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Throat cancer survivor celebrates life after trans-oral robotic surgery

Source: www.newswise.com Author: staff When Charlie Guinn sits down to eat with his lovely wife of 39 years, he thoroughly enjoys each bite. It’s not just the food; the entire experience is a celebration. Just over a year ago, Mr. Guinn learned that he had stage IV throat cancer. For him, just surviving would have been an accomplishment — so swallowing again at a meal with a loved one is truly something special. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2013 over 41,000 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx and almost 8,000 died from the disease. But Mr. Guinn would be the first to say that he is one of the lucky ones. He is one of the first patients to undergo trans-oral robotic surgery (TORS) at the University of New Mexico Hospital. And the results have been stunning. Mr. Guinn first discovered the lump in his throat while shaving. When it was still there a week later, he went to an urgent care center where he was immediately referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat physician. The physician ran a number of tests including a biopsy. When the results came back, the physician referred Mr. Guinn to Nathan Boyd, MD, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center. It had been only a week and a half from that fateful visit to urgent care. Mr. Guinn recalls, “When I first got there to see Dr. Boyd, one of the nurses told [...]

2014-03-07T07:25:15-07:00March, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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Brits call for smoking in films to be stubbed out

Source: www.economicvoice.com Author: staff After a record night of success for British talent at the Oscars, a new poll reveals a majority of us would like to stub out smoking in films watched by children. In a survey conducted by oral health charity the British Dental Health Foundation, more than two thirds (67 per cent) said they thought films featuring actors smoking should receive the highest classification rating, suitable only for adults. According to the British Board of Film Classification, rated-18 films currently allow scenes of drug-taking, provided ‘the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse’. The film board makes no reference to smoking or alcohol misuse, two of the leading risk factors for mouth cancer. Rita Hayworth One in five people in the UK smoke, and the habit is still considered the leading cause of mouth cancer. But while many of us are aware of the damage that smoking does to our lungs, the danger to our mouths remains relatively unknown. Smoking helps to transforms saliva into a deadly cocktail that damages cells in the mouth and can turn them cancerous. As alcohol aids the absorption of tobacco into the mouth, those who smoke and drink to excess are up to 30 times more likely to develop the disease. Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, urged the film board to consider its policy on films depicting smoking. Dr Carter said: “The risks of smoking have been well [...]

2014-03-07T07:09:27-07:00March, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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Improving QOL in head and neck cancer as survival improves

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Zosia Chustecka In patients undergoing radiation treatment for head and neck cancer, reducing the radiation to organs not affected by cancer is key to improving quality of life post-treatment. Several studies presented here at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium described new approaches to sparing radiation delivered to the salivary glands and to the voice box, without any loss of cancer control, but with a reported reduction in adverse effects, such as xerostomia (dry mouth), and an anticipated reduction in loss of voice and speech quality. Improvements in such outcomes are becoming increasingly important as the epidemiology of head and neck cancer is changing, and the increase in human papillomavirus-positive disease means that patients are being diagnosed their 50s and will, in many cases, go on to live for decades after their definitive cancer treatment, researchers commented at a press briefing. Xerostomia can make it difficult to speak, as well as chew and swallow, and can lead to dental problems. "Dry mouth might seem trivial, but it actually has a significant effect on quality of life," commented Tyler Robin, PhD, an MD candidate in his final year at the University of Colorado Medical School in Denver. To reduce this adverse effect, intensity-modulated radiation techniques are already directing the beam away from the parotid gland, which is responsible for stimulated saliva production, for example during eating. But for the rest of the time, saliva is produced unstimulated from the submandibular gland. "This gland actually produces the [...]

2014-02-28T14:23:04-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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Mouth bacteria trigger oral cancer

Source: www.digitaljournal.com Author: Tim Sandle Chemicals released from two bacteria that cause gum disease can incite the growth of deadly lesions and tumors in the mouth, trigger oral cancer. This is according to a new study carried out by Case Western Reserve University. High levels of certain bacteria found in the saliva of people are associated with the risk of oral cancer. The researchers were keen to understand why most people never develop oral cancer and what it is that protects them. Their answer related to most people not carrying a certain type of bacteria in their mouths. The cancer of concern is Kaposi's sarcoma-related (KS) lesions and tumors in the mouth. The bacteria associated with this are the species Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. These species are associated with gum disease. For the research, scientists recruited 21 patients, dividing them into two groups. All participants were given standard gum-disease tests. The first group of 11 participants had an average age of 50 and had severe chronic gum disease. The second group of 10 participants, whose average age was about 26, had healthy gums. The bacteria were common to those with gum disease. By carrying out further tests, the researchers found that the bacteria produce fatty acids and these fatty acids then allowed oral cancer causing viruses to grow. The discovery could lead to early saliva testing for the bacteria. When such bacteria are found the mouth of a patient could be treated and monitored for signs of cancer and [...]

2014-03-09T21:58:39-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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Shedding light on oral cancer

Source: www.laboratorytalk.com Author: staff A team of Indian cancer researchers led by Dr Narayanan Subhash has developed a simple, non-invasive spectral imaging system that holds the possibility of rapid, inexpensive mass screening. Even in the hands of non-clinical staff, it is capable of real-time discrimination of healthy oral tissue from pre-malignant and malignant tissues with accuracy comparable to the gold standard histopathology of a biopsy sample. The core of the novel Diffuse Reflectance Imaging System (DRIS) is an Andor Luca-R EMCCD camera, which captures monochrome images of the patient’s mouth at 545 and 575 nm. Andor’s SOLIS software computes a ratio image (R545/R575) of the area under investigation and generates a Pseudo Colour Map (PCM) where blue designates healthy tissue, red denotes dysplastic/pre-malignant tissue and yellow identifies malignant tissue. This allows rapid visual differentiation of oral lesions and identification of regions with pre-malignant characteristics. “Since mortality from oral cancer is particularly high, early detection, diagnosis and treatment is vital in increasing the survival rate of those with the disease,” says Dr Subhash. “Our imaging method has the great advantage of non-invasively scanning entire lesions and their surrounding areas and automatically categorising these oral lesions into normal/clinically healthy, pre-malignant, and malignant tissue in real-time. “It also delineates the boundaries of neoplastic changes and locates sites with the most malignant potential for biopsy, thereby avoiding unnecessary repeated biopsies and delay in diagnosis. What’s more, imaging the entire region may also help the surgeons to identify the margins of the lesion that cannot be [...]

2014-02-11T13:33:25-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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President’s panel calls for more girls, boys to get HPV vaccine

Author: Government news release Source: consumer.healthday.com Too few American girls and boys are getting vaccinated against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV), the President's Cancer Panel reported Monday. HPV is linked to cervical cancer as well as penis, rectal and oral cancers. One in four adults in the United States is infected with at least one type of HPV. Increasing HPV vaccination rates could prevent a large number of cancer cases and save many lives, the panel said. "Today, there are two safe, effective, approved vaccines that prevent infection by the two most prevalent cancer-causing types, yet vaccination rates are far too low," Barbara Rimer, chair of the President's Cancer Panel, said in a panel news release. "We are confident that if HPV vaccination for girls and boys is made a public health priority, hundreds of thousands will be protected from these HPV-associated diseases and cancers over their lifetimes," she added. Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that girls aged 11 and 12 receive either the Cervarix or Gardasil vaccines, and Gardasil is recommended for boys of similar age. In 2012, only a third of girls aged 13 to 17 got all three recommended doses of HPV vaccine, CDC data shows. That's much lower than the federal government's goal of having 80 percent of girls aged 13 to 15 fully vaccinated against HPV by 2020, the report said. The picture is even more disappointing for boys. Less than 7 percent of males aged 13 to 17 [...]

2014-02-11T13:11:27-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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Study: Oropharyngeal cancer on the rise in young adults

Source: www.sciencecodex.com Author: staff A new study reveals an alarming increase in oropharyngeal cancers among young adults. While the exact cause for this phenomenon is unknown, the human papillomavirus (HPV) may be to blame. According to researchers from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit there was an overall 60 percent increase from 1973 and 2009 in cancers of the base of tongue, tonsils, soft palate and pharynx in people younger than age 45. Among Caucasians, there was a 113 percent increase, while among African-Americans the rate of these cancers declined by 52 percent during that period of time. But compared to Caucasians and other races, the five-year survival rate remains worse for African Americans. The study is published online ahead of print in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. "The growing incidence in oropharyngeal cancer has been largely attributed to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, which led to an increased transmission of high-risk HPV," says study lead author Farzan Siddiqui, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Head & Neck Radiation Therapy Program in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford Hospital. "We were interested in looking at people born during that time period and incidence of oropharyngeal cancer. Not only were we surprised to find a substantial increase in young adults with cancer of the tonsils and base of tongue, but also a wide deviation among Caucasians and African Americans with this cancer." The American Cancer Society estimates about [...]

2014-01-31T09:22:10-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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New oral cancer saliva test could reduce false-positive results

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: staff Researchers at Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry have discovered a new saliva test for oral cancer that could reduce false-positive results. As new oral cancer diagnoses rose to more than 41,000 in 2013, the demand for early detection continues to increase. Yi-Shing Lisa Cheng, DDS, PhD, an associate professor in diagnostic sciences at Baylor College, has been working to develop a saliva test as an oral cancer screening tool, according to an A&M announcement. In 2009, she received a $381,000 R21 grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to find reliable oral cancer salivary biomarkers, which can be used as indicators of disease or other health conditions. Dr. Cheng recently received a $50,000 faculty bridge grant from Texas A&M Health Science Center and A&M Baylor College of Dentistry's diagnostic sciences department to continue this research. The goal is to determine whether patients with oral lichen planus and periodontal disease exhibit false positives for the future oral cancer saliva tests. Dr. Cheng noted that early detection of cancer is always good and using a saliva test is a noninvasive and relatively easy procedure. Her research differs from models that compare salivary biomarkers of oral cancer patients with those of completely healthy individuals. Instead, Dr. Cheng looked at the biomarkers of patients with noncancerous oral conditions. It's an effort that could save patients thousands of dollars, not to mention the stress and health complications associated with false-positive results. Dr. [...]

2014-01-31T08:39:38-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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Cancer survivors demand picture-based warnings on cigarette labels

Source: www.interaksyon.com Author: staff MANILA, Philippines -- More than 150 anti-smoking activists, including throat cancer survivors, marched to the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City Thursday to urge government to fast-track the passage of legislation requiring tobacco firms to put graphic health warnings on cigarette packs. The “Right to Health Walk” is the third march organized by New Vois Association of the Philippines to push public health issues to the fore. “Ten percent of the world’s 1.3 billion smokers can be found in Southeast Asia where the Philippines belong. We are the second largest smoking population in this region with 17.3 million adults smoking. More than 87,000 Filipinos die every year because of smoking -- that’s more than the number of those who succumb to heart attack and stroke. This is clear and present danger that must be addressed at the soonest,” Emer Rojas, NVAP president, said. Rojas said graphic health warnings provide a clearer message about the harm smoking causes, especially to women, children, and the poor who are lured to the habit by the attractive designs of cigarette packs. The newly released Tobacco Atlas of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance showed the Philippines among the three countries with the most number of smoking women in the region. It is estimated that nine percent of Filipino women smoke. This is statistically more than Indonesia, which has the most number of smokers in the region. Only 4.5 percent of Indonesian women smoke. The Tobacco Atlas also estimates that [...]

2014-01-19T08:34:50-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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LED Medical, BC Cancer Agency, Genome British Columbia to develop test for oral cancer

Source: www.genomeweb.com Author: staff LED Medical Diagnostics this week announced an agreement to form a collaboration to develop and commercialize a progression-risk assessment test for oral cancer. The agreement is with BC Cancer Agency to form a relationship with Genome British Columbia. The test, LED said, is based on loss of heterozygosity. The Genome BC Strategic Opportunities Fund is funding the project called “Development of an actionable molecular test for risk assessment of oral precancers,” which is designed to leverage research that Canada’s National Institute of Health and the Terry Fox Research Institute funded. Catherine Poh, an associate professor of dentistry at the University of British Columbia, is the project leader. In a statement, LED Medical's Founder and Director Peter Whitehead said, "Until recently, a major barrier to oral cancer prevention has been the lack of validated risk predictors for oral premalignant lesions. …This test, which measures specific genetic changes that have been shown to predict aggressive tumor growth, has the potential to lower oral cancer morbidity and mortality rates." "Throughout the development process we will strive to create the first test that quantifies the likelihood that an oral lesion will progress to cancer,” he added. LED Medical is based in British Columbia and develops LED-based visualization technologies.

2014-01-19T08:20:21-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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