Oral Cancer News – Page 110 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

Revolutionary new approach uses advanced technology to remove head and neck cancer tumors

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: staff In a groundbreaking new study, UCLA researchers have for the first time advanced a surgical technique performed with the help of a robot to successfully access a previously-unreachable area of the head and neck. This pioneering method can now be used safely and efficiently in patients to remove tumors that many times were previously thought to be inoperable, or necessitated the use of highly-invasive surgical techniques in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Developed by Dr. Abie Mendelsohn, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center member and director of head and neck robotic surgery at UCLA, this new approach provides the surgical community with a leading-edge technology roadmap to treat patients who had little or no hope of living cancer-free lives. "This is a revolutionary new approach that uses highly advanced technology to reach the deepest areas of the head and neck," said Mendelsohn, lead author of the study. "Patients can now be treated in a manner equivalent to that of a straightforward dental procedure and go back to leading normal, healthy lives in a matter of days with few or even no side effects." A New Approach to Saving Lives The parapharyngeal space is pyramid-shaped area that lies near the base of the human skull and connects several deep compartments of the head and neck. It is lined with many large blood vessels, nerves and complex facial muscles, making access to the space via traditional surgical options often impossible or highly invasive. Current surgical techniques can necessitate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-12-11T09:25:46-07:00December, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Government anti-smoking campaign cost just $480 per quitter, study finds

Source: www.washingtonpost.com Author: Lenny Bernstein At $48 million, the first government mass media campaign to convince cigarette smokers to quit would seem a pricey luxury, especially since that sum purchased just three months of television ads from March through June of 2o12. But a new study of its cost effectiveness, released Wednesday, determined that it cost just $480 for each smoker who quit and $393 per year of life saved. The graphic videos featured pleas from former smokers who had suffered amputated limbs, oral and throat cancer, paralysis, lung damage, strokes, and heart attacks. One of the most haunting showed Terrie Hall, a 52-year-old North Carolina woman whose larynx was removed after she was diagnosed with throat cancer. In the ad, she spoke with the help of an artificial voice box. Hall later died. The campaign and the analysis were both conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but Saul Shiffman, a University of Pittsburgh psychology professor who has spent decades studying smoking habits, said there is no doubt it was a tremendous bargain for the public and, especially, the smokers who quit or added years to their lives. One standard used in studying such interventions considers them cost effective at $50,000 per year of life gained--more than 100 times the cost of the campaigns. Medical interventions, such as heart and lung surgery commonly needed by long-term smokers are much more expensive than that, Shiffman noted. The money spent on the campaign "would pale next to the money [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-12-11T09:18:54-07:00December, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Study suggests that experience counts when it comes to head and neck cancer treatments

Source: medicalxpress.comAuthor: staff When it comes to specialized cancer surgery, it's generally true that the more experienced the surgeon, the better the outcome. The same might hold true for radiation therapy used to treat head and neck cancer, according to a new study led by researchers Evan Wuthrick, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James), and Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the OSUCCC - James. Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology with an accompanying editorial, the study compared survival and other outcomes in 470 patients treated with radiation therapy at 101 treatment centers through a clinical trial held from 2002 to 2005. The trial was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and organized by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). The findings indicated that patients treated at the less-experienced centers were more likely to have cancer recurrence (62 percent versus 42 percent at five years) and had poorer overall survival compared with those at the highly-experienced centers (51 percent versus 69 percent five-year survival, respectively). "Our findings suggest that institutional experience strongly influences outcomes in patients treated with radiation therapy for head and neck cancer," says Wuthrick, the paper's first author. "They indicate that patients do better when treated at centers where more of these procedures are performed versus centers that do fewer." Radiation therapy for head and neck cancer requires complex treatment planning that can vary considerably [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-12-09T12:06:48-07:00December, 2014|OCF In The News|

Green Day Guitarist Jason White Diagnosed with Tonsil Cancer

Source: billboard.comAuthor: Jocelyn Vena Send Green Day your well wishes. The band confirmed on Dec. 5 that guitarist Jason White was recently diagnosed with tonsil cancer. The band shared the news with their fans on their official website. "We have some news to report regarding our brother Jason White, and wanted you to hear it from us before word spread. Jason recently underwent a routine tonsillectomy, and his doctors discovered a treatable form of tonsil cancer," the statement reads. Rolling Stone first posted the statement. "Thankfully they caught it early and he should make a full and speedy recovery. Please join us in sending him love and positive healing vibes during this time." The 41-year-old has been playing with Green Day since the late 90's, serving as the band's touring guitarist. In 2012, with the release of ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tre! he officially became a full-time member of the legendary punk band. He has also worked with lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong on the side project Pinhead Gunpowder. *This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Charlotte Parker2014-12-08T18:19:24-07:00December, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Antacids may improve head and neck cancer survival

Source: www.webmd.com Author: Robert Preidt Using antacids to control acid reflux may improve head and neck cancer patients' chances of survival, a new study suggests. The researchers examined the effects that two types of antacids -- proton pump inhibitors and histamine 2 blockers -- had on head and neck cancer patients. More than two-thirds of the nearly 600 patients in the study took one or both types of the antacids after their cancer diagnosis. Acid reflux -- commonly known as heartburn -- is a common side effect of chemotherapy or radiation treatment, according to the researchers. Proton pump inhibitors include drugs such as Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid, while histamine 2 blockers include drugs such as Tagamet, Zantac and Pepcid. Compared to patients who didn't take antacids, those who took proton pump inhibitors had a 45 percent lower risk of death, according to the researchers. They also found that those who took histamine 2 blockers had a 33 percent lower risk of death. The study is published in the December issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research. "We had suspicions that these medications somehow had a favorable impact on patient outcomes. This led us to review our large cohort of patients and screen them for common medications, focusing on antacids. In fact, our study did show that people taking antacids are doing better," study author Dr. Silvana Papagerakis, research assistant professor of otolaryngology--head and neck surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a university news release. It's not [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-12-08T13:22:38-07:00December, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Red wine: Cancer causing or cancer protective? Researchers say both

Source: Medical News Today Author: David McNamee People who drink red wine have the lowest incidence of cancer caused by alcohol, and researchers think they know why that is. A new study published in the medical journal Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology explains that while alcohol has cancer causing effects, red wine offers an anti-cancer quality that most other forms of alcohol do not offer. The study was completed by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. When people first begin to metabolize alcohol, it is converted to acetyl aldehyde, a known carcinogen. “With enough alcohol, the body can get behind and end up with a backlog of acetyl aldehyde,” Dr. Robert Sclafani, the author of the paper, said. As he looked at epidemiological studies of head and neck cancer, he noted that alcohol is a major factor. He explained that when he separated the data into the type of alcohol, it was clear that people who drank red wine seemed to be more protected from cancer. “In red wine, there’s something that’s blocking the cancer-causing effect of alcohol,” Sclafani said. Sclafani believed the resveratrol found in the skin of the grapes used to make red wine removes the most damaged cells from wine drinkers’ bodies. The most heavily damaged cells are also the cells most likely to turn cancerous, according to Medical News Today. “Alcohol bombards your genes,” Sclafani explained. “Your body has ways to repair this damage, but with enough alcohol eventually some damage isn’t fixed. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-02-05T12:23:33-07:00December, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

This drug treatment costs $84,000 and the US health-care system can’t make it any more affordable

Source: vox.comAuthor: Sarah Kliff The first thing Philip Mason noticed was the hair loss. The 73-year-old retiree, a former computer programmer, began shedding hair from his arms, legs, everywhere on his body. "It just all came right off," he said. After the hair loss came weight loss; Mason dropped from 150 to 125 pounds. He felt weak and sick. Mason, who is blind and already used a white cane to get around, began having falls. He switched to a walker for more stability. Mason went to the doctor and discovered he had Hepatitis C. He had contracted the disease through sex with an ex-boyfriend. And when he received his diagnosis three years ago, the prognosis wasn't good. He already had renal insufficiency, a chronic condition in which the kidneys become increasingly weak and unable to process urine. After the diagnosis of Hepatitis C, which weakens liver function, Mason's doctor recommended a transplant. Mason declined. "I told my doctor I was already old, and worried about what my quality of life would be like after the transplant," he said. “I wish I could say I was optimistic that the future would be different, and prices would moderate” So Mason lived with his Hepatitis C, the hair loss, the weight loss, the walker, and the falls, until this past February. That's when his doctor at the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington, DC, asked if he wanted to try a new Hepatitis C drug called Sovaldi. It had just come on the market a [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-12-03T12:37:03-07:00December, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Hookah smoke increases benzene exposure, risk for leukemia

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality worldwide and is responsible for the deaths of 6 million people annually. Hookah smoking, a form of tobacco use that employs a partially filled water jar, has come under scrutiny in a new study, which suggests hookah smokers and non-smokers exposed to the smoke have increased uptake of benzene, a substance linked to increased risk of leukemia. Hookah smokers The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. According to the researchers - led by Nada Kassem, associate director at the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health at San Diego State University in California - the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US National Toxicology Program have classified benzene as a Group 1 carcinogen. WHO further report that benzene is carcinogenic to humans, recommending that there is no safe level of exposure. Hookah smoke, however, is a source of benzene exposure and is, therefore, a risk factor for leukemia. The most popular kind of hookah tobacco is known as Moassel, which is sweetened and flavored tobacco that contains about 30% tobacco fermented with molasses and fruits mixed with glycerin and chemical flavors. Kassem and her colleagues note that in the US in 2013, it was reported that 26.6% of male and 23.2% of female college students have used hookah at some point in time. Alarmingly, 8.1% of male and 6.6% of female middle and high school [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-11-25T09:36:27-07:00November, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Study: smoking marijuana found non-carcinogenic

Source: americanlivewire.com Author: staff Smoking marijuana does not appear to increase the risk of lung cancer or head-and-neck malignancies, even among heavy users, researchers reported here. “We expected that we would find that a history of heavy marijuana use, more than 500 to 1,000 uses, would increase the risk of cancer from several years to decades after exposure to marijuana, said Donald Tashkin, M.D., of the University of California in Los Angeles. But in fact, they reported at the American Thoracic Society meeting here, marijuana use was associated with cancer risk ratios below 1.0, indicating that a history of pot smoking had no effect on the risk for respiratory cancers. Studies have shown that marijuana contains many compounds that when burned, produce about 50% higher concentrations of some carcinogenic chemicals than tobacco cigarettes. In addition, heavy, habitual marijuana use can produce accelerated malignant change in lung explants, and evidence on bronchial biopsies of pre-malignant histopathologic and molecular changes, Dr. Tashkin said. The investigators had also previously shown that smoking one marijuana cigarette leads to the deposition in the lungs of four times as much tar as smoking a tobacco cigarette containing the same amount of plant material. Marijuana cigarettes are not filtered and are more loosely packed than tobacco, so there’s less filtration of the tar. In addition, pot smokers hold the smoke in their lungs about four times longer than tobacco smokers do, Dr. Tashkin pointed out. For the population-based case-control study, they identified cancer cases among people from [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-11-25T09:01:35-07:00November, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

ctDNA ‘Liquid Biopsy’ could revolutionize cancer care

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Janis C. Kelly Bits of tumor cell somatic DNA shed into the circulation or released when cells die can now be detected and counted, thanks to advances in gene sequencing. This circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is derived from somatic mutations that occur in the tumor during an individual's life, unlike hereditary mutations that are present in every cell in the body, so ctDNA is a specific cancer biomarker that can be detected, measured, and tracked. Monitoring ctDNA is expected to provide clinicians with faster, cheaper, less invasive ways to assess cancer patients' clinical status and response to therapy. ctDNA assay for multiple genes via next-generation sequencing (NGS) might become a "liquid biopsy" alternative to invasive tissue biopsy, experts told Medscape Medical News. However, they also cautioned that rigorous testing of this concept is needed before the test can be used in practice, saying: "for now, we would counsel clinicians not to jump the gun on this. Faster, Cheaper, More Accurate Tumor Tests Paul B. Chapman, MD, a medical oncologist with the Melanoma and Sarcoma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and Chair of the Medical Advisory Panel at the Melanoma Research Alliance in Washington, DC, said that ctDNA assay is less invasive than biopsy, requires no radiation exposure, is relatively inexpensive, uses fresh DNA not exposed to preservatives, and allows near real-time monitoring of response to treatment. "The beauty of ctDNA monitoring is the speed," Dr Chapman said. "If you are looking [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-11-19T09:42:11-07:00November, 2014|Oral Cancer News|