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Racial disparities exist in head and neck cancer outcomes

Source: www.forbes.com Author: staff Blacks and the poor have worse outcomes when it comes to head and neck cancer, researchers say. In a new study, published in the Nov. 15 issue of Cancer, researchers examined the data on diagnosis, coexisting conditions, and procedures performed among 20,915 cases of head and neck cancer. The found a worse prognosis was associated with race, poverty, age, gender, tumor site and stage, treatment type, and history of smoking and alcohol consumption. Specifically, the survival time among blacks was 21 months after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer, compared to 47 months among Hispanics and 40 months among whites. In addition, blacks were diagnosed at a younger age, were diagnosed with more advanced disease, and were less likely to have undergone surgery (45 percent versus 32 percent), when compared with whites. The treatment type did not seem to be the reason for the disparity in outcomes, however. Even among the patients who had surgery, blacks had a shorter survival time than whites. As for socioeconomic status, the patients who lived in communities where the poverty levels exceeded 15 percent were diagnosed with these cancers at a significantly younger age and with more advanced disease. Additionally, average survival time was shorter in patients who lived in areas of the highest poverty rates, regardless of the type of therapy that was received. The authors of the study concluded that racial disparities continue to exist in head and neck cancer outcomes, and that socioeconomic factors also play [...]

2008-10-22T11:56:08-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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Impact of tumor board recommendations on treatment outcome for locally advanced head and neck cancer

Source: Oncology, October 8, 2008; 75(3-4): 186-191 Author: Nam P Nguyen et al. Background/Aims: To identify physician selection factors in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer and how treatment outcome is affected by Tumor Board recommendations. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 213 patients treated for locally advanced head and neck cancer in a single institution was performed. All treatments followed Tumor Board recommendations: 115 patients had chemotherapy and radiation, and 98 patients received postoperative radiation. Patient characteristics, treatment toxicity, locoregional control and survival between these two treatment groups were compared. Patient survival was compared with survival data reported in randomized studies of locally advanced head and neck cancer. Results: There were no differences in comorbidity factors, and T or N stages between the two groups. A statistically significant number of patients with oropharyngeal and oral cavity tumors had chemoradiation and postoperative radiation, respectively (p

2008-10-12T17:35:20-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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Long-term neck control rates after complete response to chemoradiation in patients with advanced head and neck cancer

Source: Am J Clin Oncol, October 1, 2008; 31(5): 465-9 Author: R Rengan et al. Objectives: To examine the long-term neck failure outcome in patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated on larynx/organ preservation protocols at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Materials and methods: Two hundred thirteen patients were enrolled from 1983 through 1995 on larynx/organ preservation protocols receiving induction chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy alone or with concomitant chemotherapy. Eighty-six patients with node-positive disease received definitive chemoradiotherapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. A median dose of 70 Gy was delivered. The median follow-up of the surviving patients was 9 years. Results: Sixty-five patients with node-positive disease achieved a clinical complete response and were observed after chemoradiation without immediate neck dissection. The crude rate of subsequent neck failure among those patients according to initial nodal classification was: N1 14% (3 of 21), N2: 15% (6 of 40), N3: 0% (0 of 4). The median overall survival of these patients was: N1: 12.2 years; N2: 6.5 years; N3: 0.8 years. Patients who experienced a complete response to induction chemotherapy in the neck had improved overall survival (53% vs. 29%; P = 0.005) and a lower incidence of neck failure (10% vs. 24%; P = 0.14) when compared with those patients who had less than a complete response. Conclusions: Our data suggests that in patients with advanced neck disease who have a clinical complete response in the neck to chemoradiation long-term neck control is 85% or greater without neck dissection. Whether functional imaging [...]

2008-10-12T17:29:57-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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Like mother, like daughter – cover story interview with Grandmother Blythe Danner

Source: www.grandmagazineonline.com Author: Mary Hunt Mom to Gwyneth and grandmother to Apple, Emmy Award-winner Blythe Danner at 62 is finding more fame than she ever sought. Blythe Danner, at 62, just set the new record for the number of Emmy nominations for acting in a single year (three). But ask most people to put her name and “superstar” in a sentence, and another name will most likely be added: Blythe Danner is the mother of superstar Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow once told reporter Jeanne Wolf, “I did not set out to be a celebrity. I just wanted to do what my mother did. I don't know how it snowballed into what it snowballed into.” What her mother has done is to have a solid, satisfying career balancing stage, TV and the occasional film. How her mother avoided the snowball was primarily her passion for privacy—and for her family. There was never anything to gossip about with Blythe Danner. She married young and stayed married, and once told a reporter that the only designer wear she owned was Halston—specifically, his Brownie Leader uniform. Today she relishes the role of grandmother, both onscreen (with Robert DeNiro as her husband, in Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers) and off, calling herself “a doting grandmother” to 20-month-old Apple Blythe Martin, Gwyneth's daughter. It all sounds pretty wholesome for a woman whose first big career move was in her underwear. In 1969, Danner made her Broadway debut in Butterflies Are Free, at the age of [...]

2008-10-12T17:18:03-07:00October, 2008|OCF In The News|
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The Australian PET Data Collection Project is amassing more evidence that shows that PET positively changes management plans for cancer patients

Source: Journal of Nuclear Medicine (October 2008, Vol. 49:10, pp. 1593-1599) Author: Dr. Andrew Scott et al. Led by Dr. Andrew Scott, director of the Centre for PET at Austin Hospital in Melbourne, the newest research shows that PET provides important prognostic information in a large proportion of patients with untreated head and neck cancer, and detects additional sites of disease. The prospective study, published in the October issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine (October 2008, Vol. 49:10, pp. 1593-1599), was conducted at three Australian PET centers between December 17, 2003, and June 3, 2005. The criteria for enrollment included patients who previously had untreated carcinoma of the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx, or had metastatic disease involving cervical lymph nodes from an unknown primary. Patients underwent examination under anesthesia and biopsy to confirm their diagnosis of cancer. Contrast-enhanced CT of the neck was required within six weeks of the PET scan. Patients fasted for a minimum of six hours before the PET study and received a dose of 120-440 MBq FDG intravenously. After a minimum uptake period of 45 minutes, researchers acquired PET data from the skull vertex to at least the lower abdomen. Treatment plans Before receiving the results of the PET scans, researchers asked referring clinicians to document their management plan for the patient, as if PET findings were not available, but with access to all other clinical and conventional imaging results. The management plan provided information on options such as surgery, [...]

2008-10-10T03:50:59-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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Green card applicants mandated to get HPV vaccine

Source: www.therapeuticsdaily.com Author: staff A new requirement that girls as young as 11 be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus before they can become legal U.S. residents is unfair, immigration advocates say. The federal rule added Gardasil to the list of vaccinations that female immigrants ages 11 to 26 must get before they can obtain "green cards." The series of three shots over six months protects against the strains of the human papillomavirus blamed for most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts. But the vaccine is one of the most expensive on the market and controversial. "This is a huge economic, social and cultural barrier to immigrants who are coming into America," said Tuyet Duong, senior staff attorney for the Immigration and Immigrant Rights Program at the Asian American Justice Center. At a cost of $400, Gardasil places an added burden on green card applicants already paying more than $1,000 in form fees and hundreds of dollars for mandatory medical exams, advocates say. The mandate potentially affects tens of thousands of women and girls annually. More than 200,000 women and girls ages 10 to 29 were granted legal permanent resident status each of the past two years. Past efforts to require the vaccine for American girls has stirred emotional debate and complaints that such mandates intrude on family decisions about sex education. In Texas, lawmakers last year fought off an order by Gov. Rick Perry requiring the shots for sixth grade girls amid questions about vaccine's safety, efficacy and [...]

2008-10-07T08:11:31-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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Disparities in head and neck cancer patients

Source: www.eurekalert.com Author: staff A new analysis finds considerable disparities in survival related to race and socio-economic status among patients with head and neck cancer. Published in the November 15, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that earlier diagnosis and greater access to treatment could improve outcomes for these cancers among African Americans and the poor. A number of studies have examined disparities in cancer survival among different groups to help identify interventions to improve patient outcomes. To investigate factors that impact survival from head and neck cancer, Dr. Leonidas Koniaris and colleagues at the University of Miami School of Medicine reviewed all head and neck cancer cases in Florida between 1998 and 2002. By mining information from the Florida Cancer Data System and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dataset, they were able to accumulate data on diagnoses, comorbid conditions, and procedures performed during every hospitalization or outpatient visit among 20,915 head and neck cancer patients during that time. The review found poorer outcomes were associated with race, poverty, age, gender, tumor site and stage, treatment type, and a history of smoking and alcohol consumption. Regarding race, the average survival time among Hispanics was 47 months, compared with 40 months among Caucasians and 21 months among African Americans. African American patients were diagnosed at a younger age and presented with more advanced disease compared with Caucasians. For all tumor stages, African American patients had a significantly shorter average survival [...]

2008-10-07T07:54:56-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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Virus discoveries secure Nobel prize in medicine

Source: www.nature.com Author: Alison Abbott This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine honors three Europeans who discovered viruses that cause deadly diseases, and whose findings have led to major medical advances. Harald zur Hausen, former director of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany, was honoured for his work on the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. A protective vaccine for this virus has now been developed and is in widespread use. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier share the other half of the prize for their discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), which causes AIDS. Zur Hausen was the only one of the three who was at home when the famous call from Stockholm came. Montagnier, now director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, was working in the Côte d'Ivoire. Barré-Sinoussi, who is at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, was in Cambodia. The Nobel committee had been unable to contact either before the time of the announcement. Search for the AIDS virus Barré-Sinoussi — who, accompanied only by her mobile phone, found herself overwhelmed by the event — becomes the 36th woman to win a Nobel prize of any kind, compared with a list of 745 male laureates. She worked with Montagnier at the Pasteur Institute, from the beginning of the hunt for the virus causing AIDS in the early 1980s. The pair identified the virus, which they originally called LAV (lymphadenopathy associated virus), in 1983. A bitter battle for credit [...]

2008-10-07T07:49:50-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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New York Presbyterian Hospital showcases latest advances and techniques in head and neck surgery

Source: www.marketwatch.com Author: staff Head and neck surgery is a diverse regional subspecialty, whose central focus is treatment of oncologic disorders of the neck. "Neck dissection is relevant to treatment of such disorders as squamous cell cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, tongue cancer, laryngeal cancer, thyroid cancer, salivary gland cancer, and skin cancers of the head/neck region, including melanoma," explained William I. Kuhel, MD, the Director of the Head and Neck Service, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology at Weill Cornell Medical School. "For many years, the radical neck dissection was the standard operation for removal of metastatic disease involving the lymph nodes in the neck, but that operation evolved into what are referred to as modified and selective neck dissections, which spare some of the important structures in the neck," said Dr. Kuhel. Salvatore M. Caruana, MD, the Director of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, explained further. "The trend these days is to do smaller operations to get the same effect. Over the years it has become clear that certain areas of a radical neck dissection do not have to be included for diseases at specific levels. Our knowledge base has allowed us to make smaller operations to address the same problems." Greater experience has also allowed for more common use of adjuvant therapies, [...]

2008-10-06T12:35:45-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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Sister honors her brother by supporting Oral Cancer Foundation

Source: OCF Press Release Author: John Pohl David Nasto was the kind of person many of us wish we could be. He was a surfer. A snowboarder. A kayaker. A bicycler. An artist. A world traveler. A free spirit. Not content to simply be a devoted fan of the Grateful Dead, he also designed their album covers. Simply put, David Nasto loved life, and he lived it on his own terms. David Nasto was also his sister Susan’s hero. So when David developed oral cancer in 2005, Susan decided to learn as much about the disease as she could. And when David passed away the following year, she decided to honor her brother do by doing what she could to help prevent others from suffering the way he suffered. “When David was diagnosed with oral cancer, I was shocked,” said Susan. “He was so athletic, so healthy, and he had never smoked a cigarette in his life. I didn’t think oral cancer struck people like him.” Susan tried to learn as much as she could about the disease, spending much of her free time doing online research. During that process she discovered the website of the Oral Cancer Foundation. “I learned a lot about oral cancer, but the most important thing I learned is the importance of early detection. So when David died, I wanted to find a way to raise money to help increase awareness of the need for everyone to get checked for oral cancer on a regular [...]

2008-10-06T20:16:14-07:00October, 2008|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|
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