Oral Cancer News

‘Sicker’ Canadians struggle to obtain treatment: report

Source: CTV.ca TORONTO — Canadians with chronic conditions are frequent users of the health-care system, but a new report shows many experience considerable difficulty getting the medical treatment they need. So-called sicker Canadians -- most of whom are age 50 or older -- have one or more of seven chronic conditions: high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, joint pain or arthritis, chronic lung problems such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and mental health problems such as depression or anxiety. Those who are chronically ill are among the highest users of health services: they are more likely to be hospitalized, have surgery, visit emergency departments and take prescription medications. But cost can be a major barrier to accessing that care, says the Health Council of Canada, citing results from the 2011 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey, which included almost 4,000 Canadians. Almost a quarter of respondents who rated their health as fair or poor reported skipping a dose of medication or not filling a prescription due to the cost, compared with just 10 per cent of other Canadians, the survey found. The council said that one-in-four ratio is significant because 90 per cent of sicker Canadians take at least one prescription drug, while 54 per cent take four or more medications. As well, about one in eight said they have skipped a recommended test or followup treatment due to cost concerns, compared to just five per cent of those without chronic health problems. "The experiences of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-13T10:44:42-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Quebecers waiting longer for surgery

Source: CTV.ca Canadians who needed surgeries or other treatments in 2011 had to wait longer than they have in close to two decades, says a new report from the Fraser Institute, and the average waiting time for Quebecers has grown to the longest it's been since 2003. The think-tank, which has been tracking wait times since 1993, says that the median wait time for surgery in 2011 jumped to 19 weeks, from 18.2 weeks in 2010. In Quebec the average time in 2011 grew to 19.9 weeks. The previous year patients waited 18.8 weeks, while in 2009 the average waiting time was 16.6 weeks. Despite the growth in waiting times, Quebec patients were the third quickest in the country at getting the operations they needed. The survey suggests the main reason for delays in Quebec was the time between seeing a specialist after getting a referral from a General Practitioner, which at 10.7 weeks is above the national average. The wait for second step of the process -- actually getting the operation -- had actually decreased in Quebec from 9.9 weeks to 9.2 weeks. Only in Ontario, B.C., and Manitoba were patients faster at moving into the operating room after an initial visit with a surgeon. Life-threatening cases always treated quickly Surgery is not a first-come, first-served affair. Doctors at the Jewish General Hospital say priority is always given to life-threatening cases. "There are patients walking around with hernias, for example, that are not symptomatic, that they've had for 15 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-13T10:25:29-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Meat ups cancer risk while fruit/vegetables reduce it

Source: www.foodconsumer.org Author: staff In 1976, the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, led by Senator George McGovern found that meat-based diets are responsible for more than half of total cases of cancer. In 1980, the U.S. National Cancer Institute directed the National Research Council to collect and study the literature on nutrition and cancer. It found that eating meat causes 40 percent of cancers in males and 60 percent of total cancers in women. International research institutions confirmed that the more the meat intake, the higher the risk for the cancer, particularly in the digestive system. Harvard University public health experts found 70 percent of human cancers are associated with meat consumption. U.S. National Institutes of Health studied fifty thousand vegetarians and found they had much lower risk for cancer than meat eaters. At the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center, Tim Bayer, Professor of Preventive Medicine, said fruits and vegetables are preventative against all gastrointestinal cancers and cancers induced by smoking. He also said it has been fully scientifically confirmed that eating fruits and vegetables prevents oral cancer , throat, esophagus, lung, stomach, colon and bladder cancer. Chairman of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Research Group and University of California biologist Dr. Clifford Grobstein said: "By controlling the food we eat, the diet can prevent sensitive cancers, such as esophagus, breast, stomach, colorectal and prostate cancer." Why does a vegetarian diet prevents cancer? 1. Fruits and vegetables contain anti-cancer ingredients In 1978, the University [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-11T08:35:35-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

New Irish cancer map reveals pattern of disease by geographical area

Source: www.independent.ie Author: Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent Where you live can have a bearing on how high a risk you run of contracting a specific type of cancer. That is a key conclusion of a major new survey by the National Cancer Registry and its northern equivalent. It shows that between 1995-2007: - Those living on coasts and in urban areas have a higher risk of both types of skin cancer; - Those living around Cork city and in a band across the north of the island have a higher risk of bowel cancer. - Lung cancer risk is higher in urban areas such as Dublin, Cork, Derry, Belfast and in the east - Prostate cancer risk was much higher in the Republic than in the North. - Stomach cancer risk was highest in a band running from Dublin to Donegal; - The risk of many cancers is related to how much social or economic deprivation there is in an area. For example lung, stomach, head and neck and cervical cancer risk was found to be higher in areas of high unemployment or where fewer go on to higher education. However, skin, breast and prostate cancer risk was lower in these areas. Generally, the risk of cancer risk is higher in more densely populated areas and where there are larger numbers of elderly living. National Cancer Registry director Dr Harry Comber said the differences can mostly be explained by people's lifestyles, including smoking, drinking, obesity, diet and sexual behaviour. People [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-09T07:00:58-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

MRI shows promise for oral cancer staging

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could play an important role in the diagnosis of oral cancer, according to a study in Brazilian Oral Researcher (December 2011, Vol. 25:6, pp. 512-518). Researchers from the University Center of Anapolis School of Dentistry compared clinical staging and MRI staging for oral cancer in 10 patients diagnosed with oral cancer. A head and neck surgeon performed standard TNM staging, while two medical radiologists and two oral radiologists performed a new staging assessment by interpreting MRI studies, without prior knowledge of the clinical staging. Each evaluated the extent of the primary tumor (T), metastasis to regional lymph nodes (N), and grouping by stages. There was significant agreement (p

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-09T06:53:40-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

UI professors: HPV editorial misses the mark

Source: The Daily Iowan The Nov. 29 editorial "Recommend Pap smears, not vaccines, to prevent cervical cancer" completely missed the mark with regard to HPV vaccines. We are researchers and clinicians at the University of Iowa who study and treat HPV and other infectious diseases. It is disturbing to think that the article might dissuade individuals from getting a safe and effective vaccine that can prevent cancer. First of all, it has been conclusively demonstrated that the vaccines are effective at preventing HPV infection. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV. Additionally, cancers of the head and neck are linked to HPV, including cancers in males. It has been clearly shown that the vaccines prevent the development of precursors to cervical cancer. In the editorial, Dr. Diane Harper was quoted as saying, "If doctors tell patients that this vaccination will prevent cancer, they're telling them a lie." This statement from Dr. Harper is simply misleading. In the vaccine studies, non-treatment of precursor lesions in the placebo group in the context of a clinical trial was considered unethical, and therefore, any precursor lesions were treated. Subsequent development of cancer in the placebo group was prevented by the required ethical treatment. Thus, the trials could not evaluate prevention of advanced cancer, per se. Because it takes cervical cancer a long time to develop, it will take about 15 more years to have data on incidence rates of cervical cancer from a large vaccinated general population. Because the vaccines prevent HPV infection and HPV-associated [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-08T10:31:17-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Computer scientists may have what it takes to help cure cancer

Source: nytimes.com Author: David Patterson The war against cancer is increasingly moving into cyberspace. Computer scientists may have the best skills to fight cancer in the next decade — and they should be signing up in droves. One reason to enlist: Cancer is so pervasive. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Emperor of All Maladies,” the oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee writes that cancer is a disease of frightening fractions: One-fourth of deaths in the United States are caused by cancer; one-third of women will face cancer in their lifetimes; and so will half of men. As he wrote, “The question is not if we will get this immortal disease, but when.” Dr. Mukherjee noted that surprisingly recently, researchers discovered that cancer is a genetic disease, caused primarily by mutations in our DNA. As well as providing the molecular drivers of cancer, changes to the DNA also cause the diversity within a cancer tumor that makes it so hard to eradicate completely. The hope is that by sequencing the genome of a cancer tumor, doctors will soon be able to prescribe a personalized, targeted therapy to stop a cancer’s growth or to cure it. According to Walter Isaacson’s new biography “Steve Jobs,” a team of medical researchers sequenced the Apple executive’s pancreatic cancer tumor and used that information to decide which drug therapies to use. Since Mr. Jobs’s cancer had already spread, this effort was even more challenging. Each sequencing cost $100,000. Fortunately for the rest of us, the cost of turning [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-08T10:17:58-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Medical Students Knowledge in the UK

Source: HighWire- Stanford University There has been little improvement in the survival of patients with oral cancer despite advances in treatment, and late presentation of the disease is one reason for this poor outcome. Research and experience tell us that tuition in medical schools about examination of the oral cavity is poor. We aimed to ascertain the opinions and experience of students regarding this in our institution by dissemination of a web-based anonymous questionnaire that focused on education about examination of the oral cavity and experience in carrying it out. From a cohort of 600 students 458 (76%) responded. A total of 334 (73%) had not been taught how to examine the oral cavity, 372 (81%) had had no experience of doing so in patients, and only 13/86 (15%) felt confident to diagnose a carcinoma of the lip or oral cavity. Eighty-nine percent felt that the tuition given had not been adequate. Examination of the oral cavity cannot be considered part of the core clinical curriculum, and medical schools and departments of oral and maxillofacial surgery urgently need to embrace the introduction of the necessary skills. This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-06T10:46:58-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Lymphedema Common After Head and Neck Cancer

Source: Elsevier Global Medical News SAN FRANCISCO (EGMN) - Lymphedema is highly common and a source of considerable morbidity among patients who undergo treatment for head and neck cancer, finds a cross-sectional study among 103 survivors. Fully three-fourths had developed some degree of lymphedema, according to results presented at the annual Oncology Congress presented by Reed Medical Education. The more severe it was, the more likely patients were to have symptoms, functional impairments, and poorer quality of life. Disease and treatment-related factors such as high radiation dose and combined surgery and radiation therapy were risk factors for the development of lymphedema. "This is the first study that we are aware of in the United States of this depth to systematically examine lymphedema" in this population, noted lead investigator Jie Deng, Ph.D., R.N., O.C.N., a postdoctoral fellow at the Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. "Health care professionals should be aware that lymphedema is a frequent late effect in the head and neck cancer population," she advised. "We need to educate patients about the risk of lymphedema prior to treatment, during treatment, and posttreatment, and we need to conduct external and internal examinations to evaluate related signs and symptoms at each clinic visit." Patients found to have any signs or symptoms should be referred for lymphedema assessment. Furthermore, "it's very important we have very detailed documentation so we can follow up on patients' treatment effect and also identify potential issues in this population," Dr. Deng stressed. "An interdisciplinary approach is needed to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-06T10:29:30-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Boys need the cervical cancer jab, too

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk Author: Max Pemberton Few politicians will ever admit they are wrong, so I salute health ministers who have finally capitulated to medical opinion and last month announced a U-turn on the cervical cancer vaccine that is given to 12- and 13-year-old girls. Until now, Cervarix, which protects against two strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV) that are a factor in at least 70 per cent of diagnoses, has been the NHS vaccine of choice. However, another vaccine, Gardasil, also protects against a further two strains of HPV which cause genital warts, the most common sexually-transmitted infection, requiring costly and unpleasant treatment. As doctors have been arguing for some time, this has important public health implications. The current cost to the NHS of treating the 100,000 new cases of genital warts in England each year is £23 million. In several countries, including Australia, where Gardasil has been used in nationwide vaccination programmes, a 75 per cent decrease in the number of new cases of genital warts in the past three years has been reported. Critics of NHS policy complained that Cervarix was chosen over Gardasil not on the basis of clinical efficacy but because its manufacturers offered it at a discounted price, making it the most cost-effective. Indeed, many doctors have admitted in the medical press that they have bought Gardasil for their daughters privately, while they had to give their patients Cervarix. But ministers have seen sense as now Gardasil will be available on the NHS. But the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-05T09:29:57-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|