Oral Cancer News – Page 186

New Study for Head and Neck Melanomas

Source: MDNews.com ANN ARBOR, MI — A common technique for determining whether melanoma has spread can be used safely and effectively even in tumors from the head and neck area, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sentinel lymph node biopsy involves injecting a special dye to identify the first node where cancer would likely spread. If that node is clean, patients can avoid further debilitating surgery to remove multiple lymph nodes. If that node shows cancer, patients know they need the more extensive surgery or further treatment with radiation, chemotherapy or a clinical trial. Patients with larger melanomas are routinely offered this procedure. But many surgeons believed that the complex anatomy combined with the critical nerves and blood vessels in the head and neck area made sentinel lymph node biopsy unsafe and inaccurate for melanomas in that region. In the current study, which appears online in Cancer, researchers looked at 353 head and neck melanoma patients who had received sentinel lymph node biopsy at U-M over a 10-year period. After reviewing patients’ records, the researchers found that the sentinel lymph node could be identified in all but one patient, and no patients sustained permanent nerve injuries during the procedure. About 20 percent of the patients had at least one sentinel node positive for cancer and were referred for a complete dissection to remove additional lymph nodes. Among the remaining 283 patients with negative sentinel nodes, 12 patients recurred in the region where the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-09T10:30:24-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Aerosmith’s Bassist is Treated for Tongue Cancer with Laser Surgery

Source: KSAT.com Aerosmith will be performing in Mexico and South America this fall and one of the band members will be along for the tour thanks to a radical medical procedure. In one Aerosmith song, bassist Tom Hamilton sends a message to his throat and tongue cancer with the lyrics "you've got no business with me." Five years ago, Hamilton underwent chemotherapy and radiation for tongue-base cancer, but it came back and extended into his voice box. That is when he turned to Dr. Steven Zeitels. "This is not your classic way, or even traditional way, to try and remove a cancer from the tongue base," Zeitels said. Radical surgery was now Hamilton's only option. But that could leave his voice and breathing passage permanently damaged. "I was just terrified," Hamilton said. "I really though, 'Oh, I am looking at not being able to talk.'" Zeitels has treated vocal cord cancer with the green-light KTP laser, so Hamilton agreed to be the first person treated that way for tongue base cancer. The laser emits a green light, which is concentrated in the extra blood running through the cancer. "Where there is a lot of cancer, there will be a lot of blood," Zeitels said. "Where there is a lot of blood, there will be a lot of combustion so that you are actually watching the tissues burn completely different" But not everyone is a candidate for this surgery. "The second I had a tiny bit of consciousness, the first thing I did was make [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-09T10:30:12-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Reirradiation Effective in Post-Radiation Sarcoma

Source: MedScape Today News Reirradiation plus hyperthermia is an effective treatment for radiation-associated sarcoma (RAS) and could even cure some of these rare tumors, a small new study suggests. "The reirradiation plus hyperthermia as we used it appears to be quite successful with a very high response rate and reasonable local control rate," Dr. Geertjan van Tienhoven of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, one of the study's authors, told Reuters Health. RAS develops in areas previously reirradiated with 25 to 80 Gray, usually with a latency period of three years or more, and with a different histology from the original tumor, according to a June 28th online paper in Cancer. Dr. van Tienhoven predicts that "radiation-associated sarcomas are going to be more frequent in the future, because of an increasing prevalence of breast cancer survivors who are at risk, be it a low risk, for RAS." These tumors are usually resected with radical surgery and sometimes adjuvant chemotherapy. To date, according the paper, there haven't been any randomized trials or other prospective studies of reirradiation for RAS. "Many papers and textbooks state that radiation shouldn't be done in these tumors because they are caused by radiation. Indeed it sounds counterintuitive to irradiate again," Dr. van Tienhoven said in an interview. But using hyperthermia with reirradiation allows for a lower radiation dose, he and his coauthors explain. The Academic Medical Center and the Institute Verbeeten have "extensive experience" with this approach, for example in breast cancer recurrence in previously irradiated [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-09T10:29:53-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Laser Surgery On Tongue Cancer Successful for Aerosmith Musician

Source: KSAT Author: Brian Mylar Aerosmith Musician Shows Progress Fighting Cancer SAN ANTONIO -- Aerosmith will be performing in Mexico and South America this fall and one of the band members will be along for the tour thanks to a radical medical procedure. In one Aerosmith song, bassist Tom Hamilton sends a message to his throat and tongue cancer with the lyrics "you've got no business with me." Five years ago, Hamilton underwent chemotherapy and radiation for tongue-base cancer, but it came back and extended into his voice box. That is when he turned to Dr. Steven Zeitels. "This is not your classic way, or even traditional way, to try and remove a cancer from the tongue base," Zeitels said. Radical surgery was now Hamilton's only option. But that could leave his voice and breathing passage permanently damaged. "I was just terrified," Hamilton said. "I really though, 'Oh, I am looking at not being able to talk.'" Zeitels has treated vocal cord cancer with the green-light KTP laser, so Hamilton agreed to be the first person treated that way for tongue base cancer. The laser emits a green light, which is concentrated in the extra blood running through the cancer. "Where there is a lot of cancer, there will be a lot of blood," Zeitels said. "Where there is a lot of blood, there will be a lot of combustion so that you are actually watching the tissues burn completely different" But not everyone is a candidate for this surgery. [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-08-08T16:41:44-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

How Norwich woman put the “fun” in fundraising

Source: Norwich evening news Author: Rowan Mantell She’s enlisted elephants and garden gnomes to her cause, met royalty, staged an impromptu strip show and helped make millions for charity. Theresa Cossey, who has just stepped down as a trustee of the Big C charity, talks about putting the fun into fundraising. She spoke to ROWAN MANTELL. All her life Theresa Cossey has fizzed with money-making ideas. Elephants and garden gnomes were early stars of her fund-raising fervour, and over the past 30 years she has helped raise millions for Norfolk charity Big C – with everything from huge society events to tiny table-top tombolas. She has encouraged people who have run marathons, rafted across the Channel, embarked on sponsored tandem rides in pantomime costume, raced hospital trollies and auctioned anything from bedspreads to baby donkeys. Theresa is, quite simply, a phenomenal fundraiser. Since 1980 she has raised big, big money for Big C, and despite the decades of hard graft, she still believes fund-raising is all about having fun. “Fundraising should be without the final ‘d’; it should be fun, and if it stops being fun you should stop doing it,” she said. That fun has funded hospital wards and equipment, paid for practical and emotional support for cancer patients and their families, and set up teams of scientists researching treatments and cures. This summer Theresa is handing over some of her Big C responsibilities, but not because she has lost her passion for the charity. “When you get past 70 [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-08-08T12:11:43-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Morning smoking linked to higher risk of head and neck cancer

Source: www.nursingtimes.net Author: staff Smokers who light up first thing in the morning have a higher risk of developing head and neck cancer than those who wait that little bit longer for their first cigarette of the day, a study has suggested. A research team from the Penn State College of Medicine in America investigated whether nicotine dependence, as characterised by the time smokers take to have their first cigarette after waking, affects smokers’ risk of lung, head and neck cancers independent of cigarette smoking frequency and duration. They analysed 1,055 people with head and neck cancers and 795 who did not have cancer, all of whom were cigarette smokers. Individuals who smoked 31 minutes to an hour after waking were 1.42 times more likely to develop head and neck cancer than those who waited more than hour before having a nicotine fix. Those who waited less than half an hour to have their first cigarette of the day were 1.59 times as likely to develop head and neck cancer. According to Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, the results of the study may help identify smokers who have an especially high risk of developing cancer and would therefore benefit from targeted smoking interventions. Dr Joshua Muscar, lead researcher, said: “These smokers have higher levels of nicotine and possibly other tobacco toxins in their body, and they may be more addicted than smokers who refrain from smoking for a half hour or more.”

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-08T09:05:20-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Shortchanging cancer patients

Source: nytimes.com Author: Ezekiel J. Emanuel Right now cancer care is being rationed in the United States. Probably to their great disappointment, President Obama’s critics cannot blame this rationing on death panels or health care reform. Rather, it is caused by a severe shortage of important cancer drugs. Of the 34 generic cancer drugs on the market, as of this month, 14 were in short supply. They include drugs that are the mainstay of treatment regimens used to cure leukemia, lymphoma and testicular cancer. As Dr. Michael Link, the president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, recently told me, “If you are a pediatric oncologist, you know how to cure 70 to 80 percent of patients. But without these drugs you are out of business.” This shortage is even inhibiting research studies that can lead to higher cure rates: enrollment of patients in many clinical trials has been delayed or stopped because the drugs that are in short supply make up the standard regimens to which new treatments are added or compared. The sad fact is, there are plenty of newer brand-name cancer drugs that do not cure anyone, but just extend life for a few months, at costs of up to $90,000 per patient. Only the older but curative cancer drugs — drugs that can cost as little as $3 per dose — have become unavailable. Most of these drugs have no substitutes, but, crazy as it seems, in some cases these shortages are forcing doctors to use [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-07T20:40:33-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

World’s second youngest oral cancer patient

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel, (By Tsai Pei-chi and Christie Chen) Taipei, Aug. 5 - A seven-year-old boy in Taiwan has been diagnosed as Asia's youngest and the world's second youngest oral cancer patient, said Dr. Hsia Yi-jan from Taipei's Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital Friday. The boy, surnamed Liao, was diagnosed with oral cancer after pustules were found on his tooth extraction wound, which failed to heal after he pulled out a tooth at the beginning of the year, said Hsia, who directs the hospital's oral and maxillofacial surgery center. It is rare for children to contract oral cancer, as oral cancer patients in Taiwan are usually between 30 and 45 years old, the doctor said. The exact cause of Liao's cancer has not yet been determined. Liao was discharged from the hospital Friday after successfully recovering from the surgery. Hsia, who performed the surgery for Liao, said many oral cancer patients mistake oral cancer for periodontal disease or ordinary mouth ulcers, and as a result, miss the best time for treatment. He said patients should seek medical treatment if their oral wounds have failed to heal after more than two to three weeks.

Charlotte Parker2011-08-08T12:12:05-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Ischemic Stroke, Transient Ischemic Attack after Head & Neck Radiotherapy

Source: AHA Journals Author: Chris Plummer, PhD; Robert D. Henderson, PhD; John D. O'Sullivan, MD; Stephen J. Read, PhD Abstract Background and Purpose—Cerebrovascular disease can complicate head and neck radiotherapy and result in transient ischemic attack and ischemic stroke. Although the incidence of radiation vasculopathy is predicted to rise with improvements in median cancer survival, the pathogenesis, natural history, and management of the disease are ill defined. Methods—We examined studies on the epidemiology, imaging, pathogenesis, and management of medium- and large-artery intra- and extra-cranial disease after head and neck radiotherapy. Controlled prospective trials and larger retrospective trials from the last 30 years were prioritized. Results—The relative risk of transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke is at least doubled by head and neck radiotherapy. Chronic radiation vasculopathy affecting medium and large intra- and extra-cranial arteries is characterized by increasing rates of hemodynamically significant stenosis with time from radiotherapy. Disease expression is the likely consequence of the combined radiation insult to the intima-media (accelerating atherosclerosis) and to the adventitia (injuring the vasa vasorum). Optimal medical treatment is not established. Carotid endarterectomy is confounded by the need to operate across scarred tissue planes, whereas carotid stenting procedures have resulted in high restenosis rates. Conclusions—Head and neck radiotherapy significantly increases the risk of transient ischemic attack and ischemic stroke. Evidence-based guidelines for the management of asymptomatic and symptomatic (medium- and large-artery) radiation vasculopathy are lacking. Long-term prospective studies remain a priority, as the incidence of the problem is anticipated to rise with improvements in [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-08-08T12:12:22-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Sentinel Node Biopsy Safe & Effective in Head/Neck Melanomas

Source: MD News Author: Staff *see below University of Michigan study refutes controversy about technique in delicate head, neck region. ANN ARBOR, MI — A common technique for determining whether melanoma has spread can be used safely and effectively even in tumors from the head and neck area, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sentinel lymph node biopsy involves injecting a special dye to identify the first node where cancer would likely spread. If that node is clean, patients can avoid further debilitating surgery to remove multiple lymph nodes. If that node shows cancer, patients know they need the more extensive surgery or further treatment with radiation, chemotherapy or a clinical trial. Patients with larger melanomas are routinely offered this procedure. But many surgeons believed that the complex anatomy combined with the critical nerves and blood vessels in the head and neck area made sentinel lymph node biopsy unsafe and inaccurate for melanomas in that region. In the current study, which appears online in Cancer, researchers looked at 353 head and neck melanoma patients who had received sentinel lymph node biopsy at U-M over a 10-year period. After reviewing patients’ records, the researchers found that the sentinel lymph node could be identified in all but one patient, and no patients sustained permanent nerve injuries during the procedure. About 20 percent of the patients had at least one sentinel node positive for cancer and were referred for a complete dissection to remove additional lymph [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-08-08T12:12:51-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|