11/22/2005 Winston-Salem, NC staff WFMY News (www.wfmynews.com0 A new study by researchers at shows that a drug originally used to treat breast cancer may help combat the severe weight loss that can plague patients undergoing radiation treatment. A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues shows that a drug originally used to treat breast cancer may help combat the severe weight loss that can plague patients undergoing radiation treatment for lung and head and neck cancer. "The drug clearly reduced weight loss and improved quality of life in study patients," said Michael Farmer, MD, who presented the results last month at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) meeting in Denver. The research involved megestrol acetate, a synthetic form of the female hormone progesterone. The drug was originally used as an anti-hormonal treatment for breast cancer and was found to induce weight gain as a side effect. Later studies showed the drug's effectiveness as an appetite stimulant for patients with HIV, chronic diseases and cancer cachexia, a "wasting syndrome" in which fat and muscle are lost because of the presence of a cancerous tumor. Weight loss can also be a problem in patients undergoing radiation treatment for lung cancer and cancers of the head and neck, such as cancer in the mouth or throat. The high doses of radiation used to treat these cancers can cause decreased appetite and weight loss, nausea and painful swallowing. These patients typically receive radiation alone or [...]

11/22/2005 New York, NY Jane E. Brody New York Times (nytimes.com) More than 10 million people in the United States are cancer survivors, and their numbers increase daily. Many are considered cured. Some are still in treatment and one day may - or may not - be counted among the cured. Others are living with advanced disease. But nearly all have similar needs: •A need to know about and cope with the physical and emotional consequences of cancer and its treatment, including current challenges to quality of life and delayed health effects. •A need to know when to worry and when not to worry about symptoms that could signal a recurrence or a new cancer. •A need for reliable information and assistance on matters like diet, exercise and smoking cessation that may improve survival chances. •A need to deal with employment and insurance problems related to their medical histories. Such needs inspired a panel of the National Academies this month to call for major improvements in follow-up care for cancer patients, who are too often left to struggle on their own with serious cancer-related matters. Making a Plan "Successful cancer care doesn't end when patients walk out the door after completion of their initial treatments," said Dr. Sheldon Greenfield, director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California, Irvine, who led the committee. Patients need to have a "survivorship care plan" that provides information critical to proper long-term care, including the exact cancer diagnosis, a detailed [...]

11/22/2005 staff Cancerconsultants.com According to results recently presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, the addition of Erbitux® (cetuximab) to radiation therapy improved survival by nearly 20 months compared to radiation therapy alone in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Approximately 40,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Cancers of the head and neck comprise several types of cancer affecting the nasal cavity and sinuses, oral cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, and other sites throughout the head and neck. According to the American Cancer Society, it is estimated that 11,000 people will die from head and neck cancer in 2005. Standard treatment for head and neck cancer is largely determined by the stage (extent to which the cancer has spread) as well as the specific locations within the head or neck area where the cancer has spread. The patient’s overall medical condition is also a consideration. Treatment typically consists of radiation therapy, chemotherapy with surgery, or surgery alone. Once head and neck cancer has spread from its site of origin, long-term outcomes are generally suboptimal. In addition, treatment for head and neck cancer often results in a compromised quality of life. However, there is continuing research into and development of new therapeutic approaches to improve long-term outcomes and quality of life for patients with this disease. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway is a focus of this research. This biologic pathway plays a role in cellular replication and [...]

11/21/2005 Cold Spring Harbor, NY staff Medical News Today In some cases, the fusion of human cells is a normal process that leads, for instance, to the formation of muscle and bone. Viral infections can also cause cell fusion, but cells fused by viruses are widely considered to be harmless because they are generally believed to die without consequences for the host. According to a recent study, however, cell fusion triggered by viruses is a possible contributing factor in the development of human cancer. The study also raises concerns about the use fusogenic viruses as vectors for human gene therapy or in other clinical applications owing to the possibility that such viruses might cause cancer. The idea that aberrations in the number or structure of chromosomes can spur tumor formation is more than a century old. Such aberrations--known collectively as "aneuploidy"--arise in two principal ways: as a consequence of abnormal cell division, or as a result of cell fusion. By either mechanism, the resulting aneuploid cells no longer have the proper genetic makeup and frequently die. But researchers now know that tumor cells are often aneuploid--and very much alive. Whether aneuploidy is a cause or a consequence of a cancerous cellular state is the crux of a current debate. In a recent study, Dr. Yuri Lazebnik and his colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory observed, fortuitously, that normal cultured human cells are fused by the action of the Mason-Pfizer Monkey Virus (MPMV), but that the resulting hybrid cells do indeed [...]

11/21/2005 Jantine F Bremmer et al. Laboratory Investigation (2005) 85, 1481-1488 Early diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) may have a major impact on survival and quality of life. Recent studies have shown that the majority of OSCC is preceded by precursor lesions characterized by genetic alterations. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a noninvasive screening test for oral preneoplastic lesions, based on genetic alterations as marker. Various methods to obtain a high yield of cells by brushing a small area of the oral mucosa were compared. A novel genetic assay, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), was applied that enables the measurement of gains and losses at 40 different chromosomal locations in one PCR reaction using 150 ng DNA. MLPA was performed on DNA of normal and dysplastic oral mucosa as well as of OSCC with the intention to select a specific probe set for accurate detection of precursor lesions in the oral cavity. The assay was correlated to loss of heterozygosity analysis using microsatellite markers, and evaluated on noncancer subjects and patients with oral leukoplakia. A noninvasive sampling method was developed with DNA yields ranging from 150 to 600 ng. Using 120 probes, we could detect large differences with MLPA in the number of alterations between normal vs dysplastic and dysplastic vs tumor tissue with P-values <0.001. A significant correlation was found between the number of alterations as detected by MLPA and the analysis for allelic loss. The available data enabled the selection of [...]

11/21/2005 Plantation, FL press release PRNewswire (www.prnewswire.com) Recognizing the importance of early detection and intervention, CIGNA Dental has announced that beginning January 1, 2006, it will cover the oral cancer screening procedure known as a brush biopsy for members enrolled in the CIGNA Dental Care (Dental HMO), CIGNA Dental PPO (DPPO), and CIGNA Traditional (Dental Indemnity) plans. Checking for oral cancer can be done during a regular dental checkup. If the dentist identifies any suspicious oral spots or sores during a visual assessment, a brush biopsy can be performed to detect potentially dangerous cells. Brush biopsy is a painless procedure. The dentist uses a small brush to take a tissue specimen, which is then sent to a laboratory for analysis to determine the presence of pre-cancerous or cancerous cells.(1) "The mouth is considered to be an 'early warning system' for other medical conditions, as well as a potential contributor. CIGNA Dental enables members to use information found through early detection to prevent further complications or disease," said Karen Rohan, president of CIGNA Dental. Oral cancer is the sixth deadliest cancer in America. Despite advances in surgical techniques, radiation treatments and chemotherapy, survival rates remain low when compared to other cancers. While oral cancer most often occurs in those who use tobacco in any form, it has also been found that alcohol use combined with smoking greatly increases risk. However, more than 25% of oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and have no other risk factors.(1) Avoiding diagnosis [...]

11/21/2005 England staff BBC News (bbc.co.uk) Growing alcohol use is causing a steep rise in mouth cancer cases, experts have warned just days before the planned extension of pub opening hours. One-time child star Jack Wild, 53, communicates to others through his wife Claire since he lost his voice three years ago. The seasoned actor had to have his voice box - the larynx - and tongue removed because he developed mouth cancer, which could not be beaten with radiotherapy alone. It was a huge blow to Jack, who was nominated for an Oscar at the age of 16 for his famous performance as the Artful Dodger in the 1968 movie version of Oliver! But he is grateful that the cancer has not returned a second time and says it is vital that other people recognise the signs and symptoms of this increasingly common cancer. Currently, nearly 4,500 people have mouth cancer in the UK. Like Jack, many develop it because of a lifestyle of heavy drinking and smoking. Jack said: "Until I was diagnosed with mouth cancer, I'd never heard of it. What I learned very quickly was that my lifestyle had made me a walking time bomb. I was a heavy smoker and an even heavier drinker and apparently together they are a deadly mixture." The only warning Jack had that something might be wrong was a pain in the ear that would not go away. He put it down to his busy work schedule and his frequent [...]

11/20/2005 Baltimore, MD Hilary White LifeSite (www.lifesite.net) US researchers studying the effects of human papilloma virus (HPV), a leading cause of cervical cancer in women, have found a connection between the virus and instances of mouth tumours. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University compared 1,670 patients who had oral cancers to 1,732 healthy people and HPV was found in a small number of the cancer patients. Those infected carried HPV16, the most common strain of the virus, which in Britain is estimated to infect one fifth of women between 18 and 25. The study showed that people with mouth tumours containing the HPV16 strain were three times more likely to have had oral sex than those whose tumours did not contain the virus. Raphael Viscidi, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said that the study is very decisive. "This is a major study in terms of its size," he says. "I think this will convince people." While the US researchers said there was no need for people to alter their behaviour, this was not the line taken by the head of a similar study in Sweden. Dentist and researcher Kerstin Rosenquist headed a smaller study conducted at the Malmoe University Faculty of Odontology in southern Sweden that showed the same connection between HPV and oral sex. Rosenquist found that 36% of the cancer patients were carriers of HPV while only 1% of the control group had the virus. She said, "You should avoid having oral sex." "In recent [...]

11/20/2005 London, England James Meikle Sydney Morning Herald (www.smh.com.au) More than a third of cancer deaths worldwide have preventable causes that could be tackled by changing people's behaviour and environment, a study has found. The impact of smoking on several cancers is well known, but alcohol use, unsafe sex, low fruit and vegetable intake, obesity, lack of exercise, contaminated injections and indoor smoke from fuels are also risks that could be reduced. Majid Ezzati, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues suggest in the medical journal The Lancet that health interventions could prevent a "substantial proportion" of the 7 million cancer deaths a year, and be more effective in reducing mortality than screening and ever-improving treatments. Smoking is a factor in 21 per cent of all cancer deaths, especially in men, they say, with alcohol and low fruit and vegetable intake accounting for 5 per cent each. Sexual transmission of the human papilloma virus is a leading risk factor for cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries, especially where screening is limited, although there are hopes that vaccines will soon be widely available. The researchers say smoking is linked to deaths from lung, bronchial and tracheal cancers, oesophageal cancers and oral cancers. Oesophageal cancer deaths and oral cancer deaths are also linked to alcohol. They based their figures on a review of published studies, government reports and international databases, as well as a reanalysis of primary data. Problems with missing information meant they did not include [...]

11/17/2005 Shanghai, China press release Genetic Engineering News (www.genengnews.com/news) Shanghai Sunway Biotech Co. Ltd. announced today that the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has approved H101, an oncolytic adenovirus, to be used in combination with chemotherapy as a treatment for patients with late stage refractory Nasopharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer prevalent in China. This marks the first oncolytic viral therapy approved by any regulatory agency in the world. H101 is a modified adenovirus, a type of common cold virus found in most people. The deletion of an E1B-55kd segment in the virus results in its ability to selectively replicate in and kill tumor cells, while leaving normal cells unaffected. The therapy has a very good safety profile -- for most patients the main side effect is fever. The SFDA approval is based on a multi-center, randomized parallel-group study comparing 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin-based chemotherapy with and without H101. The H101 study group demonstrated a 27% increase in the number of patients who had complete or partial tumor size reduction compared to the control group. "We welcome the SFDA's approval of H101, and we are pleased that cancer patients in China can now benefit from this innovative treatment," said Fang Hu, M.D., Sunway's president and chief executive officer. "Moving forward, we will continue the clinical trials to test for H101's additional indications including non-small cell lung cancer. At the same time, we are preparing to take the therapy to the world market. Sunway is well-positioned to [...]