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Smarter cancer treatment: AI tool automates radiation therapy planning

Source: news.engineering.utoronto.ca Author: Brian Tran Aaron Babier (MIE PhD candidate) demonstrates his AI-based software’s visualization capabilities. (Credit: Brian Tran) Beating cancer is a race against time. Developing radiation therapy plans — individualized maps that help doctors determine where to blast tumours — can take days. Now, Aaron Babier (MIE PhD candidate) has developed automation software that aims to cut the time down to mere hours. He, along with co-authors Justin Boutilier (MIE PhD 1T8), supervisor Professor Timothy Chan (MIE) and Professor Andrea McNiven (Faculty of Medicine) are looking at radiation therapy design as an intricate — but solvable — optimization problem. Their software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to mine historical radiation therapy data. This information is then applied to an optimization engine to develop treatment plans. The researchers applied this software tool in their study of 217 patients with throat cancer, who also received treatments developed using conventional methods. The therapies generated by Babier’s AI achieved comparable results to patients’ conventionally planned treatments. — and it did so within 20 minutes. The researchers recently published their findings in Medical Physics. “There have been other AI optimization engines that have been developed. The idea behind ours is that it more closely mimics the current clinical best practice,” says Babier. If AI can relieve clinicians of the optimization challenge of developing treatments, more resources are available to improve patient care and outcomes in other ways. Health-care professionals can divert their energy to increasing patient comfort and easing distress. “Right now [...]

2018-08-01T07:42:25-07:00August, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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How oral bacteria could lead to breakthroughs in cancer, weight loss, and overall health

Source: www.mensjournal.com Author: Marjorie Korn As if you don’t have enough reasons to feel guilty for avoiding the dentist, it turns out a healthy mouth is linked to a lot more. than the absence of cavities and plaque. Researchers say our mouths are home to an ecosystem of billions of bacteria with influence far beyond our teeth and gums—influence they are just starting to unravel. “We know that oral bacteria affect almost every aspect of our health—metabolism, cardiovascular system, neurological health, and more,” says Yiping Han, a microbiologist at Columbia University Dental and Medical Schools in New York City. Scientists like Han are grappling with questions that will change our understanding of how the body works. Not only are they studying the ways bacteria in our mouths interact with one another but they’re also investigating why mouth bacteria show up in other parts of the body, such as the lining of the heart, around tumors, and even in the brain. The idea that our bodies host a world of bacteria may sound familiar. For the past decade, we’ve seen a surge of scientific research on the gut microbiome, which describes the bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal tract. Gut bacteria seem to have a hand in a surprising number of functions, from the predictable (like digestion and nutrient uptake) to the more surprising (obesity and depression). So it makes sense that the next place for a breakthrough would be upstream—the mouth. Scientists have identified 700-plus strains of bacteria swiped from [...]

2018-07-31T07:51:05-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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The UK will give boys cancer-preventing HPV vaccine

Source: www.care2.com Author: Steve Williams The UK has announced that, after a great deal of pressure, it will be making the HPV vaccine available to teenage boys, potentially protecting them from a number of cancers. The vaccine is routinely offered to teenage girls in schools. It has shown an impressive safety record while at the same time driving down cervical, oral and throat cancer rates by protecting young women from sexually transmitted HPV. Campaigners have long said that teenage boys should also be provided the vaccine, because evidence has shown the HPV vaccine can reduce rates of oral, throat, penile and anal cancers. Unfortunately, Public Health England has taken some convincing on this issue, with a cash-strapped National Health Service having to make sure that every investment more than pays its way. Now, the government says it believes the cost is far outweighed by the public health benefit. Dr. Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisations at Public Health England, is quoted as saying, “This extended programme offers us the opportunity to make HPV related diseases a thing of the past and build on the success of the girls’ programme, which has already reduced the prevalence of HPV 16 and 18, the main cancer-causing types, by over 80 percent.” This change of course comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said earlier this month that, after careful review, it believed the HPV vaccination program should be extended to boys, as it found “gender-neutral vaccination is highly likely to be cost [...]

2018-07-30T07:55:48-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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E-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco can put you at a greater risk of oral cancer, says study

Source: www.thehealthsite.com Author: Sreemoyee Chatterjee Not just cigarette smokers, those smoking e-cigarettes as well as consuming smokeless tobacco like chewing tobacco and more are at greater risk of developing oral cancer, shows a recent study conducted by University of California. In case you think only cigarette smokers are at a higher risk of getting oral cancer, you are widely mistaken. A recent study has found that a wide majority of non-cigarette tobacco users as well those using electronic cigarettes are exposed to considerable level of carcinogen, as much as a cigarette user is exposed to. Not just that, shockingly smokeless tobacco users were found at a greater exposure to tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA). The study has been conducted by the scholars from University of California, San Francisco. Starting from cigarettes to cigar, waterpipes, pipes, marijuana containing cigar to smokeless products like moist snuff, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, snus and other nicotine replacement products can increase your chance of getting oral cancer, revealed the study. What is Oral cancer? Belonging to the head and neck cancer group, oral cancer is a type of cancer that grows in mouth or throat tissues and mostly hit the squamous cells of your mouth, tongue and lips. Oral cancer can of several types – lip cancer, tongue cancer, cancer in the inner lining of your cheek, gums, floor of the mouth and hard and soft palate. It is important to go to a dentist for a biannual check-up for early detection of oral cancer, experts say. Due [...]

2018-07-30T06:12:38-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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Global review confirms diabetes elevates cancer risk, especially in women

Source: www.ajmc.com Author: Mary Caffrey A review that covered nearly 20 million people has confirmed that people with diabetes face a higher risk of cancer, and that risk is higher among women than men. Findings published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, showed that women with type 1 of type 2 diabetes were particularly at risk for cancers of the stomach, mouth, and kidney. The authors reviewed articles appearing in PubMed through December 2016, and ended up including data from 106 articles in the study. This allowed the review to evaluate gender-specific effects of diabetes on overall cancer risk as well as 50 site-specific cancers. Results covered data from 47 countries. Authors called it “the most comprehensive analysis to date on the sex-specific effects of diabetes on cancer risk.” Overall, the review showed diabetes is a risk factor for most cancers, and that women with diabetes were 6% more likely than men with the disease to develop some form of cancer. Among people with diabetes, researchers also found: Women were 27% more likely to develop cancer than those without diabetes. Men faced a 19% higher risk of cancer. Of note, women faced an 11% higher risk of kidney cancer, a 13% higher risk of oral cancer, a 14% higher risk of stomach cancer, and a 15% higher risk of leukemia than men. Liver cancer was an exception: the risk for women with diabetes was 12% lower than that of men. Sanne Peters, PhD, [...]

2018-07-23T07:19:00-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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Silent no more: Woman lends voice to hope after cancer

Source: health.ucsd.edu Author: Yadira Galindo Singing hymns in church has always brought Cynthia Zamora joy. Today, her once sharp intonation has given way to a raspy voice. But Zamora is thankful that she has a voice at all after spending three months without the ability to utter even one syllable. “I miss going to church and singing with people,” said Zamora. “Although, if I am in the back I'm still singing. I'm just hoping they don't hear what sounds like a 13-year-old pubescent boy back there, because that's how I sound. I know God thinks it's beautiful, so I don't worry about it. I just go on with life.” In 2017, Zamora bit her tongue while sleeping, splitting her tongue nearly in half. She was referred to a specialist when her wound would not heal. They found a 5.4-centimeter tumor that enveloped more than half of her tongue. To save her life, her surgeon, Joseph Califano, MD, delivered grim news: Zamora would have to undergo a glossectomy — the surgical removal of all or part of the tongue. “By the time I saw her she was really having a hard time speaking and swallowing,” said Califano, director of the Head and Neck Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. “With Cynthia that was a difficult discussion because it was unclear how much tongue we would save and how good the function would be with the remaining tongue that would be preserved.” A multidisciplinary team of experts that included medical oncology, [...]

2018-07-10T10:03:53-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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Smoking warning labels could need a refresh to inform public of new health risk discoveries

Source: www.abc.net.au Author: Tegan Taylor When it comes to the health risks associated with smoking, most people know about lung cancer and heart disease. But less than a third of Australians realise it can also cause conditions such as acute leukaemia and rheumatoid arthritis, according to a new study, raising the question around whether current graphic cigarette warning labels need to be refreshed. The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, asked 1,800 Australians about whether they thought smoking increased the risk of 23 conditions shown to be associated with tobacco use, such as lung cancer, stroke and diabetes. While more than eight in 10 participants knew lung, throat and mouth cancers, heart disease and emphysema were linked to smoking, much fewer were aware it was associated with erectile dysfunction, female infertility, diabetes and liver cancer. The results showed the current warning labels were doing their job, and that it might be time to expand them, said Michelle Scollo from Cancer Council Victoria, which ran the study. "It was predictable and pleasing that smokers knew about the health effects that have been highlighted in the current sets of warnings and media campaigns," Dr Scollo said. "[But] fewer than half realised it could reduce your fertility, and that could have a really major impact on the course of people's lives … There's a lot that people need to appreciate. Part of the reason the link between smoking and some of the conditions surveyed aren't well known is because research into [...]

2018-07-09T08:38:49-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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Changes in cancer staging: what you should know

Source: health.clevelandclinic.org Author: staff When you learn you have cancer, you want to know what to expect: How will doctors treat your illness? How effective is treatment likely to be? Much depends on the way doctors first classify, or “stage,” your cancer, using the official staging manual from the American Joint Committee on Cancer. Staging guidelines continue to evolve as knowledge about individual tumor growth and innovative technologies come into play. An ever-evolving system “Historically, we staged cancers according to tumor size, lymph node involvement and the presence of metastases,” says oncologist Dale Shepard, MD, PhD. “The latest staging manual incorporates new findings on the importance of changes in molecular DNA and tumor genomic profiling. This will affect many patients going forward.” Among those most impacted by changes in staging are people newly diagnosed with breast cancer; head and neck cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV); or sarcoma. How staging works “Staging allows us to stratify patients into groups based on anatomic and other criteria. It gives us a framework for understanding the extent of disease,” Dr. Shepard explains. Cancers are staged clinically and pathologically: The clinical stage is determined during the initial workup for cancer. The pathologic stage is determined by studying a surgically removed tumor sample under the microscope. Adds Tumor Registry Manager Kate Tullio, MPH, MS, “Staging helps physicians and other researchers to compare patients with the same types of cancer to each other in a consistent way — so that we might learn more about these cancers and [...]

2018-07-05T07:45:14-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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New mouthwash formulation may help to relieve symptoms of dry mouth, study finds

Source: sjogrenssyndromenews.com Author: Iqra Mumal Individuals with dry mouth, including those with Sjögren syndrome, may benefit from using a moisturizing mouthwash with cetylpyridinium chloride, a new study shows. The study, “A randomized controlled study to evaluate an experimental moisturizing mouthwash formulation in participants experiencing dry mouth symptoms,” was published in the journal Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology. Dry mouth is a common problem and has been reported by up to 47 percent of people at some point in their lives. Dry mouth tends to have a higher prevalence in older individuals and is more likely to occur in women. Many factors can cause dry mouth, including Sjögren syndrome. However, many people, particularly those with Sjögren syndrome, may underestimate their levels of oral dryness and may never seek professional help. Sipping water can temporarily help patients relieve the sensation, but it has limited effectiveness. Researchers in this study set out to determine if symptom relief can be obtained from a newly developed moisturizing mouthwash. While the formulation used to make this mouthwash is similar to those previously available, a different preservative system that incorporates cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) instead of parabens was used. Researchers recruited patients with self-reported dry mouth, some of whom had Sjögren syndrome. To determine the mouthwash’s effectiveness, researchers used questionnaires both before and after use. The product performance and attributes questionnaire (PPAQ) previously has been validated as an appropriate tool to determine the efficacy of dry-mouth products. Participants were randomized to receive either the [...]

2018-07-05T07:20:13-07:00July, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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Aussie researchers discover way to reverse drug resistance in major cancer

Source: www.xinhuanet.com Author: staff Australia's University of Queensland researchers on Thursday said they have discovered a way to reverse drug resistance in skin and mouth cancers, by adding a new drug to an existing treatment. The squamous cell carcinoma form of skin and mouth cancer "was curable when diagnosed early but difficult to eradicate once the cancer spread," the university's Associate Professor Nicholas Saunders said in a statement. The cancer kills about 1,400 Australians each year, he said. "The drugs used to treat squamous cell carcinomas that have spread to other parts of the body only work for a small fraction of patients. "In our study, we successfully added a new drug to an existing treatment to make squamous cell carcinomas responsive to treatment," said Saunders. The researchers found that a particular protein was controlling drug resistance in the affected cells and by administering a drug that helps keep it in the relevant cell nucleus, the cancer cells would react to existing chemotherapeutic treatments, said Saunders.

2018-06-28T07:58:55-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|
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