About Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A has created 2444 blog entries.

Cancer treatment: New method helps white blood cells fight tumors

Source: www.hngn.com Author: Tyler MacDonald The clinical trial for a groundbreaking cancer treatment that engineers the immune system to better fight the disease is now taking place at the National Institute for Health Research and King's College London, according to The Guardian. The patients, who have head and neck cancer, are receiving genetic modifications that help their white blood cells recognize and attack tumorous growths. Although white blood cells are naturally equipped to eliminate unnecessary and infected cells, they sometimes need help to combat cancer cells. The team of scientists is taking blood samples and treating the white blood cells with a virus that introduces two new genes - the first makes cell growth in the laboratory easier, and the second helps the white blood cells identify and attack tumors. "In most cancers, metastasis, the spread of a disease from the part of the body where it started to another not directly connected, is the commonest cause of death," said John Maher, principal investigator of the trial. "However, head and neck cancer is unusual in that local spread or recurrence of the disease accounts for most suffering and death. This means that tumours may become inoperable and do not shrink in response to traditional treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy." The treatment is called a CAT T-cell and takes two weeks to create; once produced, it is injected directly into the patient's tumor and helps white blood cells in their attack, according to The Scientist. Although the treatment works best [...]

2015-12-13T09:13:29-07:00December, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Cetuximab plus RT linked with high toxicity in head and neck cancer

Source: www.cancernetwork.com Author: Anna Azvolinsky, PhD The combination of radiation therapy plus the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab had higher rates of acute toxicity among patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) compared with radiation therapy plus the chemotherapy cisplatin, according to results of a phase II trial based in Italy. Efficacy was similar with both combination therapies. According to Stefano Maria Magrini, MD, professor of radiotherapy at the Università degli Studi di Brescia in Italy, and colleagues, this is the first clinical trial to directly compare radiation therapy plus cetuximab to a chemoradiation regimen for SCCHN. The results of the randomized trial are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Cetuximab was approved in combination with radiation therapy by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2006 for the treatment of unresectable SCCHN. Despite a goal of recruiting 130 patients, only 70 patients were recruited between 2011 and 2014. The 1- and 2-year overall survival rates were 75% and 68% in the cetuximab arm compared with 78% in the cisplatin arm. The 1- and 2-year local control rates were 64% and 53% in the cetuximab arm and 84% and 80% in the cisplatin arm, yet the differences between arms were not statistically significant (P = .073), reflecting the inadequate statistical power of the relatively small trial. Compliance in both treatment arms was relatively low. Only 28% of patients in the cetuximab arm and 20% of patients in the cisplatin arm received at least 7 cycles [...]

2015-12-13T09:06:40-07:00December, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Indo-US researchers developing solar-powered oral cancer detector for remote areas

Source: www.domain-b.com Author: staff A handy solar-powered device is being tested in India and US for early detection of oral cancer. The device could be integrated with mobile technology, enabling faster and accurate diagnostics in rural areas, IANS reported. The device has been designed by the Beckman Laser Institute (BLI), University of California-Irvine (UCI) and the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre (MSCC) in Bengaluru and is slightly larger than a shoe box. It has been specially adapted for India, which accounted for one of the highest rates of head and neck cancers in the world and the highest rate among women. Its light-weight and user-friendly features meant even health care workers with minimal education could use it in the field. The solar energy-driven device would capture images of the patient's oral cavity and transmit them via a mobile phone to experts at the centre. "India is the first country in which we are using the device - it was specifically designed to meet conditions and needs there. The final device will have a solar option," Petra Wilder-Smith of BLI told IANS in an email interaction. According to Wilder-Smith, which is recognized as a pioneer in the application of optics and lasers in oral diagnosis, the device was based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) - an imaging technology similar to ultrasound, except that it used light (a laser). Oral cancer was the most common cancer in India, accounting for 40 per cent of all cancers overall and for over 50 per cent [...]

2015-12-13T08:58:13-07:00December, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Depression and smoking linked to worse prognosis in oral cancer

Source: medicalresearch.com Author: staff MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Eileen H. Shinn PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Science Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, MD Anderson Cancer Center Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Shinn: Recent studies with leukemia, breast, lung, renal and liver cancer patients have shown that patients with depression have worsened survival. These effect sizes are small, but independent of any of the traditional factors that are known to impact survival, such as extent of cancer, types of treatment administered and baseline health and age of the patient. The current thinking is that cancer patients who are depressed have chronically heightened responses to stress; the constant release of stress hormones trigger changes in the tumor itself (such as noradrenergically-driven tumor angiogenesis) or may weakens the body’s immune function and ability to resist tumor growth. When we measured depression in newly diagnosed patients with oropharyngeal cancer (cancer of the base of tongue and tonsil), we found that those patients who scored as depressed were 3.5 times more likely to have died within the five year period after their diagnosis, compared to non-depressed patients. We also found that patients who were depressed were also 3.8 times more likely to have their cancer recur within the first five years after diagnosis. We also found that patients who continued to smoke after diagnosis were more likely to recur within the first five years. These effect sizes were larger than those typically found in [...]

2015-12-13T08:51:57-07:00December, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Here’s why the drug that helped Jimmy Carter get ‘cancer-free’ is such a big deal

Source: www.businessinsider.comAuthor: Lydia Ramsey Former US President Jimmy Carter announced on Sunday that his latest brain scan showed no sign of cancer, a few months after revealing that he had been diagnosed with melanoma that had spread from his liver to his brain. Carter was being treated with a cancer drug called Keytruda that uses the immune system to fight off cancerous cells. Keytruda, made by pharmaceutical company Merck, was originally approved by the FDA in September 2014 to treat melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer that can also show up in other organs of the body, as it did in Carter's case. In someone with melanoma, certain proteins called PD-1 stop the immune system from doing its job and fighting the cancerous cells. Keytruda works by getting in the way of those proteins, allowing the immune system to access the cancer cells. Then, with the help of radiation therapy, which works to shrink tumors by killing cancer cells, it can knock the cancer out. The drug is delivered intravenously every three weeks, costing about $12,500 a month. And the drug isn't just being used in cases like Carter's. Keytruda, which got approved to treat a form of lung cancer in October, is also being explored to treat a number of other cancers, including head and neck, breast, and bladder cancers and Hodgkin lymphoma. It's also not the first cancer immunotherapy drug. Scientists have been seriously exploring using the immune system to battle cancerous cells for decades as an alternative to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. But it's taken a long time for [...]

2015-12-09T10:45:24-07:00December, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Wisconsin scientists grow functional vocal cord tissue in the lab

Source: www.med.wisc.edu Author: press release Madison, Wisconsin - University of Wisconsin scientists have succeeded in growing functional vocal-cord tissue in the laboratory, a major step toward restoring a voice to people who have lost their vocal cords to cancer surgery or other injuries. Dr. Nathan Welham, a speech-language pathologist, and colleagues from several disciplines, were able to bioengineer vocal-cord tissue able to transmit sound, they reported in a study published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine. About 20 million Americans suffer from voice impairments, and many have damage to the vocal-cord mucosae, the specialized tissues that vibrate as air moves over them, giving rise to voice. While injections of collagen and other materials can help some in the short term, Welham says not much can be done for people who have had larger areas of their vocal cords damaged or removed. “Voice is a pretty amazing thing, yet we don’t give it much thought until something goes wrong,” says Welham, an associate professor of surgery in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. “Our vocal cords are made up of special tissue that has to be flexible enough to vibrate, yet strong enough to bang together hundreds of times per second. It’s an exquisite system and a hard thing to replicate.” Welham and colleagues began with vocal-cord tissue from a cadaver and four patients who had their larynxes removed but did not have cancer. They isolated, purified and grew the cells from the mucosa, then applied them to [...]

2015-11-21T09:45:52-07:00November, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Smoking with a hookah is linked to serious oral problems

Source: www.youthhealthmag.com Author: staff Many people who use a hookah to smoke tobacco think it is a safer way to smoke and that they are reducing their risk. Not so. A new study suggests that using a hookah is associated with serious conditions of the mouth, head, and neck. Researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey analyzed 20 published studies that focused on the use of a hookah or water pipe. Ten of the articles pertained to the problems in the mouth, seven to head and neck cancer, and three to problems with the larynx and middle ear. They found that using a hookah is associated with greater amounts of inflammation, gum diseases, a dental condition called dry socket, premalignant lesions, oral cancer, and cancer of the head, neck, and esophagus. It was also associated with a greater incidence of oral infections by the organism Candida, with swelling of the vocal cords, and a lower vocal pitch. The number of people who use a hookah or water pipe-also called an argilah or hubbly-bubbly-has risen worldwide in the past few years. To use these devices, people place tobacco into a bowl on the top of the pipe and light it. The tobacco smoke is passed through a container of water before it is inhaled. Often, the tobacco used in a hookah is heavily flavored with sweeteners such as molasses or honey and other favors. According to the World Health Organization, a typical session of smoking using a hookah lasts up to [...]

2015-11-27T19:55:07-07:00November, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Follow-up by advance practice nurses improves care for patients with head, neck cancer

Source: www.healio.com Author: Anthony SanFilippo The launch of an advance practice nurse outpatient follow-up clinic improved symptom management for high-risk patients with head and neck cancer following radiation therapy, according to findings from a study conducted at Cleveland Clinic. This initiative led to fewer ED visits and hospital admissions, results showed. “These results are significant as they suggest more intensive follow up in high-risk head and neck patients can improve patient outcomes,” Bridgett Harr, CNP, of the department of radiation oncology at Cleveland Clinic, told HemOnc Today. “This intensive symptom management is an important role [advance practice nurses (APNs)] can fill in this and other patient groups by providing consistent, proactive management of symptoms during recovery from treatment. Our study suggests this will lead to improved patient experience, in addition to a reduction in cost to both the patient and health care system as a whole.” Patients with head and neck cancer often undergo radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy, and many experience debilitating side effects that require ED management or admission to the hospital. In 2014, an APN-led clinic was launched to focus on the acute rehabilitation of patients with head and neck cancer undergoing these therapies. Harr and colleagues sought to evaluate the outcomes and incidence of adverse events among patients treated at an APN clinic compared with historical outcomes. The analysis included data from 25 high-risk patients with head and neck cancer who received care post-treatment at an APN clinic and 24 patients who received standard follow-up care identified using [...]

2015-11-03T10:14:55-07:00November, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

New research opens door to understanding human tonsil cancer



Source: medicalxpress.com Author: staff Researchers at Simon Fraser University and the BC Cancer Agency have developed a groundbreaking method to identify and separate stem cells that reside in the tonsils. Their research, which sheds new light on the fight against oral cancer, is published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports. While stem cells in many other body tissues have been well studied, little is known about these stem cells, says researcher Catherine Kang, a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology and lead author of the paper. Ninety per cent of human tonsil cancers show evidence of HPV (human papillomavirus) infection. But little is known about its role in causing these cancers. Researchers suspect it is a key player, as HPV is the major risk factor for cervical cancer. Kang, who is working with BPK professor Miriam Rosin, director of the BC Oral Cancer Prevention Program, and UBC professor Connie Eaves of the Terry Fox Laboratory, was interested in finding out why the tonsil is particularly susceptible to HPV and wondered if it might have something to do with the stem cells of the tissue that coats the tonsils. When she purified these cells and made them incorporate a cancer-causing gene normally transmitted by HPV, the cells grew abnormally in a special tissue culture system, and created what one might imagine what the beginning stages of human tonsil cancer would look like. "This is a very exciting finding, as it is the first stage of human [...]

2015-11-03T10:06:31-07:00November, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More

Throat and tongue cancers linked to sexually transmitted virus on the rise

Source: www.theage.com.au Author: Julia Medew The sexual revolution is producing a new wave of throat and tongue cancers among middle-aged people, who are falling victim to a rare side effect of the "common cold of sexually transmitted infections". A growing number of Australians with oropharyngeal cancer are testing positive to the human papillomavirus (HPV), suggesting it has caused their disease rather than smoking or heavy drinking - factors responsible for many head and neck cancers in the past. Oropharyngeal cancer is usually found in the back third of the tongue or the tonsils. In 2014, about 125 Victorians were diagnosed with it. Most were men. An Australian study of 515 patients diagnosed with the condition between 1987 and 2010 found that the proportion of people with an HPV-related diagnosis increased from 20 per cent between 1987 and 1995 to 64 per cent between 2006 and 2010. Over the same period, the proportion of people diagnosed with throat cancer who had never smoked increased from 19 per cent to 34 per cent, suggesting HPV may overtake smoking and drinking as a cause of the cancer in future. American doctors say more oral sex following the sexual revolution of the 1960s probably spread HPV to more people's mouths and throats. Actor Michael Douglas said he believed oral sex was to blame for his HPV-related throat cancer in 2013. But Dr Matthew Magarey​, an ear nose and throat surgeon at Epworth and Peter MacCallum hospitals in Melbourne, said while HPV-related throat cancers were [...]

2015-10-13T08:15:23-07:00October, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
Read More
© - The Oral Cancer Foundation - Head & Neck Cancer IRS 501(c)3 Charity - 3419 Via Lido #205, Newport Beach, CA 92663 | Disclaimer / Privacy Policy
Go to Top