea of chemotherapy

Source: www.latimes.com Author: Shari Roan Chemotherapy could soon become less grueling. Simply adding about half a teaspoon of ginger to food in the days before, during and after chemotherapy can reduce the often-debilitating side effects of nausea and vomiting, a large, randomized clinical trial has found. And a newer type of anti-nausea drug, when added to standard medications, can help prevent such side effects as well. The ginger results will be presented this month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting; the drug study was published this week in the Lancet Oncology journal. The findings are significant, cancer experts say, because about 70% of chemotherapy patients experience nausea and vomiting -- often severe -- during treatment. "Chemotherapy has come to be the thing cancer patients fear the most," said Dr. Steven Grunberg, a professor of medicine at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study in the Lancet Oncology. "We've made a huge amount of progress, but we haven't completely solved the problem." In the ginger study, 644 patients, most of them female, from 23 oncology practices nationwide received two standard anti-emetic medications at the time of chemotherapy. They also were given a capsule containing either 0.5 gram, 1 gram or 1.5 grams of ginger, or a placebo capsule. The patients took the capsules containing the placebo or ginger for three days before chemotherapy and three days after the treatment. All of the patients receiving ginger experienced less nausea for four days after chemotherapy, said lead [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-16T21:02:06-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco lobby winning in texas

Source: www.prwatch.org Author: staff An army of tobacco industry lobbyists been hard at work in Texas battling a clean indoor air law and a new formula for taxing spit tobacco. The industry employed 40 lobbyists, seven of whom are former state legislators, to beat back the popular proposals. The smoking ban had gained hard-won support from the state's restaurant association, and enjoyed support among voters, who had already approved public smoking laws in 28 cities within the state. More than half of the Texas House of Representatives had signed on as co-authors of the bill. The other bill would have taxed spit tobacco by weight rather than by retail price, raising an extra $9 million to be put towards paying down the student loans of 450 doctors in exchange for them working in medically underserved areas of the state. Some Republicans argued against the smoking ban by casting smoking as a property right, an industry argument aimed at re-directing attention to secondhand smoke onto a non-health-related topic to help defeat smoking bans. Lobbyists ultimately succeeded in watering down the clean indoor air bill by inserting a slew of exceptions to undermine the intent of the bill, a strategy also linked to the industry: a 1986 Philip Morris strategy document about defeating smoking restrictions states, "Most state and local laws are very stringent when initially proposed. In most cases we are able to water down the final product [so that] penalties are often minimal and the restrictions negligible." Lobbyists stalled the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-16T20:52:22-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Personalised cancer diagnosis

Source: www.economist.com Author: staff If researchers could identify what it is that makes a tissue tumorous, they might be able to develop drugs aimed precisely at the cause of the cancer. At present, they know that certain molecules become active in tumours found in certain parts of the body. Both head-and-neck cancers and breast cancers, for example, have an abundance of molecules called epidermal growth-factor receptors (EGFRs). Now one group of researchers has developed a technique that could, in the long term, diagnose almost all cancers according to their molecular origin rather than what part of the body they had cropped up in. That might eventually allow doctors to apply more relevant treatment. Moreover, in the short term, the new technique can already reveal how advanced a person’s cancer is, and thus how likely it is to return after treatment. At present, pathologists assess how advanced a cancer is by taking a sample, known as a biopsy, and examining the concentration within it of specific receptors, such as EGFRs, that are known to help cancers spread. Peter Parker of Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute had the idea of employing a technique called fluorescence resonance-energy transfer (FRET), which is used to study interactions between individual protein molecules, to see if he could find out not only how many receptors there are in a biopsy but also how active they are. The technique uses two types of antibody, each attached to a fluorescent dye molecule. Each of the two types is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-13T12:57:59-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

A case-control study on the combined effects of p53 and p73 polymorphisms on head and neck cancer risk in an Italian population

Source: 7thspace.com Author: Paola Galli et al. The purpose of this study is to analyze the combined effects of selected p53 and p73 polymorphisms and their interaction with lifestyle habits on squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) risk and progression in an Italian population. Methods: Two hundred and eighty-three cases and 295 hospital controls were genotyped for p53 polymorphisms on exon 4 (Arg72Pro), intron 3 and 6, and p73 G4C14-to-A4T14. Their association with SCCHN was estimated using a logistic regression analysis, while a multinomial logistic regression approach was applied to calculate the effect of the selected polymorphisms on SCCHN different sites (oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx). We performed an haplotype analysis of the p53 polymorphisms, and a gene-gene interaction analysis for the combined effects of p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 and p53 polymorphisms. Results: We found a significant increased risk of SCCHN among individuals with combined p73 exon 2 G4A and p53 intron 3 variant alleles (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.08-4.56), and a protective effect for those carrying the p53 exon 4- p53 intron 6 diplotype combination (OR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.47-0.92). From the gene-environment interaction analysis we found that individuals aged <45 years carrying p73 exon 2 G4A variant allele have a 12.85-increased risk of SCCHN (95% CI: 2.10-78.74) compared with persons of the same age with the homozygous wild type genotype. Improved survival rate was observed among p53 intron 6 variant allele carriers (Hazard Ratio = 0.51 (95% CI: 0.23-1.16). Conclusion: Our study provides for [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-09T09:35:04-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Early oral cancer detection: Why you? Why now?

Source: www.rdhmag.com Author: Jonathan A. Bregman, DDS, FAGD What motivates any of us as dental health-care providers? Specifically, what motivates us to do a complete early oral cancer screening? As I travel around the country discussing the topic of early oral cancer detection, four key motivators stand out. 1. Malpractice risk Are you familiar with these malpractice facts? - Lack of diagnosis or delayed diagnosis of oral cancer is the No. 2 reason for malpractice claims in the U.S. -The average claim is settled for approximately 1 million ? yes 1 million ? dollars - The average age of claimants is early 40s - It is the hardest suit to defend Did that get your attention? I hope so! Why do so many dentists lose these lawsuits, with some dentists literally now unable to purchase malpractice insurance at all? The answer is simple: The lack of a complete and properly recorded early oral cancer screening examination. Maybe this could be your motivator to incorporate an early oral cancer screening system into your office. 2. The right way to practice dentistry In dentistry, as with all professions, the terms "best practice" or "excellence in service/care" are very broad. How dentistry is performed on a daily basis is up to the individual practitioner and his/her dental team. Also, included in the mix is the number of "unique" or "different" procedures performed in the office. Thus, defining excellent care or "the right way to practice dentistry" varies. A complete early oral cancer screening may [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-09T09:25:08-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

This Mr. America still pumps iron and turns heads at age 75

Source: OC Register Author: Staff Bill Howard, a former Mr. America, wears a silver hair piece styled in a pony tail. He doesn't spend his days lifting at Muscle Beach anymore, so he buys his sun-kissed look at a tanning bed near his apartment in Costa Mesa. Howard turns 75 next week and he's still turning heads with his rippling biceps and bulging chest. In fitness and life, Howard has built himself up from nothing over and over again. But before he tells his story, he's got to work his arms. ••• Howard arrives at Fitness Authority driving a red Chrysler with a vanity plate that reads "MUSCLEB." He's wearing what he calls his "show off" short denim shorts, and a black racer-back tank top. He keeps the same 8 a.m. lifting routine five mornings a week, isolating a different muscle group for an hour. As he does 12-rep sets of 100-pound bicep curls, he closes his eyes and grimaces and growls. His wrinkled face looks much older than his taut body. "I'm trying to make a statement," he says in his deep, booming voice. "We don't have to get old and decrepit." His friends revere him as a bodybuilding icon. "You look at the guy, you just go Holy Smokes," says Bernie Rubio, owner of Fitness Authority gym in Costa Mesa. "He was asked by Arnold to be in "Pumping Iron," but he went on his honeymoon instead. This guy was there. He was part of it." When asked [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-08T19:05:46-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Perceptronix Reports Clinical Study Underway to Evaluate OralAdvance(TM) for Early Detection of Oral Cancer

Source: www.earthtimes.org Author: press release Perceptronix Medical Inc. announces that a clinical study of OralAdvance(TM), a test for the early detection of oral cancer, is now underway. The clinical study will assess the performance of OralAdvance(TM) compared to the gold standard biopsy and histology for its ability to differentiate between visually suspicious oral lesions with cancer or pre-cancer and visually suspicious benign oral lesions. "Unlike many other types of cancer, the incidence and mortality rates of oral cancer have not shown significant improvement over the past 30 years. By the time most oral cancers are diagnosed, they are already symptomatic late-stage disease. At Perceptronix we are dedicated to changing this paradigm towards early detection for better patient outcomes," says Dr. Bojana Turic, President and CEO of Perceptronix. Patients for the blinded study will be recruited from the BC Cancer Agency's Vancouver and Fraser Valley Centres. "We are pleased to be able to participate in the evaluation of the test in a clinical setting with technology that was developed in partnership with scientists at the BC Cancer Agency's Research Centre, and we are hopeful that the test will have a positive impact on the early detection of oral cancer," says Dr. Allan Hovan (Provincial Professional Practice Leader, Program in Oral Oncology/Dentistry, BC Cancer Agency). Currently, the death rate for oral cancer is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin's disease, cancer of the brain, liver, testes, kidney, or malignant melanoma. High death rate associated with oral cancer could be reduced significantly [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-08T18:56:15-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer ‘sniffing nose’ developed by an Israeli researcher

Source: www.deccanherald.com Author: staff A nose, that can sniff cancer at an early stage, thus, leading to wide variety of treatments enhancing a patients chances of recovery has been developed by the scientist at Israel Institute of Technology. The "sniffing nose" is very close to a dog's olfactory system, a media report here said. The artificial nose is developed on the grounds that dogs are capable of detecting cancer in earlier stages by sniffing the patient's breath and could also identify molecules created by a tumor that circulate through their blood to the lungs, and leave the body when they exhale. Results of clinical trials of the 'artificial nose ' done on some 100 persons -- 62 cancer patients -- reveals that it is capable of efficiently and accurately distinguishing between cancer patients and healthy people and could even detect the location and nature of the tumor. "These findings are impressive, but initial, and must be verified in research on a larger number of patients", Professor Abraham Kuten, Co-researcher and Director of the Rambam Medical Center Oncology Institute, told the news portal. The clinical trials were conducted at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa by a team led by Dr Hossam Haick of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute The patients taking part in the experiment suffered from lung, breast, colon, prostate, head and neck cancer. The participants breathed into bags which were transferred to the Technion for testing and the results were compared to details of the patients' diseases according [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-08T18:55:39-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Pharmaceuticals, patents, publicity…and philanthropy?

Source: The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9665, Page 693, 28 February 2009 Author: staff Tensions between provision of and payment for health care are familiar. Though doctors assume principal responsibility for patients' health, those who work for pharmaceutical companies view the patented medicines they design as key components of health care. Creative ways are continually found to make such drugs available to as many patients in high-income countries as possible, the profits contributing to future investment in development and leaving national drug budgets affordable, just. Yet, a few hours' flying away, patients in developing countries usually have no access to these very same patented drugs. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has grown in size and influence by successful drug development, timely takeovers, and shrewd management. Andrew Witty, who ascended to the vertiginous position of chief executive at GSK in the past year, has attracted attention by a surprising presentation at Harvard Medical School on Feb 13. He promises that GSK will now not only make its medicines available much more cheaply to patients in low-income countries, but also make a bolder commitment to research into neglected diseases. As one blogger puts it, “arise Sir Andrew Witty (or is it Saint Andrew?)”. Does this announcement mark a sea change in pharma's attitude to the provision of drugs in poor countries, or could it be more reminiscent of the zany hybrid vehicles that distract attention from car manufacturers' shamelessly polluting stock in trade? Witty's words were carefully weighed to cast a rosy glow around GSK's [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-08T18:54:41-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

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