Oral Cancer News – Page 113 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

Update on head and neck cancers, HPV: creating public awareness

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS Public awareness of head and neck cancer (HNC) is limited, with the lack of awareness including the term head and neck cancer and common symptoms and risk factors, such as tobacco use and human papillomavirus (HPV).1 The online survey of 2,126 randomly selected adults in the United States. Most respondents lacked understanding of the organs or tissues affected by head and neck cancer, with 21% incorrectly identifying brain cancer as head and neck cancer. Only 0.8% of respondents identified HPV infection as a risk factor for mouth and throat cancer, but more were aware of the vaccine. The investigators projected that extensive HPV vaccination could prevent almost 9,000 cases of oropharyngeal cancer yearly. The conclusion was that self-reported and objective measures indicate that few American adults know much about HNC including risk factors such as tobacco use and HPV infection and common symptoms. Strategies to improve public awareness and knowledge of signs, symptoms, and risk factors may decrease the disease burden of HNC and are important topics for future research. The American Dental Association has a pamphlet titled “Get the Facts About Mouth and Throat Cancer.”2 Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) is a major contributory factor in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). The detection of primary OPSCC is often delayed due to the complicated anatomy of the oropharynx. One study examined the possibility of HPV-16 DNA detection in pretreatment and posttreatment plasma and saliva and its possible role as a marker of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-09-17T19:26:13-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Many throat cancer patients can skip neck surgery

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: Fox Chase Cancer Center A new study shows that patients with human papillomavirus (HPV) – the same virus associated with both cervical and head and neck cancer – positive oropharyngeal cancer see significantly higher rates of complete response on a post-radiation neck dissection than those with HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancer. Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers presented the findings at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's 56th Annual Meeting on Wednesday, September 17. "For patients that achieve a complete response, neck surgery is probably unnecessary," says Thomas J. Galloway, MD, Attending Physician and Director of Clinical Research at Fox Chase and lead author on the study. After radiation and chemotherapy to remove tumors from the tonsils or back of the tongue, many head and neck cancer patients still have persistent lumps in their neck, albeit perhaps smaller than when they were first diagnosed. "The question is: Do we need to remove those lumps, as well, or can we just let them dissolve on their own?" asks Dr. Galloway. To investigate, he and his colleagues reviewed the medical records from 396 patients whose oropharyngeal tumors had spread to at least one lymph node. Within 180 days after completing radiation therapy, 146 patients underwent neck surgery. For 99 patients, their records indicated whether or not their tumors had likely been triggered by HPV. Interestingly, patients with HPV often respond better to treatment for their oropharyngeal tumors than those without. The researchers noted the same trend here – people who tested positive [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-09-17T18:59:34-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Targeted radiation, drug therapy combo less toxic for recurrent head, neck cancers

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Patients with a recurrence of head and neck cancer who have previously received radiation treatment can be treated more quickly, safely and with fewer side effects with high doses of targeted radiation known as Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) in combination with a drug that also carefully targets cancerous tumors. These findings from a UPMC CancerCenter study were presented today at the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting in San Francisco. SBRT uses concentrated radiation beams in high doses to destroy tumors in difficult or hard-to-reach areas. The treatment is noninvasive, which minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue and organs. Clinicians at UPMC CancerCenter, partner with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), used SBRT in combination with the drug cetuximab for patients who had a recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck after going through radiation. "The prognosis for patients who have a recurrence of head and neck cancer that cannot be surgically removed is already poor. Traditional treatments can be associated with significant side effects so severe that patients give up on the therapy altogether," said Dwight E. Heron, M.D., vice chairman of radiation oncology at UPCI and director of Radiation Oncology Services at UPMC CancerCenter. "By taking these patients through an abbreviated course of targeted drug and SBRT, we minimize the side effects of treatment." Doctors treated 48 patients with the combination therapy between July 2007 and March 2013. All of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-09-17T18:54:50-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

The Debate Over E-Cigarettes Begins

Source: TIME.comAuthor: Mandy Oaklander The debate over the safety of e-cigarettes, and whether they will help smokers to quit, or simply make it easier for them to start or continue lighting up, heated up this week. On one side of the disagreement are those pushing for regulation. In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) began a review of data on e-cigarettes and based on studies conducted so far, last month recommended tighter regulation of the devices to protect consumers’ health. But in a new article published in the journal Addiction, other scientists argue that the WHO misinterpreted the data in a “misleading” way and that the group’s advice for more stringent oversight is problematic. In the Addiction paper, the authors take issue with nine of WHO’s conclusions, some of which surround the safety of e-cigarettes, their toxin levels, and how likely younger people are to adopt them. They cite some of the same data as the original WHO review did, but interpret it differently, arguing that the benefits of e-cigarettes, especially as an effective tool in helping some smokers to quit, outweigh potential risks from the chemicals and nicotine used in the devices. Therefore, they say, e-cigarettes should be more accessible than the WHO recommendations would allow. “…The WHO’s approach will make it harder to bring these products to market than tobacco products, inhibit innovation and put off smokers from using e-cigarettes, putting us in danger of foregoing the public health benefits these products could have,” said Ann McNeill, lead author [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-09-10T09:57:34-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine: Why boys are less likely to get it

Source: http://topnews.us/ Author: Prakash Sharma A Conservative MP's tongue and throat cancer alarm is reigniting the verbal confrontation over whether young people ought to get the HPV antibody free of charge. Amid his nine-month episode of cancer, Peter Kent says, specialists persuaded him its vital to inoculate young men against human papillomavirus. MP beats throat malignancy, urges HPV immunization for young men. Two sorts of HPV reason 70 per cent of cervical malignancy in ladies, as indicated by the Canadian Cancer Society. In men, the infection is in charge of a high rate of mouth, nose and throat growths, and also a few malignancies of the penis and anus. Young ladies between ages nine and 13 going to class anyplace in Canada can pick to get a free HPV inoculation. Just two regions, Alberta and Prince Edward Island, offer the same option to youngsters. Outside of those two areas, young men can in any case be immunized, yet just if their guardian or watchman decides to pay out-of-pocket. "Our huge concern is that its out there and that individuals aren't exploiting it," Dr. Robert Nuttall, the Canadian Cancer Society's executive of cancer control policy, said.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-09-09T07:22:58-07:00September, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Cancer Survivor Eva Grayzel Talks About Her Efforts to Make A Difference

Source: www.lehighvalleylive.comAuthor: Andrew James Sheldon As an oral cancer survivor, Eva Grayzel knows how lucky she is. She organizes an annual awareness walk for what she says is an often overlooked disease. "I was diagnosed sixteen years ago and I am so lucky to be articulate," she said. "I can't ethically live my life as I do without doing whatever I can to make sure what happened to me doesn't happen to other people." Grayzel survived stage four oral cancer, which is the most serious of the four stages. She has served as the chair of the oral cancer awareness walk in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, for six years. This year's walk is Sept. 27. Grayzel says that raising awareness is the key step to catching the disease early before it can do the most damage. Other survivors will join her in the walk. "There are going to be 20 survivors who have all been diagnosed late and most of them have facial disfigurements. They can't speak normally, some of them can't speak," she said. "It's devastating. Oral cancer steals things we take for granted such basic human needs, everything social." Grayzel's group helped organize a continuing education class for dentists to learn about oral cancer and its connection with the human papillomavirus. Symptoms of oral cancer are sometimes unrecognized by sufferers and doctors. Eileen Ciszak lost her daughter as a result of a misdiagnosis. "The doctor gave her an antibiotic and told her to see her dentist, that she probably had a cracked [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-09-03T15:56:09-07:00September, 2014|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Three shots that could stop cancer

Source: tucson.com Author: Meredith Wadman Not so long ago, when my sons still had smooth cheeks and children's voices, I had them vaccinated against human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease. It was late 2011, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just recommended that boys join girls in being vaccinated at age 11 or 12. I was certainly receptive: HPV, as it's commonly called, causes cervical cancer, cancer of the tonsils, cancer of the back of the tongue and, less often, cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus and penis. It seemed important to ensure that my kids were protected. Yet numbers released last month by the CDC show that my sons, now 14 and 15, are among a small minority of adolescent males who have been vaccinated. In 2013, just 14 percent of American boys ages 13 to 17 had received all three recommended doses of the HPV vaccine. (The CDC also recommends "catch-up" vaccination for males up to age 21.) Not that parents are rushing to have their girls vaccinated either, even though the CDC first recommended the vaccine for prepubescent girls in 2007 and virtually all insurers pay for it. In 2013, fewer than 38 percent of American girls between 13 and 17 had received the full three-dose course. It is heartbreaking to watch a safe, effective vaccine go unused. Consider this: The CDC estimates that increasing the vaccination rate of American girls to 80 percent would prevent 53,000 cervical cancers during the lifetimes [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-08-26T06:24:27-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Finding better ways to treat, prevent HPV

Source: www.fhcrc.or Author: Diane Mapes - Fred Hutch News Service Twenty-nine years ago, scientists didn’t know what caused many of the genital-tract cancers they studied, much less how to stop them. Today, not only has human papillomavirus been pinpointed as the viral perpetrator behind nearly all genital-tract and some head and neck cancers, there’s now an incredibly effective vaccine that can prevent high-risk HPV infections from ever developing into cancer. “You can almost say on the street, ‘I’m doing HPV research’ and ordinary people will know what that is,” said Aaro Turunen, an HPV researcher from the University of Turku in Finland. “It’s a sexy subject, especially for the media.” While scientific advancements, public awareness and yes, media coverage, have grown exponentially in the last three decades, there is still much to learn and do – particularly with regard to getting the vaccine to the people who most need it, both here in the U.S. and around the world. That’s where the International Papillomavirus Conference, currently in its twenty-ninth year, comes in. The HPV2014 conference, now underway at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, has drawn the brightest minds in HPV research, including nearly 1,300 basic scientists, public health researchers, physicians, providers and others dedicated to eliminating the suffering caused by the human papillomavirus. The goal of the conference is to share cutting-edge scientific advances in the field of HPV infection and disease and come up with new ways to collaborate to advance science and public health. The conference [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-08-26T06:18:49-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

The Cancer Cure Parents Aren’t Using

Source: washingtonpost.comAuthor: Meredith Wadman Not so long ago, when my sons still had smooth cheeks and children’s voices, I had them vaccinated against human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease. It was late 2011, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just recommended that boys join girls in being vaccinated at age 11 or 12. I was certainly receptive: HPV, as it’s commonly called, causes cervical cancer, cancer of the tonsils, cancer of the back of the tongue and, less often, cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus and penis. It seemed important to ensure that my kids were protected. Yet numbers released last month by the CDC show that my sons, now 14 and 15, are among a small minority of adolescent males who have been vaccinated. In 2013, just 14 percent of American boys ages 13 to 17 had received all three recommended doses of the HPV vaccine. (The CDC also recommends “catch-up” vaccination for males up to age 21.) Not that parents are rushing to have their girls vaccinated either, even though the CDC first recommended the vaccine for prepubescent girls in 2007 and virtually all insurers pay for it. In 2013, fewer than 38 percent of American girls between 13 and 17 had received the full three-dose course. It is heartbreaking to watch a safe, effective vaccine go unused. Consider this: The CDC estimates that increasing the vaccination rate of American girls to 80 percent would prevent 53,000 cervical cancers during the lifetimes of girls who are now 12 and younger. When [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-25T11:08:26-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Curt Schilling Reveals his Diagnosis of Oral Cancer and Believes Chewing Tobacco was the Cause

Source: boston.comAuthor: Steve Silva Curt Schilling, the former Red Sox pitcher and ESPN analyst, announced today during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon that he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma -- which is cancer in the mouth -- in February. "This all came about from a dog bite," Schilling said. "I got bitten by a dog and I had some damage to my finger and I went to see a doctor, and the day that I went to see the doctor, I was driving and I went to rub my neck and I felt a lump on the left side of my neck. And I knew immediately it wasn't normal. So there happened to be an ENT [Ear, Nose, and Throat] right next door to the hand doctor, and I thought what the heck, let me just stop in and see and so I waited in the office and went in there and they did the biopsy, and two days later, they diagnosed me with squamous cell carcinoma. "You know what the amazing thing was? And I was just dumbfounded by it. You've just been told you have cancer and you walk out into the public and the world's still going on and it was really a challenge to wrap my head around that. My second thought was, 'Yeah, really, you think I can handle this too?' So after a couple of tests, I got sent over to Brigham and Women's and Dana-Farber and that's where I met Dr. Haddad [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-20T11:31:16-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|