OCF In The News

A great company teams up with great employees to raise money for Oral Cancer

As a result of a great company and their employees, at a second annual 5K run and two mile walk for Team Berry at a local event this year in South Carolina, their efforts have raised more than $2,900 which was donated to the Oral Cancer Foundation to be used for oral cancer research. Sixty-four employees, spouses and children of Berry Home Centers and Berry Iron and Metal Company participated in the 5K and walk this year, more than double the participants last year, because the companies were running for a cause. Both were running for Jeremy Blevins, 42, who passed away Aug. 3 after a courageous battle with oral cancer, and his family. Jeremy is the nephew of Tom and Kyra Bishop who own Berry Home Centers and Berry Iron and Metal Company and also the nephew of Steve Kegley, Kyra’s brother and manager of the Abingdon Berry Home Centers’ store. Berry’s offered to donate $20 for every mile walked or run by employees in this year’s race to the Oral Cancer Foundation in Jeremy’s honor. Employees completed a 145.1 miles during the 5K and 2 mile walk, so Berry’s donated $2,902 to the Oral Cancer Foundation as a result. Jeremey Blevins wife, Shelley Blevins, pictured above with their son, Bise, and friend, is also coordinating the inaugural Oral Cancer Foundation Run For Awareness in Memory of Jeremy Blevins on Saturday, February 1, 2014. The event will take place at Springmaid Park located at Baxter Village. Please visit the [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-11-05T11:25:04-07:00November, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Walk/Run will raise money for oral cancer research

Published Aug 12, 2013 at 2:06 pm (Updated Aug 12, 2013)Source: The Sparta Independent ANDOVER — On Saturday, Sept. 21 , the sixth annual Oral Cancer Foundation Walk/Run for Awareness in Memory Of David Nasto will take place at Perona Farms in Andover. The annual event is held in honor of a local, young man who lost his life to oral cancer seven years ago. Susan Lauria, David’s sister, hosts the walk each year and is excited to announce the special features of the 2013 event. Participants will have access to free oral cancer screenings by local dentists and oral surgeons as well as free blood pressure screenings. All participants will enjoy live music and raffles, as well as the complimentary breakfast and barbecue, facepainting for kids and more. Stage IV Oral Cancer Survivor Michael White will speak about his battle with the disease and how he is thriving today. In person registration will begin at 8 am. The first 150 walkers/runners to arrive will receive free goody bags! To date, hundreds of participants in David’s Memorial Walk have helped raise over $80,000 for the Oral Cancer Foundation, for awareness initiatives and to conduct life-saving research. Fundraising efforts have started for 2013 and community members are encouraged to form teams or fundraise individually to aid in the fight against oral cancer. An iPad3 will be given to the person who raises the most donations over $2,000 on their personal fundraising page. Any dental office team who raises the most donations [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-08-15T10:27:38-07:00August, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Cancer survivor advocating for men’s HPV awareness

Source: The Tampa Tribune (tbo.com)By Mary Shedden | Tribune Staff Published: July 28, 2013 LUKE JOHNSON/STAFF David Hastings, the co-owner of Gulport's Habana Café, has testified in front of Florida legislators and officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since becoming a volunteer patient advocate with the Oral Cancer Foundation. Seven years ago, David Hastings got the worst news of his life. He had oral cancer, and a grueling series of radiation and chemotherapy treatments would be necessary if he wanted to survive. Undergoing months of the "barbaric" treatment was awful, he said, but so was the knowledge that five different doctors couldn't explain how a 56-year-old with no history of smoking or heavy drinking ended up with such an aggressive cancer. "If something is trying to kill you, don't you want to find out what it is?" the Gulfport accountant and business owner asked over and over. It took months, but Hastings learned his cancer was linked to HPV, the sexually transmitted virus long known for its connection to deadly cervical cancers. The answer was elusive because few scientists at that time were looking at the virus and male cancers, he said. Today, doctors know that about 5,600 cases of oral cancer diagnosed each year are tied to the human papillomavirus, a number increasing at a rate faster than that of tobacco- or alcohol-related oral cancers. That's likely because more hospitals and cancer centers, including Moffitt Cancer Center, are able to test for the male [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-07-30T15:44:15-07:00July, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

The New Face of Oral Cancer

Source: nursing.advanceweb.comBy Jonathan BassettPosted on: April 22, 2013 For decades tobacco was the primary cause of oral cancer but a more insidious culprit has emerged. Jerry Wilck had no reason to suspect anything. Why would he? He only smoked for a couple of years and gave it up more than 40 years ago. He didn't drink excessively, didn't have a family history of cancer, and took good care of himself. In fact, maybe the only reason the 59-year-old consulted an oral surgeon about the small sore on his tongue - the result of a habit of running this particular spot along his teeth - was that there happened to be such a specialist right there in his office. Wilck was a general practice dentist in Langhorne, Pa., and particularly attuned to anomalies of the soft tissues of the mouth. His oral surgeon took no chances and ordered a biopsy. Wilck was "floored" the night in March 2005 when the lab report arrived by fax from the oral pathology department at Temple University in Philadelphia - squamous cell carcinoma. Wilck immediately consulted with John Ridge, MD, PhD, FACS, chief of head and neck surgery at Temple's Fox Chase Cancer Center. After surgical removal of part of his tongue and lymph nodes from his neck, along with a round of physical and speech therapy, Wilck is now cancer free and has full use of his jaw, throat and voice. "I was lucky," confessed Wilck, who retired from practice in 2009 and now spends a [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-06-10T12:26:21-07:00June, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Health Experts Praise Michael Douglas For His Oral Cancer Revelation

June 3rd, 2013 7:20pm EDTSource: starpulse.com Health experts have commended Michael Douglas for speaking out about link between throat cancer and oral sex. The 68 year-old actor, who endured a six-month battle with the illness, hit headlines over the weekend when he voiced his belief that his cancer was caused by HPV, the human papillomavirus, which can be contracted through oral sex. The Behind The Candelabra star told Britain's The Guardian newspaper, "Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus... I mean, I did worry if the stress caused by my son's incarceration didn't help trigger it. But yeah, it's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it." Douglas' frank admission has now won him praise from Brian Hill, executive director of Oral Cancer Foundation, who tells the New York Post, "I'm really quite proud of Michael saying this. This (oral sex) is not an aberrant sexual behavior. But the willingness to talk about this openly can be difficult." The actor recorded a public service announcement for the Oral Cancer Foundation last year. *This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Charlotte Parker2013-06-10T11:43:06-07:00June, 2013|OCF In The News|

The Man’s Guide to HPV

Source: Men's HealthBy: Melaina Juntti What men can do about HPV Michael Douglas caught major flak for saying oral sex gave him throat cancer. But if you're laughing, it's time to grow up. Oral cancers caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) have skyrocketed 225 percent in the past 15 years, with men accounting for 75 percent of all cases. The number-one culprit: HPV passed via oral sex. It used to be that cigarettes caused most of these cancers. But since smoking rates have plummeted over the past few decades, and we're having way more oral sex today than even our fathers' generation, HPV has become the most common STD in the U.S. – inevitably leading to more oral cancer cases. It only takes one time going down on someone to contract HPV, and experts estimate that 80 percent of us will be exposed to the virus at some point in our lives. This STD sometimes causes genital warts, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's not very common. In most cases, HPV has no symptoms. And since no test exists to detect HPV in guys, you won't know you have the virus until years later – if it turns into cancer. "It's very hard to determine when you acquired HPV," says Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University. "It doesn't usually come from just one sexual episode. That said, every once in a while, cancer develops within [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-06-10T11:35:49-07:00June, 2013|OCF In The News|

Michael Douglas: Oral sex gave me cancer

By DAVID K. LISource: NewYork PostLast Updated: 11:31 AM, June 3, 2013Posted: 8:49 PM, June 2, 2013 Michael Douglas has made a jaw-dropping revelation about his throat cancer: He didn’t contract it from smoking or drinking — but from oral sex. The Oscar-winning Hollywood star set tongues wagging after he told The Guardian newspaper that he contracted HPV, or human papillomavirus, through a sex act and it developed into cancer. “Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus,” he told the British newspaper in an interview published yesterday. After Douglas was diagnosed with the life-threatening illness in 2010, he said on “Late Show with David Letterman” that the kind of cancer he had was caused by smoking and drinking. Ghetty Images Actor Michael Douglas said a virus from oral sex, not booze and cigarettes, gave him throat cancer. In yesterday’s interview, the 68-year-old actor speculated that his son Cameron’s legal woes may have borne some responsibility, too. “I did worry if the stress caused by my son’s incarceration didn’t help trigger it,” the “Wall Street” actor said of Cameron Douglas, who is serving 10 years in a federal prison for heroin possession and distribution. “But, yeah, it’s a sexually transmitted disease that causes [the] cancer.” A cancer-awareness advocate hailed Douglas for his blunt talk. “I’m really quite proud of Michael saying this,” Brian Hill, executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation, told The Post yesterday. “This [oral sex] is [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-06-03T09:50:47-07:00June, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

The Oral Cancer Foundation Honored as 2013 Top-Rated Nonprofit New GreatNonprofits.org Award is Based on Positive Online Reviews

Newport Beach, CA May 28, 2013 - The oral Cancer Foundation announced today that is has been honored with a prestigious 2013 Top-Rated Awarded by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews about non-profit organizations. "We are honored to be named a Top-Rated 2013 Nonprofit," says Brian hill, Founder and Executive Director, The Oral Cancer Foundation. "We have found creative means to accomplish our missions; raise awareness, support patients, provide information, and sponsor research to accomplish important goals when our human and financial resources were minimal." The Top-Rated Nonprofit award was based on a large number of positive reviews that OCF received - reviews written by the patient population they serve and donors. Individuals could contribute more than a yes/no answer about questions regarding their personal experiences with the non-profit. For example, one person wrote, "I was 33 years old when I was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic oral cancer. The treatments and surgeries that saved my life however left me disfigured, disabled and dependent on the opiate pain medication, Fentanyl. I felt lost and alone, without hope. I found the Oral Cancer Foundation website 11 months after diagnosis and it was a ray of light for me. I was able to connect with survivors and other patients who understood my struggle and related to where I was. With their advice and support I've been able to rebuild my body and free myself from the opiates, and begin to live again. I can't express the gratitude in my [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-05-29T16:05:54-07:00May, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

U.S. panel finds lack of evidence for oral cancer screening

Source: Dr. BicuspidBy: Dr. Bicuspid StaffApril 9, 2013 A U.S. government-backed task force issued a statement this week saying that there is not enough published evidence to recommend for or against screening for oral cancer by primary care professionals. Evidence is lacking on whether screening can accurately detect oral cancer and if earlier treatment of cancers found during those tests improves long-term health, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Their draft recommendation statement applies to people who do not have any signs or symptoms of oral cancer and is meant for primary care professionals screening for oral cancer. It is not a recommendation about the practices of dentists and oral health professionals, the panel noted. The task force -- an independent volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine -- reviewed the current literature and found: Inadequate evidence that the oral screening examination accurately detects oral cancer Inadequate evidence that screening for oral cancer and treatment of screen-detected oral cancer improves morbidity or mortality Inadequate evidence on the harms of screening; no study reported on harms from the screening test or from false-positive or false-negative test results Seven studies (n = 49,120) examined the performance characteristics of the oral screening examination. These studies were generally conducted in settings with an increased incidence of and mortality from oral cancer (India, Taiwan) compared with U.S. rates, the panel reported. The studies also had considerable heterogeneity and demonstrated great variation in test performance characteristics. Across the seven studies, sensitivity [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-05-26T07:36:08-07:00May, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Be a trendsetter for oral cancer screenings

By Trish De Dios April 18, 2013Source: dentistryiq.com April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month. We are well-trained in hygiene school to perform a non-invasive visual and tactile oral cancer screening. We perform it on every patient we see and the patients of our school clinic are accustomed to the comprehensive nature of the exam we perform. We then are set free from the chains of dental hygiene school and unleashed into the world of professional private practice. Unfortunately, the transition from school to work can cause us to cut corners and be negligent in our oral cancer screening, due in part to the demands of being in private practice. Employers are often apprehensive of the time constraints of the exam and may be misinformed regarding how screenings would take place in their practice. My advice to the new grad is stay true to your ethical and clinical standards of care. Do not deviate from being thorough in your oral cancer screenings because of your newly acquired degree or work position. The most important part of a patient’s hygiene visit is this potentially life-saving exam, and once your patients and employer realize this, they will never undermine your clinical protocol. In addition to the great service you are providing your patients, it is a good business practice to create value in the dental hygiene appointment. Your patients are not just getting their teeth cleaned – convey to your employer and patients that when you are their hygienist, the hygiene visit will consist [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-04-24T16:51:37-07:00April, 2013|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|