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Rinsing with salt water beats out swishing with mouthwash

Source: www.reviewjournal.com Author: John Przybys A bottle can be found on just about every bathroom countertop or in just about every medicine cabinet in America. But is incorporating an over-the-counter mouthwash into your daily oral hygiene routine worth it? Dr. Daniel L. Orr II, a professor and director of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine, says over-the-counter mouthwashes pose no health problems to those who use them sparingly. But Orr also notes that some over-the-counter mouthwashes contain more than 20 percent alcohol. That alcohol — in addition to being a potential poisoning danger to kids who might stumble upon it and drink it — also is "an irritant" to the gums and mouth, Orr says. "If you want to do a little experiment, you can just put any name brand (of mouthwash) into your mouth and just hold it there for a couple of minutes. It starts to burn and doesn't feel good at all." Over-the-counter mouthwashes usually are taken by consumers in an attempt to kill odor-causing bacteria in the mouth. But, Orr says, "mouthwash doesn't really clean your mouth. It doesn't debride like a toothbrush and floss do. So if you brush and floss correctly, there really shouldn't be much need for mouthwash at all." Also, Orr says, some studies indicate that "people who use it a lot — like taking it three times a day — have a slightly increased chance of oral cancer, other things being equal." [...]

2015-08-27T14:31:10-07:00August, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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HPV DNA detected in mouthwash predicts oral cancer recurrence

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Kelly Johnson The presence of HPV16 DNA is common at diagnosis of HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma (HPV-OPC) but rare after treatment. HPV-OPC has a favorable prognosis; however, 10% to 25% of patients experience disease progression, usually within 2 years of treatment. Patients who have HPV 16 DNA in their saliva following treatment of their oropharyngeal cancer are more likely to have their cancer recur, and a prospective cohort study published in JAMA Oncology has shown that a simple mouth rinse can be used to detect it. Gypsyamber D’Souza Gypsyamber D’Souza, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and fellow researchers monitored 124 patients with newly diagnosed oropharyngeal cancer from 2009 through 2013. They collected oral rinse and gargle samples using 10 mL of mouthwash at the time of diagnosis as well as after treatment 9, 12, 18, and 24 months later. HPV16 DNA was detected in 67 out of 124 of the participants testing positive. Of the 67 patients who had HPV16 DNA in their saliva at the time of diagnosis, five patients (7%) were found to still have traces of HPV16 in their oral rinses following treatment. All five patients developed a local recurrence of oropharyngeal cancer, three of whom died from the disease. “It’s a very small number so we have to be somewhat cautious,” said D’Souza, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Bloomberg School and a member of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, in a statement. However, [...]

2015-08-27T14:25:55-07:00August, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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AstraZeneca joins the world of immunotherapy against cancer

Source: www.youthhealthmag.com Author: staff Cancer drug companies have been fighting lately in a completely different and interesting arena: immunotherapy. The competition is indeed heating up that firms such as AstraZeneca are willing to pay millions of dollars for promising treatments. AstraZeneca, through its research company called MedImmune, has just recently announced its decision to purchase a novel drug INO-3112 from Inovio, based in Pennsylvania, for a staggering price tag of $727 million. INO-3112 is a drug for immunotherapy, a new way of combating cancer by boosting the body's immune system. This then allows the antibodies and specific cells to fight off the tumor. The treatment may also provide synthetic proteins to boost the body's fighting chance. MedImmune believes that with the proper immunotherapy protocol for the patient, conventional methods such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which have plenty of serious risks, can now be significantly reduced, if not eliminated. In fact, patients may no longer have to go through surgery, which is a common first-line treatment. While AstraZeneca already has immunotherapy products in the market, the acquisition of INO-3112 will make it an instrument for combination therapies. As for Inovio, the drug, which is still not approved, is currently in the advanced stages of the clinical trials. It will be intended for treating head and neck cancers, as well as cervical cancer. While there are already cervical cancer vaccines, they cite the rather poor record of them. Their drug, on the other hand, will work on modifying DNA sequencing that will [...]

2015-08-13T07:39:58-07:00August, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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Professor creates a tool to help diagnose certain cancers early

Source: www.portsmouth.co.uk Author: staff Professor Peter Brennan from Portsmouth has been appointed as the 2016 president of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He has been given a £30,000 president fund, and has chosen to use the cash to benefit not only patients in Portsmouth, but around the country. He is writing a book and online tool which will be sent to every GP practice in England. It will assist GPs in spotting warning signs and symptoms of head and neck cancer and other tumour issues that could be fatal. Prof Brennan, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust, explained: ‘It can be very hard for non-specialists to detect and diagnose problems, including cancer, in the head and neck. I know that a tool like this will be really beneficial for doctors. ‘I’m delighted to have been elected as president of the surgical association for next year, and I thought long and hard about what to use the grant for. ‘It is designed to be used for the advancement of a speciality, and I wanted to use the money in a way which would have the biggest impact on patients. ‘I’m confident that this will make a real difference, and am looking forward to seeing it being rolled out across the country.’ The scheme has the approval of the Royal College of General Practitioners, the professional body for family doctors in the UK. Professor Brennan added: ‘The feedback that I had from RCGP is that [...]

2015-08-13T07:34:28-07:00August, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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The case for funding the HPV vaccine for boys

Source: www.thespec.com Author: Camilla Cornell, Hamilton Spectator If Tiffany Bond could have had her 25-year-old son inoculated against the human papilloma virus (HPV), she'd have done it in a heartbeat. After all, Bond knows well the pain HPV virus can cause. Eight years ago, at age 39, Bond flicked back her long hair and touched a lump in her throat. Her doctor's diagnosis? Bond had oral pharynx cancer — a type of throat cancer caused by the HPV virus. Worse, the cancer had spread into her lymph nodes. She began a seven-week regimen of radiation and chemotherapy treatments so intense that Bond couldn't eat a thing. She was fed through tubing in her stomach for months and lost about a third of her body weight. "I was sick to my stomach every day for seven weeks," Bond says. "There came a point where I just gave up — I wanted to die. It was horrific for my son to watch." The good news, says Joanne Di Nardo, a spokesperson for the Ontario branch of the Canadian Cancer Society: There is an HPV vaccine that is 100 per cent effective against many forms of HPV. The bad news? Although all provincial governments administer the vaccine free to girls, in many provinces boys don't have the same privilege. Only Alberta, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and P.E.I. (either currently or will soon) offer the vaccine free to boys. "We really need to do some catching up here in Ontario," says Di Nardo. "Boys [...]

2015-08-11T12:17:53-07:00August, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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Testimony by otolaryngologists in defense of tobacco companies 2009–2014

Source: www.onlinelibrary.wiley.comAuthor: Robert K. Jackler, MD  Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis To examine expert testimony offered by otolaryngologists in defense of the tobacco industry and to assess whether opinions rendered were congruent with evidence in the scientific literature. Methods Data sources include publically available expert witness depositions and trial testimony of board-certified otolaryngologists employed by the tobacco industry in defense of lawsuits brought by smokers suffering from head and neck cancer. The cases, adjudicated in Florida between 2009 and 2014, focused on whether smoking caused the plaintiff's cancer. Results The study includes nine legal cases of upper aerodigestive tract cancer involving six otolaryngologists serving as expert witnesses for the tobacco industry. Cancer sites included larynx (5), esophagus (2), mouth (1), and lung (1). Five of the six otolaryngologists consistently, over multiple cases, offered opinions that smoking did not cause the plaintiff's cancer. By highlighting an exhaustive list of potential risk factors, such as human papillomavirus (HPV), alcohol, asbestos, diesel fumes, salted fish, mouthwash, and even urban living, they created doubt in the minds of the jurors as to the role of smoking in the plaintiff's cancer. Evidence shows that this testimony, which was remarkably similar across cases, was part of a defense strategy shaped by tobacco's law firms. Conclusions A small group of otolaryngologists regularly serve as experts on behalf of the tobacco industry. Examination of their opinions in relation to the scientific literature reveals a systematic bias in interpreting the data relating to the role played by smoking in head and neck [...]

2015-07-31T14:00:43-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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HPV Persistence Predicts Poor Prognosis in Head/Neck Cancer

Source: www.medscape.comAuthor: Roxanne Nelson, RN, BSN Among patients with human papillomavirus–positive oropharyngeal cancer (HPV-OPC), persistence of HPV following treatment is associated with a poorer prognosis. Results of a new study show that the persistence of HPV16 DNA, detected in oral rinses after treatment has ended, may be predictive of disease recurrence. In a cohort of 124 patients with HPV-OPC, HPV16 DNA was detected in oral rinses from 54% (n = 67) of patients at the time of their diagnosis. Following treatment, it was detected in only six patients after treatment, including five patients with persistent oral HPV16 DNA that was also detected at diagnosis. All five patients with persistent HPV16 experienced disease recurrence, with three eventually dying of their cancer. Conversely, only nine of 119 patients without persistent oral HPV16 DNA developed recurrent disease. "Our findings indicate that persistent HPV16 DNA in oral rinses may be a useful early marker of disease that has either recurred or never fully responded to treatment," said first author Eleni Rettig, MD, of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. "In the clinical setting, this could one day be a part of routine surveillance after treatment for HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers, in addition to clinical examination and imaging," she told Medscape Medical News. The study was published online July 30 in JAMA Oncology. Biomarker Potential? In an accompanying editorial, Julie E. Bauman, MD, MPH, and Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, both of the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, [...]

2015-07-30T17:19:55-07:00July, 2015|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|
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MD Anderson Team wins NIH grant to uncover novel head, neck cancer drug targets

Source: www.genomeweb.com Author: staff The National Institutes of Health this month awarded MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers a four-year grant to bioinformatically and functionally investigate genomic alterations as novel therapeutic targets for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In recent years, genomic studies have identified numerous genetic alterations in HNSCC, but such alterations "are dominated by tumor suppressor genes and untargetable oncogenes," MD Anderson's Jeffrey Myers, who is leading the research, wrote in the grant's abstract. "Nevertheless, we hypothesize that novel molecular therapeutic targets are present in HNSCC and that these targets exist in parts of the data that have not been effectively analyzed." With the support of the NIH grant, administered by the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research and worth $971,667 in its first year, Myers and his colleagues plan to examine existing genomic data using a combination of computational and functional approaches to identify candidate drug targets. The most promising targets will be tested in a high-throughput in vivo screening system in HNSCC lines with known genotypes, with validated targets further tested for genotype co-dependencies. Known drug targets will be studied in preclinical xenograft models. For targets that are currently undruggable, the researchers will computationally and experimentally analyze their pathways for additional targets that can be functionally tested. Through the work, the MD Anderson investigators aim to generate a broad list of functionally validated novel targets for HNSCC as candidates for drug development.

2015-07-30T07:20:41-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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NYU’s Bluestone Center Receives a $369,250 High Priority, Short Term Project Award from NIDCR to Study Oral Cancer Pain

Source: www.nyu.edu/newsAuthor: Christopher James Drs. Yamano and Schmidt have developed a novel non-viral gene delivery method, and the proposed studies are designed to test whether this could be used to treat cancer pain effectively and safely. Up to 90% of cancer patients suffer from pain, with oral cancer ranked consistently as one of the most painful cancers. The quality of life for oral cancer patients is the lowest of any patients suffering from cancer because the intense uncontrolled pain interferes with necessary oral functions including eating, talking and swallowing. “Oral cancer pain is more severe, and the opioid requirement is higher, than pain from any other cancer,” said Dr. Brian L. Schmidt, DDS, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and director of NYU’s Bluestone Center for Clinical Research and the NYU Oral Cancer Center. “And in the end, pharmacological agents used to treat cancer pain often lack anatomical specificity and produce off-target effects that create additional suffering.” “Gene therapy is emerging as an exciting prospect and alternative to opioids for the treatment of cancer pain,” said Dr. Seiichi Yamano, DDS, PhD, DMD, MMSc, assistant professor of prosthodontics at NYU College of Dentistry. “We seek to eliminate oral cancer pain by reversing epigenetic changes using gene therapy and set the stage for a new class of medicines that selectively disrupt nociceptive signaling with limited off-target effects.” To further their research, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institute of Health (NIH) [...]

2015-07-29T10:45:41-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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ASCO urges expansion of cancer research to include more older adults

Source: www.asco.org Author: staff ASCO  issued landmark recommendations calling for federal agencies and the cancer research community to broaden clinical trials to include older adults. ASCO also called for redefining eligibility for clinical trials. Both calls to action were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. More than 60 percent of cancers in the United States occur in people age 65 and older, a population that will grow exponentially over the coming years. Yet, the evidence base for treating older adults is sparse because they are underrepresented in clinical trials and trials designed specifically for them are rare. “Older people living with cancer often have different experiences and outcomes in their treatment than younger cancer patients,” said ASCO President Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO.  “As we age, for example, the risk of adverse reactions from treatment significantly increases. Older adults must be involved in clinical trials so we can learn the best way to treat older cancer patients resulting in improved outcomes and manageable toxicity.” Developed by ASCO’s Cancer Research Committee, the ASCO position statement, “Improving the Evidence Base for Treating Older Adults with Cancer,” makes the five following over-arching recommendations: •    Use clinical trials to improve the evidence base for treating older adults. •    Leverage research designs and infrastructure to improve the evidence base for treating older adults. •    Increase Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to incentivize and require research on older adults with cancer. •    Increase clinicians’ recruitment of older adults with cancer into clinical trials. •    Utilize [...]

2015-07-22T06:21:10-07:00July, 2015|Oral Cancer News|
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