Source: www.healio.com
Author: staff

Oral Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week — led by the Head and Neck Cancer Alliances and supported by the American Academy of Otolaryngology — raises awareness and promotes cancer screenings throughout the United States.

Approximately 110,000 people are diagnosed with oral head and neck cancers — which include cancers of the tongue, throat, voice box, nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, thyroid and salivary glands —each year in the United States.

“The best chance of effectively treating these cancers is early on in the disease, and that’s why identification of tumors in their earliest stage improves a patient’s likelihood of survival and the patient’s ability to speak and swallow normally after treatment,” Ilya Likhterov, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in a press release from Mount Sinai. “While oral cancer is most commonly linked to long-time smokers and drinkers, younger patients can be affected even if they don’t have obvious risk factors. It is very important to have your mouth examined and pay attention to symptoms such as pain, bleeding, trouble swallowing, or if you notice any wound or ulcer in the mouth that is not healing quickly.”

In conjunction with Oral Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, HemOnc Today presents eight updates in oral head and neck cancer.

  • A combination of buparlisib (BKM120, Novartis) and paclitaxel may serve as an effective second-line therapy for patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Read more.
  • Nutrition plays a vital role during all phases of treatment for many cancer types, but it is particularly important for individuals with head and neck cancer, according to Jessica Iannotta, MS, RD, CSO, CDN, and Chelsey Wisotsky, MS, RD, CSO, CDN. Read more.
  • Roughly one in four men and one in five women in the United States have a high-risk form of HPV, according to CDC estimates. Read more.
  • Complete clinical response to induction chemotherapy may serve as a biomarker to identify patients with HPV–associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who could benefit from radiation deintensification. Read more.
  • Patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma reported significant declines in the frequency of vaginal and oral sex after their diagnosis, regardless of tumor HPV status. Read more.
  • Adding cetuximab (Erbitux, Eli Lilly) to radiotherapy and cisplatin significantly improved PFS and OS in patients with KRAS-variant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Read more.
  • The American Cancer Society endorsed the updated recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that support a two-dose schedule for boys and girls who initiate HPV vaccination from 9 to 14 years of age. Read more.
  • HPV is an increasingly important cause of oropharyngeal cancer not only among white men, but also among women and nonwhite individuals. HPV also causes a small proportion of nonoropharyngeal head and neck squamous cell cancer. Read more.