Girls aware of HPV vaccine’s benefits

Source: www.sciencedaily.com Author: Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, Dr. G. Caleb Alexander Contrary to concerns that the human papillomavirus vaccine might promote promiscuity, a national survey of girls and young women found that the majority of respondents did not believe the HPV vaccine protected them against other sexually transmitted infections. The study, conducted by University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Chicago researchers, appears online and in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. The findings are reassuring in that girls and young women did not think that the vaccine provided benefits beyond protecting them from HPV, said Dr. Rachel Caskey, assistant professor of pediatrics and general internal medicine at UIC and lead author of the study. "We also found that they did not think that they could stop cervical cancer screening, or pap smears, which is critical." Researchers used a national sample, representative of the U.S. population, to conduct an online survey of more than 1,000 females ages 13 to 26. The data provide some of the first nationally representative estimates of both adolescents' and young women's adoption of the HPV vaccine, barriers to vaccination, and sources of information about HPV and the HPV vaccine, according to the researchers. Knowledge about the HPV virus itself ran the gamut, said Caskey. Some people knew absolutely nothing and a few people were moderately informed. Knowledge about the HPV vaccine, however, was better. "Messages about the vaccine are getting across, though they are not including messages about the virus itself," [...]

2009-10-16T15:34:41-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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FDA approves GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal Author: John George The Food and Drug Administration granted marketing approval Friday to Cervarix, the cervical cancer vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline. The London pharmaceutical company, which has major operations in the Philadelphia region, said the vaccine will be on the market before the end of the year. The FDA approved the drug for use in women and girls ages 10 to 25. GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) will have a challenge taking market share away from Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK), which launched its cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil in 2006. Gardasil had worldwide sales of $1.4 billion for Merck last year. Cervarix, which was previously approved in markets outside the United States including Europe, Japan and Australia, had sales of more than $200 million in 2007.

2009-10-16T10:56:58-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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Conducting oral examinations for cancer in general practice: what are the barriers?

Source: Family Practice Advance Access published online on October 15, 2009 Authors: J Wade et al. Background: The incidence of oral (mouth) cancer in the UK is continuing to rise. Individuals who are at greatest risk rarely visit a dentist but do consult general medical practitioners (GMPs). Therefore, GMPs could have an important role in the early detection of oral cancer. Research has shown that GMPs do not opportunistically screen high-risk individuals; however, the barriers to screening are poorly understood. Objectives: To understand the reasons why GMPs may not screen for oral cancer. Methods: A questionnaire was developed, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), to measure GMPs attitudes to and screening for oral cancer. The questionnaire was designed using all the key theoretical constructs of the TPB and incorporating the themes identified in a qualitative elicitation study. The questionnaire was posted to 499 GPs in Surrey Primary Care trust. Results: Two hundred and twenty-eight completed questionnaires were returned (46%). Two TPB constructs [subjective norm (e.g. peer pressure) and perceived external control factors (e.g. adequate equipment, time constraints)] were identified as significant predictors of ‘intention’ to perform oral screening. Intention and perceived internal control factors (e.g. self-efficacy) were predictive of actually performing oral screening with patients. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that there is considerable potential for improving intention to perform oral cancer screening in general practice. Theory-based interventions could include further training to enhance confidence, expertise, knowledge and ease of examination, the provision of adequate equipment in [...]

2009-10-16T08:33:28-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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Nobel scientist urges wider vaccination against HPV infection

Source: www.european-hospital.com Author: staff A global vaccination programme against human papilloma virus (HPV), to include boys as well as girls, could lead to eradication of the virus and virtual disappearance of cervical cancer, predicted Nobel Prize winner, Professor Harald zur Hausen, after delivering the key-note lecture at the 16th International Meeting of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) in Belgrade, Serbia, this week. Professor zur Hausen, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 for his discovery of HPV as the cause of cervical cancer, explained that although HPV prevention will impact mainly on women’s health, it also has important implications for men’s health: “If we wish to achieve eradication within a reasonable period of time, we will need to vaccinate both sexes, and research has shown that boys respond to vaccination in the same way as girls. The main risk of developing cancer after HPV infection is with women and, because of the cost of vaccines, it has been decided to start with girls. But other cancers associated with HPV infection, such as anal and oral cancer, are more common in men, and genital warts occur in both sexes. So there is good reason to vaccinate boys before the onset of sexual activity as well,” said Professor zur Hausen. He suggested that future reductions in production costs and development of cheaper vaccines will make wider vaccination a realistic option, and added that a major reduction in HPV 16 and 18 – the viruses which [...]

2009-10-15T13:31:36-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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New laryngoscope could make difficult intubations easier

Source: www.eurekalert.org/ Author: press release A new tool developed by a Medical College of Georgia resident and faculty member may make it easier to place assisted breathing devices under difficult circumstances. About 2 percent of patients that undergo the process, called intubation, experience complications – regardless if it's performed in an emergency situation or prior to surgery. During normal intubation, a physician stands behind a patient's head and uses a metal scope to open the mouth and guide a flexible plastic tube into the trachea. The tube is used to maintain a patient's airway and provide a pathway for mechanical ventilation if necessary. "In some cases, you can't see the vocal cords, which you have to go through to place the endotracheal tube, because of some obstruction," says Dr. Richard Schwartz, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine in the MCG School of Medicine. Some diseases, such as head and neck cancer, can make intubation harder. In other cases, anatomical variations, such as shorter necks and bucked teeth, can make tube placement more challenging, says Dr. Harsha Setty, a third-year anesthesiology resident. Difficult intubations can be traumatic for patients and lead to problems such as cracked teeth, he says. To make those intubations easier, Drs. Setty and Schwartz developed the Video Rigid Flexible Laryngoscope, which Dr. Setty will present to colleagues at the American Society of Anesthesiologists Oct. 17-21 in New Orleans. The Video RIFL is composed of endotracheal tubes surrounding a rigid cylindrical body featuring an illuminated [...]

2009-10-15T13:28:38-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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At our throats

Source: www.forbes.com Author: Matthew Herper Oncologist Maura Gillison was looking for patients with tonsil cancer for a clinical study several years ago. The first enlisted was a malpractice lawyer, followed by a doctor, then a scientist. She joked to a colleague that all she needed was a rear admiral. In walked a member of the military brass. All were in their 30s, 40s and 50s. People in their prime didn't used to get throat tumors. Head-and-neck cancer, as doctors call it, was a disease of older problem drinkers who also chain-smoked (more men than women). Years of exposure to scotch and Lucky Strikes would damage the DNA of cells lining the throat, leading to cancer. But Gillison, 44, a professor at Ohio State University, was among the first researchers to make a startling realization: The old cigarettes-and-alcohol form of the disease was being eclipsed by a new form, caused by the same human papilloma virus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer. The tumors grow in the tonsils or in the tissue that remains after tonsillectomy. The only good news is that the prognosis for these patients is better than for the old disease. Gillison and researchers at the National Cancer Institute estimate that 4,000 people, 75% of them men, develop this new form of throat cancer annually. That's only a tenth of head-and-neck cases, but it's half as many people as get cervical cancer in the U.S. More worrisome, Gillison's work shows HPV tonsil cancer is increasing at a rate of [...]

2009-10-15T13:20:48-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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The Vitamin D difference

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: Diana Steele Plain old vitamin D might finally be ready for its day in the sun. New research is shedding light on the leading role that this vitamin may play in preventing cancer and in keeping tumors in check. Vitamin D isn’t technically a vitamin, since it’s produced in the body as a result of exposure to sunlight (“vitamins” are essential to life but by definition can be obtained only outside the body, through diet or supplements). It’s only when we don’t get enough sun that our bodies don’t make enough vitamin D and we need to get it from other sources. But while one of those sources, milk, is fortified with enough vitamin D to prevent the bone disease rickets in children, dietary sources—even a multivitamin—don’t provide nearly enough D to help prevent cancer, many scientists now say. New findings are showing that vitamin D acts as a sentinel to help regulate cell growth and prevent a cell from becoming malignant, says Boston University Medical Center researcher Michael Holick, PhD, MD. “And that’s why we think that you need an adequate vitamin D level throughout your entire life, and that [anytime] you become vitamin D-deficient, you put yourself at increased risk of potentially developing a malignancy later in life, because you’ve lost the policing ability of vitamin D to help keep cell growth in check.” The prescription? Sensible sun exposure for your skin type, plus vitamin D supplements. The payback? Greatly reduced risk of colon, breast, [...]

2009-10-16T09:37:19-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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Collaboration In The Quest To Contain Cancer

Source: forbes.com Author: Thomas Stossel This year's Lasker Foundation annual prize for medical breakthroughs--the American version of the Nobel Prize--recognizes a breakthrough cancer treatment that has revolutionized chemotherapy, a "targeted therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia." But more symbolic--and no doubt controversial--was to whom the prize was awarded: two academic scientists and a former drug company employee. Ironically, the treatment probably shouldn't exist. Only 3,000 chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients are diagnosed in the U.S. every year, a population usually thought too small to justify the hundreds of millions of dollars that companies must spend to develop new medicines. That the therapy exists at all is a testament to the dedication of our research community and the vital collaboration between academic and commercial scientists. The Lasker prize for CML is viewed as the first practical payoff from decades of research attempting to understand why some cells deviate from their normal programming to become life-threatening cancer. It has long been known that cancer cells multiply and spread wildly to destroy healthy tissues. The research that led to the new treatment revealed that in cancer cells a component of the signaling system controlling cell behavior performs autonomously, like a traffic light permanently set on green, instructing cells to multiply and uncontrollably invade nearby tissues. Researchers speculated that by shutting down the abnormal signals (switching the light from green to red) cancer cells, lacking the key signal to multiply, would behave normally. This approach is a radical departure from 50 years of cancer treatment [...]

2009-10-15T12:44:10-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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Analysis of cellphone studies finds tumor risk

Source: www.latimes.com Author: Shari Roan Scientists looking at 23 studies involving almost 38,000 people initially see no connection. But a closer look at the highest-quality studies tells another story. The answer to the question of whether cellphones increase the risk of brain, head and neck tumors is truly a matter of whom you ask. An analysis published Tuesday of data from 23 epidemiological studies found no connection between cellphone use and the development of cancerous or benign tumors. But when eight of the studies that were conducted with the most scientific rigor were analyzed, cellphone users were shown to have a 10% to 30% increased risk of tumors compared with people who rarely or never used the phones. The risk was highest among those who had used cellphones for 10 years or more. "The other group of 15 studies were not as high-quality," said study coauthor Joel M. Moskowitz, director of the UC Berkeley Center for Family and Community Health. "They either found no association or a negative association or a protective effect -- which I don't think anyone would have predicted." The main message of the analysis, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is that studies should be conducted so that findings are harder to refute, he said. In recent years, concerns have arisen that the radio-frequency energy emitted by cellphones may be high enough to cause tumors and other health problems. But the risks are hotly debated. "I went into this really dubious that anything was going [...]

2009-10-14T08:53:17-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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Incense linked to cancer

Source: www.cavalierdaily.com Author: Surabhi Bhatt Burning incense is an age-old practice in many cultures’ religious and spiritual ceremonies — especially in Asia — and its use has gained popularity in Western countries as well.  Researchers at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, however, have raised concerns about the possible health risks associated with long-term exposure to incense. Led by Dr. Jeppe T. Friborg of the Epidemiology Department, the study followed more than 61,000 cancer-free Singaporean Chinese men and women between the ages of 45 and 74 from 1993 to 2005.  Participants were asked to report on their average incense use in their homes, including how often they burned it and for how long.  During the study’s 12-year duration, 325 men and women developed cancer of the upper respiratory tract, such as nasal, oral or throat cancer.  Another 821 developed lung cancer. Although the overall risk of lung cancer was not found to increase with incense use, the study suggested that greater incense use can lead to a heightened risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, which is the second most common type of lung cancer. Some supporting evidence may be that the burning materials from which incense is derived — including oils and plant materials — have been found to produce potentially cancer-causing substances, including benzene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Friborg’s study, though, is the first to link long-term incense use to an increased risk of developing cancer.

2009-10-14T08:49:15-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|
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