Oral Cancer News – Page 234

Get moving: cancer survivors urged to exercise

Source: apnews.myway.com Author: Lauran Neergaard New guidelines are urging survivors to exercise more, even - hard as it may sound - those who haven't yet finished their treatment. There's growing evidence that physical activity improves quality of life and eases some cancer-related fatigue. More, it can help fend off a serious decline in physical function that can last long after therapy is finished. Consider: In one year, women who needed chemotherapy for their breast cancer can see a swapping of muscle for fat that's equivalent to 10 years of normal aging, says Dr. Wendy Demark-Wahnefried of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In other words, a 45-year-old may find herself with the fatter, weaker body type of a 55-year-old. Scientists have long advised that being overweight and sedentary increases the risk for various cancers. Among the nation's nearly 12 million cancer survivors, there are hints - although not yet proof - that people who are more active may lower risk of a recurrence. And like everyone who ages, the longer cancer survivors live, the higher their risk for heart disease that exercise definitely fights. The American College of Sports Medicine convened a panel of cancer and exercise specialists to evaluate the evidence. Guidelines issued this month advise cancer survivors to aim for the same amount of exercise as recommended for the average person: about 2 1/2 hours a week. Patients still in treatment may not feel up to that much, the guidelines acknowledge, but should avoid inactivity on their good [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-28T20:08:45-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Quantifying the effects of promoting smokeless tobacco as a harm reduction strategy in the USA

Source: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com Authors: Adrienne B Mejia et al. Background: Snus (a form of smokeless tobacco) is less dangerous than cigarettes. Some health professionals argue that snus should be promoted as a component of a harm reduction strategy, while others oppose this approach. Major US tobacco companies (RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris) are marketing snus products as cigarette brand line extensions. The population effects of smokeless tobacco promotion will depend on the combined effects of changes in individual risk with population changes in tobacco use patterns. Objective: To quantitatively evaluate the health impact of smokeless tobacco promotion as part of a harm reduction strategy in the US. Methods: A Monte Carlo simulation of a decision tree model of tobacco initiation and use was used to estimate the health effects associated with five different patterns of increased smokeless tobacco use. Results: With cigarette smoking having a health effect of 100, the base case scenario (based on current US prevalence rates) yields a total health effect of 24.2 (5% to 95% interval 21.7 to 26.5) and the aggressive smokeless promotion (less cigarette use and increased smokeless, health-concerned smokers switching to snus, smokers in smokefree environments switching to snus) was associated with a health effect of 30.4 (5% to 95% interval 25.9 to 35.2). The anticipated health effects for additional scenarios with lower rates of smokeless uptake also overlapped with the base case. Conclusions: Promoting smokeless tobacco as a safer alternative to cigarettes is unlikely to result in substantial health benefits at a population [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-28T13:19:14-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study

Source: www.reuters.com Author: edited by Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman The United States ranked last when compared to six other countries -- Britain, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, the Commonwealth Fund report found. "As an American it just bothers me that with all of our know-how, all of our wealth, that we are not assuring that people who need healthcare can get it," Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis told reporters in a telephone briefing. Previous reports by the nonprofit fund, which conducts research into healthcare performance and promotes changes in the U.S. system, have been heavily used by policymakers and politicians pressing for healthcare reform. Davis said she hoped health reform legislation passed in March would lead to improvements. The current report uses data from nationally representative patient and physician surveys in seven countries in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It is available here. In 2007, health spending was $7,290 per person in the United States, more than double that of any other country in the survey. Australians spent $3,357, Canadians $3,895, Germans $3,588, the Netherlands $3,837 and Britons spent $2,992 per capita on health in 2007. New Zealand spent the least at $2,454. This is a big rise from the Fund's last similar survey, in 2007, which found Americans spent $6,697 per capita on healthcare in 2005, or 16 percent of gross domestic product. "We rank last on safety and do poorly on several dimensions of quality," Schoen told reporters. "We do particularly poorly on going without care [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-27T14:42:29-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Role of esophageal stents in the nutrition support of patients with esophageal malignancy

Source: ncp.sagepub.com Authors: Matthew Bower, MD et al. Endoluminal stents are commonly used for palliative treatment of dysphagia in patients with advanced esophageal malignancies. The most frequently used esophageal stents are self-expanding metal stents. Removable self-expanding plastic stents have recently been used in the management of esophageal cancer patients treated with curative intent. Esophageal stents effectively alleviate dysphagia in most patients, and stent placement is associated with a low rate of complications. This article reviews the use of self-expanding esophageal stents in patients with esophageal cancer. Nutrition considerations following stent placement are addressed. Authors: Matthew Bower, MD, Whitney Jones, MD, Ben Vessels, MD, Charles Scoggins, MD, MBA, Robert Martin, MD, PhD Authors' affiliation: Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, and James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-27T14:34:57-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New evidence that smokeless tobacco damages DNA And key enzymes

Source: news.biocompare.com Author: staff Far from having adverse effects limited to the mouth, smokeless tobacco affects the normal function of a key family of enzymes found in almost every organ in the body, according to the first report on the topic in ACS' monthly journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. The enzymes play important roles in production of hormones, including the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone; production of cholesterol and vitamin D; and help the body breakdown prescription drugs and potentially toxic substances. Smokeless tobacco also damages genetic material in the liver, kidney and lungs. Krishan Khanduja and colleagues note widespread recognition of smokeless tobacco's harmful effects on the mouth, which include an increased risk of gum disease and oral cancer. The potential carcinogens and other chemicals in chewing tobacco and other smokeless products are absorbed into the blood and travel throughout the body. However, scientists have little information on smokeless tobacco's effects on other parts of the body. To fill that knowledge gap, the scientists evaluated changes in enzymes and genetic material in laboratory rats using extracts of smokeless tobacco. In addition to damage to the genetic material DNA, they found that smokeless tobacco extracts alter the function of the so-called CYP-450 family of enzymes. "These products are used around the world but are most common in Northern Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean region," the report says. "Most of the users seem to be unaware of the harmful health effects and, therefore, use smokeless tobacco to 'treat' toothaches, headaches, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-27T10:35:40-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Experts: CT scans pose risks, need more regulation

Source: news.yahoo.com Author: Marilynn Marchione, AP Medical Writer From long-term cancer risks to radiation overdose mistakes, CT scans pose a growing danger to the American public and need more regulation to improve their safety, imaging experts write in a leading medical journal. The articles in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine come a week after a story by The Associated Press detailed the overuse of imaging tests and how much the average American's radiation dose has grown in recent years. CT scans are super-sharp X-rays that have transformed medicine by helping doctors quickly diagnose or rule out injuries and diseases. But they use far more radiation than ordinary X-rays, and too much radiation raises the risk of cancer over time. The federal Food and Drug Administration and Congress are considering new measures to help prevent medical mistakes — relatively rare cases where some people are accidentally given radiation overdoses. However, far more people face potential long-term harm from ordinary scans that are done correctly but that are overused, repeated or simply unnecessary. Each year, 10 percent of the U.S. population gets a CT scan, and use of this imaging is growing more than 10 percent per year. "That's really the area we should focus on," said the author of one of the articles, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman. She is a radiologist at the University of California at San Francisco on temporary leave to do radiation research at the National Cancer Institute. The FDA regulates scanning equipment, but lacks authority to say [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-27T10:30:46-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

HPV is changing the face of head and neck cancers

Source: www.hemonctoday.com Author: Christen Cona In February, at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz., Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, professor and Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University in Columbus, presented data that showed that the proportion of all head and neck squamous cell cancers that were of the oropharynx — which are most commonly HPV-positive cancers — increased from 18% in 1973 to 32% in 2005. In addition, studies from the United States, Europe, Denmark and Australia indicate that HPV-positive patients have a more than twofold increased cancer survival than HPV-negative patients, according to Gillison. With the rising incidence of HPV-related oropharynx cancers, it will soon be the predominant type of cancer in the oral or head and neck region, according to Andy Trotti, MD, director of radiation oncology clinical research, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, in Tampa, Fla. “We should be focusing on HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer because it will dominate the field of head and neck cancers for many years,” he said during an interview with HemOnc Today . “It is certainly an important population for which to continue to conduct research.” Because HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer is emerging as a distinct biological entity, the recent rise in incidence will significantly affect treatment, and prevention and screening techniques, essentially reshaping current clinical practice. Social change driving incidence In the analysis performed by Gillison and colleagues, trends demonstrated that change in the rates of head and neck cancers [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-27T10:24:39-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Distinguishing cancer cells with off the shelf digital camera

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: staff Researchers can easily distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells in photos of tissue samples taken with a $400 Olympus E-330 camera. The images are captured with a fiber-optic cable. The tip of the cable, which is about as wide as a pencil lead, can be applied directly to the inside of the cheek. Credit: D. Shin/Rice University

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-25T05:23:13-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Professor: Oral cancer deadlier than most

Source: enterprise-journal.com Author: Charles Dunagin Americans are dying of self-inflicted diseases that, for many, are “preventible,” says a professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Dental School. Dr. Karen Moak Crews, a 1975 graduate of McComb High School, is oral oncology and bio behavioral medicine director at UMC as well as a professor. Speaking to the McComb Rotary Club Wednesday, she warned against tobacco use of any type, including smokeless tobacco. Tobacco is the No. 1 cause of diseases and death in America, she said. Her main topic was oral cancer, which she said doesn’t get the publicity of some of the other cancers but is deadlier than most. The five-year survival rate for cancers in the mouth is 50 percent, she said, adding a big problem is late diagnosis. She urged regular screening by dentists for the disease. Risk factors, she said, include age, genetic mutation, nutrition, a sexually spread virus, alcohol and tobacco use. Citing statistics that alcohol in moderation — two ounces daily for a male and one ounce for a female — is considered safe by medical professionals, Crews said “there is no safe level for tobacco.”

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-06-25T05:17:03-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Rice wins $3.7 million for cancer research

Source: Rice University Author: David Ruth McDevitt lab developing innovative cancer diagnostics The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has granted $3.7 million to Rice University researchers to fund an innovative cancer diagnostics program. The funds will help the BioScience Research Collaborative lab overseen by John McDevitt, Rice's Brown-Wiess Professor in Bioengineering and Chemistry, in its mission to make the Texas Medical Center (TMC) the hub for diagnostics research into cancer and other diseases. The work is made possible by McDevitt's development of a cost-effective Bio-Nano-Chip that can provide patients with early warning of the onset of disease, cutting the time and cost of treatment. McDevitt is principal investigator of a multi-investigator project that totals $6 million for cancer research, of which Rice's portion is $3.7 million. The remainder of the grant will be subcontracted to investigators at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. CPRIT is a state-funded agency charged by Texas voters with issuing $3 billion in bonds over 10 years to fund grants for cancer research and prevention. Last week, the agency announced $142 million in grants to support innovative programs, including the funds to Rice. "The BioScience Research Collaborative and Rice have provided the ideal setting to launch the Texas Cancer Diagnostics Pipeline Consortium," said McDevitt, a pioneer in the creation of microfluidic devices for biomedical testing. "This Rice-led cancer initiative brings together the dream team of Texas [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-06-24T16:13:52-07:00June, 2010|Oral Cancer News|