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Researchers document molecular tumor subtypes of head and neck cancer

Source: www.oncologynurseadvisor.com Author: Kathy Boltz, PhD Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the seventh most common form of cancer in the United States. However, other than an association with the human papillomavirus (HPV), no validated molecular profile of the disease has been established. By analyzing data from DNA microarrays, a study has confirmed the presence of four molecular classes of the disease. Also, previous results have been extended by suggesting an underlying connection between the molecular classes and observed genomic events, some of which affect cancer genes. This study also demonstrated the clinical relevance of the classes and certain genomic events, paving the way for further studies and possible targeted therapies. "Cancer is a disease caused by alteration in the DNA and RNA molecules of tumors. A cancer results when broken molecules initiate a cascade of abnormal signals that ultimately results in abnormal growth and spread of tissues that should be under tight control within the body,” said Neil Hayes, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and of The Cancer Genome Atlas. "However, most common tumors, including head and neck cancer, have relatively little information in the public record as to how these signals coordinate to create different patterns of abnormalities. This study is among the largest ever published to document reproducible molecular tumor subtypes. Subtypes, such as those we describe, represent attractive models to understand and attack cancers for treatment and prognosis." The team analyzed a set of nearly 140 HNSCC [...]

2013-03-12T07:08:52-07:00March, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Are combination therapies effective for advanced SCCHN?

Source: Author: DrBicuspid Staff In a recent study, researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center examined whether the addition of multiple drugs to radiation therapy is superior to the current standard of care therapy with one drug and radiation for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Their data, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, suggests that it does not (March 4, 2013). Standard therapy for SCCHN is a combination of the drug cisplatin and radiotherapy. This clinical trial compared this combination to the combination with the addition of a small-molecule inhibitor of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) erlotinib. For the study, 204 patients with locally advanced SCCHN were recruited between December 2006 and October 2011. Participants were assigned to receive either cisplatin and radiotherapy or the same chemoradiotherapy with erlotinab. EGFR is a therapeutic target for this type of cancer, and at least one other EGFR is approved for multiple uses in treating head and neck cancer, including in combination with radiation. To date, no data have been published on the use of EGFR inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy and radiation. The goal of the current study was to determine if adding EGRF inhibition improved efficacy when combined with standard of care radiation. Unfortunately, the researchers found that the addition of EGRF did not improve clinical response rate or progression-free survival. "There has been great enthusiasm and some confusion about the combinations of chemotherapy and biologic therapy such [...]

2013-03-12T07:00:53-07:00March, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Regular dental checkups key to early detection of oral cancer

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Mark Newman, News Staff Julie DiNardo knew something wasn't right. The long-time Mountain registered dental hygienist was chatting with Pino, her husband of 23 years, at the breakfast table back in April 2011 when she became concerned about a lack of symmetry on Pino's face. "He looked a little off on one side of his throat," said Julie, who has been screening people for oral cancer for more than a quarter-century. As she has been trained to do, Julie began to feel her husband's neck, her fingers pushing down gently, but firmly in a number of places. Little did she know, her many years of encouraging the public to get annual oral check-ups was about to hit home. Under Pino's right ear, along the jaw line, Julie discovered something she described as feeling like a fish. Her heart skipped a beat. "When you've felt thousands of necks and you've felt thousands of normals, when an abnormal comes up, you know it," Julie said. While dozens of worrisome thoughts raced through her mind at the time, the mother of four told her husband to get the lump checked out at their family doctor right away. The family doctor couldn't find anything and sent Pino home with antibiotics in case there was some inflammation. Julie said she insisted her husband see a specialist and Pino was examined by an ear, nose and throat doctor who was also unable to find anything. The specialist did send Pino for an ultrasound [...]

2013-03-12T06:55:37-07:00March, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Five genetic subgroups revealed in head and neck tumor analysis

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Ben Leach Oncologists who treat patients with head and neck cancer are aware that those whose disease has been caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) have significantly better outcomes than those whose disease is caused by other factors such as smoking. However, new research suggests that there may be five distinct subgroups in which specific genetic profiles may be utilized to guide treatment decisions in patients. “Currently, we treat all patients with head and neck cancer in essentially the same way,” said Ezra E. W. Cohen, MD, co-director of the Head and Neck Cancer Program at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “But we do know that the prognosis for patients who are HPV-positive is much better.” To determine whether patients’ genetic profiles differed, Cohen and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, led by researcher Tanguy Seiwert, MD, took approximately 130 tumor samples from patients with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and performed gene expression (mRNA) analysis. The samples were gathered before patients received therapy, and all of the participants subsequently were treated with a 5-fluorouracil, hydroxyurea, and concurrent radiation (FHX)-based regimen. This way, the researchers could determine the outcome as a function of gene expression in the groups identified through the analysis, since patients received the same treatment across all the subgroups eventually identified. Cohen said that patients were enrolled regardless of whether they were HPV-positive or HPV-negative. Based on these findings, the University of Chicago team was able to classify [...]

2013-03-01T15:37:52-07:00March, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Alcohol consumption ups oral cancer risk in men

Source: www.drbicuspid.com/ Author: Donna Domino, Features Editor Alcohol consumption causes approximately 20,000 cancer deaths in the U.S. annually, especially oral cavity cancer in men and breast cancer in women, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health (February 14, 2013). It is the first comprehensive analysis of alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in the U.S. in more than 30 years, the study authors noted. Notably, even moderate drinkers who consume 1.5 drinks daily or fewer accounted for 30% of alcohol-caused cancer deaths, according to researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine and the School of Public Health. Cancers of the mouth, throat, and esophagus were common causes of alcohol-related cancer deaths among men, resulting in a total of about 6,000 annual deaths, they noted. Breast cancer was the most common cause of alcohol-caused cancer deaths in women, resulting in about 6,000 deaths annually, or about 15% of all breast cancer mortality. In addition, alcohol was cited as a prominent cause in the premature loss of life, resulting in the loss of about 18 years among people who died of cancers attributed to alcohol, the study found. Previous research consistently shows that alcohol increases the risk for cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, larynx, esophagus, and liver. And recent studies show that alcohol also increases the risk of cancers of the colon, rectum, and women's breasts. While estimates have shown that alcohol accounts for about 4% of all cancer-related deaths worldwide, there is a lack of attention [...]

2013-03-01T15:32:12-07:00March, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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‘Where you’re treated matters’ in terms of cancer survival

Source: www.eurekalert.org A study of older patients with advanced head and neck cancers has found that where they were treated significantly influenced their survival. The study, led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and published in the March 1 online edition of Cancer, found that patients who were treated at hospitals that saw a high number of head and neck cancers were 15 percent less likely to die of their disease as compared to patients who were treated at hospitals that saw a relatively low number of such cancers. The study also found that such patients were 12 percent less likely to die of their disease when treated at a National Cancer Institute -designated cancer center. "Where you're treated matters," said corresponding author Eduardo Méndez, M.D., an assistant member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutch. Méndez and colleagues also hypothesized that patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) who were treated at high-volume hospitals would be more likely to receive therapy that complies with National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines due to the complexity of managing these cancers. Surprisingly, this was not the case, the researchers found. According to an American Cancer Society estimate, 52,610 Americans were newly diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2012. Many patients are diagnosed with locally advanced disease that has spread to the lymph nodes, which carries a much poorer prognosis compared to early stage disease. Patients with advanced disease require multidisciplinary management by a collaborative team comprised of [...]

2013-03-01T15:26:17-07:00March, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Even moderate drinking may substantially raise risk of dying from cancer

Source: www.nydailynews.com Author: Tracy Miller, New York Daily News Alcohol causes about 19,500 cancer deaths each year — and even as little as 1.5 drinks per day can make you part of that statistic, according to a sobering new study. The research, published in the American Journal of Public Health, is the first in several decades to examine deaths from a variety of cancers that can be attributed to alcohol consumption, said lead study author David E. Nelson of the National Cancer Institute. "One of the reasons we did the study was to update data that hadn't been looked at for 30 years," Nelson told the Daily News. "In that time, other diseases, and other cancers, have been linked to alcohol." The researchers looked at mortality data from two national surveys conducted in 2009, and using a mathematical formula, determined which of the cancer deaths were alcohol related. About 3.2 to 3.7% of all cancer deaths in 2009 were attributed to alcohol, with oral cancers, pharynx, larynx and esophageal cancers the top killers in men, and breast cancer the most deadly in women. About 15% of all breast cancer deaths were attributable to alcohol consumption, the study found. Furthermore, while the risk of death was greatest among people who had three or more drinks per day, about 30% of deaths occurred among people who consumed 20 ounces, the equivalent of 1.5 drinks, per day. "There's no question that people who drink more frequently are at greater risk," Nelson said. "What [...]

2013-02-20T07:48:50-07:00February, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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New drug combination could prevent head and neck cancer in high-risk patients

Source: www.sciencedaily.com Author: staff A new drug combination shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results of the study, which included preclinical and clinical analyses, were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is the most common type of head and neck cancer," said Dong Moon Shin, M.D., professor of hematology, medical oncology and otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine, and director of the Cancer Chemoprevention Program at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. "The survival rate for patients with SCCHN is very poor. An effective prevention approach is desperately needed, especially since we can identify patients who are at extremely high risk: those with advanced oral precancerous lesions." Based on prior research suggesting a role for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in promoting SCCHN, Shin and colleagues believed combining an EGFR inhibitor and a COX-2 inhibitor could provide an effective chemopreventive approach. They found that the combination of the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib was more effective for inhibiting the growth of human SCCHN cell lines compared with either drug alone. In addition, treating mice with the drug combination prior to transplanting them with human SCCHN cells more effectively suppressed cancer cell growth than did pretreating the mice with either drug alone. Based on these preclinical [...]

2013-02-20T07:38:26-07:00February, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Kentucky cancer center emphasizes patients’ quality of life

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: Donna Domino, Features Editor The James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville is among a growing number of facilities working to improve care for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients through collaborative care programs that bring together a spectrum of oncology specialists. The center provides multidisciplinary treatment for HNC patients using novel techniques that decrease the debilitating side effects of radiation and chemotherapy. The clinic also conducts research and clinical trials with targeted therapies that aim to restore patients' oral functions. Kentucky has a higher rate of HNC than the U.S. average, which provides a large patient pool for the many clinical trials that the center conducts, according to Zafrulla Khan, DDS, MS, professor and director of maxillofacial/oncologic dentistry in the center's HNC clinic. "That's what happens when you mix tobacco and bourbon," Dr. Khan noted. Intraoral radiation shields Some of the center's novel treatment techniques involve using intraoral radiation shields during brachytherapy radiotherapy procedures to prevent the tongue and nearby oral areas from getting irradiated while minimizing mucositis and xerostomia, Dr. Khan explained. Intraoral radiation shields prevent the tongue and nearby oral areas from getting irradiated while minimizing mucositis and xerostomia "We put catheters right into tumors so they can deliver the radiotherapy in the mouth with high-density therapy machines rather than doing an external beam," he said. The clinic also uses a surgical obturator, a prosthetic device that enables patients to speak and swallow following surgery for maxillary sinus cancer. [...]

2013-02-20T07:32:57-07:00February, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Detecting cancer’s biochemical ‘fingerprint’ for early diagnosis

Source: www.siliconrepublic.com Author: Claire O'Connell Detecting cancer in its early stages could help to make treatment more effective. Claire O’Connell found out from Dr Fiona Lyng about Cervassist, an emerging technology that uses spectroscopy to analyse tissue samples and spot when cells are showing signs of abnormality. So far the technology has been focusing on assessing cervical smear samples, which are routinely collected as part of screening programmes for cervical cancer in many countries. Cervical cancer is the one of the most common female cancers in Europe, and women are encouraged to be screened every few years. Cells are removed from the neck of the womb, and they are examined by eye under a microscope. If there are abnormal or potentially cancerous cells in the sample, the person can be monitored or treated as appropriate. Cervassist, which is being developed at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), could offer another view of those cells on the microscope slide. By shining laser light on the samples and collecting some of the scattered radiation, the technology can automatically analyse the biochemical content of the cells, explains Lyng, who is manager of the DIT Centre for Radiation and Environmental Science. "We use Raman spectroscopy to analyse the cervical samples – it's a vibrational spectroscopic technique that gives a biochemical fingerprint of a sample," she says. "If you shine laser light on a sample, light is scattered back and we collect the inelastic scatter, which contains information about the biochemical components in the sample, the [...]

2013-02-11T22:31:03-07:00February, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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