2/12/2006 Australia Paul Dyer news.com.au Smokers will soon be confronted with images of mouth cancer, gangrenous feet, rotting tongues and diseased lungs on every pack of cigarettes. The graphic images will be displayed on the packets from March 1. Smokers – and shoppers – will be confronted with the gruesome images as part of a new "in your face" anti-smoking campaign. The aim is to shock people into quitting smoking and prevent young people from taking up the habit, which has been linked to heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. It is also targeting people who have quit smoking but are at risk of a relapse. The 14 images depict the health effects of smoking, including lung cancer, emphysema, gangrene, clogged arteries, peripheral vascular disease and heart disease. Other images include graphs showing the number of smoking-related deaths in Australia and a picture of a child on a respirator with the caption: "Don't let children breathe your smoke". Christopher Pyne, who is Federal Parliamentary Secretary to Health Minister Tony Abbott, said new packaging was a ramping up of the campaign to show the dangers of smoking. "Warnings on tobacco product packaging have been telling us this for more than 30 years," he said. "Sadly, very few Australians realise the full extent of the illness and disease which smoking causes." Mr Pyne said a review of cigarette labelling had been prompted by a perceived "complacency" among smokers about the old text warnings. The new warnings will cover 30 per cent of [...]

2/12/2006 San Francisco, CA M. Young et al. J Calif Dent Assoc, December 1, 2005; 33(12): 967-71 Gene therapy is a new therapeutic modality in which defective genes are replaced with functional ones, or genes are delivered that can specifically kill cancer cells. Efficient gene delivery is an important component of gene therapy approaches. Potential safety problems with viral vectors necessitate the development of efficient nonviral vectors. DNA complexes with synthetic cationic liposomes or polymers constitute a simple means of transferring DNA into target cells. Gene delivery mediated by many nonviral vectors, however, is inhibited by serum components, and this is expected to limit the efficiency of gene delivery in vivo. In this study, the authors examined two novel gene transfection reagents, Metafectene and GeneJammer, for their ability to deliver a reporter gene to SCCVII murine squamous cell carcinoma cells in the presence of high concentrations of mouse serum. After establishing conditions that achieved significant gene delivery, the authors introduced the Herpes Simplex Virus Thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene into the cells using the cationic liposome reagent, Metafectene, followed by the administration of ganciclovir. After seven days of incubation, 90 percent and 82 percent cytotoxicity was observed in 0 percent and 60 percent mouse serum, respectively. The authors' observations suggest that Metafectene may be useful for the gene therapy of oral squamous cell carcinoma in a murine model involving the induction of oral tumors by SCCVII cells. Authors: M Young, N Overlid, K Konopka, and N Duzgunes Authors' affiliation: University of [...]

2/11/2006 Ketchum, ID staff cancerconsultants.com Among patients with oropharyngeal cancer, the presence of a high-risk type of human papillomavirus, coupled with high levels of a protein known as p16, may identify a subset of patients with a good prognosis. These results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Approximately 40,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Cancers of the head and neck include cancers of the nasal cavity and sinuses, oral cavity, nasopharynx, and oropharynx. Factors that increase the risk of head and neck cancers include tobacco, alcohol use, and possibly infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV16 is a type of HPV that has been linked with cervical cancer, and evidence of HPV16 has been found in tumor samples from some patients with head and neck cancer as well. Some studies have suggested that HPV-linked head and neck cancers have a better prognosis than head and neck cancers that do not show evidence of HPV. To further explore the role of HPV in oropharyngeal cancer, researchers conducted a study among 78 patients. In addition to simply determining whether HPV16 was present or absent, the researchers also collected information about levels of a protein known as p16. High levels of p16 have been reported in cancers caused by HPV. Information about p16 level may provide clues about whether or not HPV played a role in causing the cancer. If HPV is present but p16 levels are low, factors other than [...]

2/11/2006 Ketchum, ID staff concerconsultants.com In patients with head and neck cancer, the presence of proteins indicating low oxygen levels in tumor cells is linked with worse survival after radiation therapy. These results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Approximately 40,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Cancers of the head and neck include cancers of the nasal cavity and sinuses, mouth, and throat. Among head and neck cancer patients who receive radiation therapy, the oxygen level in cancer cells influences the success of treatment: Radiation therapy is less successful when cancer cells have low oxygen levels. Unfortunately, many cancers, including head and neck cancers, tend to be hypoxic (lacking in oxygen). To explore the relationship between two markers of tumor hypoxia and response to either standard or accelerated radiation therapy, researchers evaluated tumor tissue from 198 patients with head and neck cancer. The tumor tissue was tested for two proteins that indicate hypoxia: HIF-2 and CA9. This study was originally designed to compare two different approaches to radiation therapy for head and neck cancer: standard and accelerated. The study failed to find a benefit of accelerated therapy, and the researchers hypothesized that accelerated radiation therapy may only benefit those patients whose tumors have adequate oxygen levels. Fifty-nine percent of subjects were classified as HIF-2 positive and 58% of subjects were classified as CA9 positive. Forty percent of subjects were positive for both markers. The presence of either marker was linked [...]

2/11/2006 New York, NY staff CancerPage.com Selective neck dissection (SND) can achieve acceptable regional recurrence rates in patients with T1 or T2, N1 head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC), according to Brazilian researchers. However, this operation may not be suitable for patients with advanced T tumors or N2b disease as regional recurrence rates are increased. In the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery, Dr. Claudio Roberto Cernea and colleagues at Sao Paulo Medical School note that radical neck dissection, in which all node levels are removed, is the standard treatment for node-positive head and neck cancers. However, this operation can result in considerable morbidity, so there has been a move to less extensive procedures that, in theory, do not compromise oncologic control. SND, in which one or more node levels is preserved, has been traditionally applied to node-negative malignancies, but in recent years, there have been reports of its use for node-positive disease. The researchers studied 191 patients with node-positive disease who underwent 256 neck dissections at one center between 1999 and 2002. The study focused on 34 SNDs that were performed in 28 patients. Of these patients, 2 had T1 disease, 2 had T2, 7 had T3, and 17 had T4. The breakdown for the N category was 8 patients with N1 disease, 2 with N2a, 7 with N2b, and 11 with N2c. Four patients (11.8%) experienced regional recurrences following SND, the report indicates. All of these patients had T3 or T4 disease and [...]

2/8/2006 New York, NY staff Forbes.com Adding the drug cetuximab to radiation therapy for head and neck cancer can boost patient survival rates by about 20 months without significantly increasing side effects, researchers report. Average overall survival for head and neck cancer patients was more than four years for patients treated with both radiation and the monoclonal antibody drug cetuximab (brand name Erbitux). That's a major improvement over the average 2.5 year survival seen in patients treated with radiation alone, according to the authors of the multi-national study. "This is the first targeted antibody therapy that showed a survival advantage. In this particular study, we're seeing the benefit of adding a targeted therapy to conventional therapy and not increasing toxicity," said the study's lead author, Dr. James Bonner, the head of radiation oncology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. His team reported their findings in the Feb. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Each year, approximately 39,000 Americans are diagnosed with head and neck cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). These cancers include those of the tongue, the rest of the mouth, the salivary glands and inside the throat, the voice box and the lymph nodes in the upper neck. The malignancies are most common in people over 50 and tobacco users -- both smokers and those who use smokeless tobacco products. The NCI estimates that about 85 percent of head and neck cancers are tobacco-related. When surgery to remove the entire tumor isn't [...]

2/8/2006 Pittsburg, PA Amy Dockser Marcus Pittsburg Post-Gazette.com A series of clinical trials are opening this year to explore a newly discovered window of time when cancer treatments may work more effectively. While newer drugs along with chemotherapy and radiation have improved cancer survival rates in recent decades, doctors have long debated why the treatments don't work even better. Even the latest generation of medications -- so-called "smart drugs" that target a tumor or its blood supply -- often prolong life by only a few months. Now cancer researchers are investigating the idea that there is a narrow period -- following treatment with certain smart drugs -- when changes in the body allow chemotherapy or radiation to be particularly effective. If oncologists can identify and exploit this window, it could lead to improved survival rates. And because the window involves changes in blood vessels, the effort could have implications for other diseases affected by blood vessels, such as macular degeneration and heart disease. At research facilities around the country, including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers are recruiting patients with ovarian cancer, head-and-neck cancers, brain cancer and sarcoma to participate in several small trials that will explore this window. Studies will use investigational drugs from Novartis AG and AstraZeneca PLC, as well as existing smart drugs like Genentech Inc.'s Avastin, and Nexavar from Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. Some funding and drugs are being provided by the National Cancer Institute. The researchers will closely monitor the [...]

2/7/2006 Chicago, IL Shaohua Hu et al. J Am Dent Assoc, Vol 137, No 2, 170-179 Background: A U.S. Public Health Service–sponsored clinical practice guideline urges all health care providers to make tobacco-use cessation counseling a routine part of clinical practice. This study assessed practices of dentists in east Texas, their adherence to the guideline and barriers to adherence. Methods: A cross-sectional survey mailed September 2003 through January 2004 assessed demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitudes and activities of 783 dentists. The survey focused on familiarity with the guideline, adherence to the recommended steps (including the "5 A’s" for tobacco users willing to quit and the "5 R’s" for tobacco users unwilling to quit), perceived barriers and time spent counseling. Results: Most dentists were unfamiliar with the guideline and usually did not follow its recommended steps. Less than 20 percent of dentists spent three or more minutes per patient on counseling. Knowledge of and training in using the guideline were significantly associated with adherence and time spent counseling. Lack of training was cited as the greatest barrier. Conclusions: Most dentists in east Texas are unaware of the clinical practice guideline. Lack of training is a major barrier to adherence. Practice Implications: Opportunities for improving patients’ health through brief counseling interventions are missed. Measures are needed to increase dentists’ familiarity with and adherence to the guideline. Authors: Shaohua Hu, MD, DrPH, Unto Pallonen, PhD, Alfred L. McAlister, PhD, Brian Howard, MPH, Robert Kaminski, DDS, MS, EdD, Gene Stevenson, DDS, MS and Thomas [...]

2/7/2006 Douglas E. Morse, DDS, PhD & A. Ross Kerr, DD, MSD J Am Dent Assoc, Vol 137, No 2, 203-212 Background: The authors present statistics and long-term trends in oral and pharyngeal cancer (OPC) incidence, mortality and survival among U.S. blacks and whites. Methods: The authors obtained incidence, mortality and five-year relative survival rates via the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program Web site. Current rates and time trends for 1975 through 2002 are presented. Results: From 1975 through 2002, age-adjusted incidence rates (AAIRs) and mortality rates (AAMRs) were higher among males than among females and highest for black males. By the mid-1980s, incidence and mortality rates were declining for black and white males and females; however, disparities persisted. During the period 1998–2002, AAIRs were more than 20 percent higher for black males compared with white males, while the difference in rates for black and white females was small. AAMRs were 82 percent higher for black males compared with white males, but rates were similar for black and white females. Five-year relative survival rates for patients diagnosed during the period 1995–2001 were higher for whites than for blacks and lowest for black males. Conclusions: Despite recent declines in OPC incidence and mortality rates, disparities persist. Disparities in survival also exist. Black males bear the brunt of these disparities. Practice Implications: Dentists can aid in reducing OPC incidence and mortality by assisting patients in the prevention and cessation of tobacco use and alcohol abuse. Five-year relative survival may be [...]

2/7/2006 New York, NY Gina Kolata New York Times (nytimes.com) The largest study ever to ask whether a low-fat diet keeps women from getting cancer or heart disease has found that the diet had no effect. The $415 million federal study involved nearly 49,000 women aged 50 to 79 who were followed for eight years. In the end, those assigned to a low-fat diet had the same rates of breast cancer, colon cancer heart attack and stroke as those who ate whatever they pleased, researchers are reporting today. "These are three totally negative studies," said Dr. David Freedman, a statistician at the University of California at Berkeley, who is not connected with the study but has written books on clinical trial design and analysis. And, he said, the results should be taken seriously for what they are — a rigorous attempt that failed to confirm a popular hypothesis that a low-fat diet can prevent three major diseases in women. And the studies were so large and so expensive that they are "the Rolls Royce of studies," said Dr. Michael Thun, who directs epidemiological research for the American Cancer Society. As such, he said, they are likely to be the final word. "We usually have only one shot at a very large scale trial on a particular issue," Dr. Thun said. The studies were part of the Women's Health Initiative of the National Institutes of Health, the same program that showed that hormone therapy after menopause can have more risks than [...]