Oral Cancer News – Page 114 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

New Study Finds Editing HPV Genes Kills Cancer

Source: drbicuspid.comAuthor: DrBicuspid Staff August 14, 2014 -- Researchers have hijacked a defense system normally used by bacteria to fend off viral infections and redirected it against human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical, head and neck, and other cancers, according to a new study in the Journal of Virology (August, 6, 2014). Using a genome editing tool, researchers from Duke University were able to selectively destroy two viral genes responsible for the growth and survival of cervical carcinoma cells, causing the cancer cells to self-destruct. The study findings validate an approach only recently attempted in mammalian cells, and they could help in the development of antiviral strategies against other DNA-based viruses such as hepatitis B and herpes simplex. "Because this approach is only going after viral genes, there should be no off-target effects on normal cells," said senior study author Bryan R. Cullen, PhD, a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at the Duke University School of Medicine, in a statement. "You can think of this as targeting a missile that will destroy a certain target. You put in a code that tells the missile exactly what to hit, and it will only hit that, and it won't hit anything else because it doesn't have the code for another target." When examining the genomes of different types of bacteria, researchers noted long stretches where the same genetic sequence was repeated. But in between these repeated stretches were DNA sequences that varied from bacteria to bacteria. About a decade ago, researchers determined that [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-14T17:25:10-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Top cancer organizations push for FDA to regulate all tobacco products

Source: medicalexpress.comAuthor: Staff The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), in a joint letter responding to a proposal by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to extend its regulatory authority over tobacco products, today urged the agency to regulate electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigars, and all other tobacco products and to strengthen the proposed regulations for newly deemed products. "There is no safe form of tobacco use," said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. "Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, and among its dire health consequences are 18 different types of cancer. It is imperative that the FDA takes action to regulate all tobacco products. The future health of the American people, in particular our nation's children, depends on it." The AACR and ASCO applauded the FDA's proposal to regulate e-cigarettes. "We believe it is vitally important for the FDA to begin regulating these products, especially because we don't know much about the health effects of e-cigarette use. We are also quite concerned that e-cigarettes may increase the likelihood that nonsmokers or former smokers will use combustible tobacco products or that they will discourage smokers from quitting," said Peter P. Yu, MD, FASCO, president of ASCO. "There are insufficient data on the long-term health consequences of e-cigarettes, their value as tobacco cessation aids, or their effects on the use of conventional cigarettes. Any benefits of e-cigarettes are most likely to be realized [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-13T09:48:45-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

The National Academies of Science supports Report on Carcinogens assessments – formaldehyde still causes cancer

Source: switchboard.nrdc.orgAuthor: Jennifer Sass The National Academies of Science (NAS) issued its assessment of the cancer risks from formaldehyde, a common and highly toxic chemical found in our furniture, home building materials, and clothing. The National Academies conducted a thorough and rigorous scientific review, and concluded that it posed a threat to humans for three types of cancer: nasopharyngeal cancer; sinonasal cancer; and myeloid leukemia. And, in 2009 the World Health Organization also confirmed the science that formaldehyde causes cancer in people. What makes this NAS review novel is not the cancer findings, because those had already been identified by various international and national government scientific assessments. No, this review was politically motivated, the result of a campaign by the chemical industry and its allies in Congress to protect formaldehyde and styrene, another common chemical linked to cancer. Part of that effort has been a vicious attack on government scientific assessments, to distort and discredit any evidence linking toxic chemicals to diseases, disabilities, or death. In a “kill the messenger” campaign, the Report on Carcinogens – the prestigious biennial government report that alerts the public to chemicals that may cause cancer in people – was compelled to undergo review by the National Academies after it listed formaldehyde and styrene as “known” and “reasonably anticipated” to cause cancer, respectively. This NAS formaldehyde report, along with the recent NAS styrene report are the strongest possible statement from the scientific community that: the Report on Carcinogens got it right the first time; formaldehyde - and styrene – may cause cancer in humans; and our [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-12T15:46:52-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

PET may artificially boost HNC survival rates

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: Donna Domino, Features Editor The use of positron emission tomography (PET) is associated with a stage migration phenomenon in locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, according to a recent report in JAMA Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery. Multiple studies have shown the increased sensitivity of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET over computed tomography (CT) for detecting primary tumors, regional nodal disease, and distant metastases. Because of potential treatment changes and prognostic information, as well as patient and physician preference, FDG-PET has been rapidly adopted for managing head and neck cancers. Because FDG-PET is more sensitive than CT, it often leads to patients being assigned a higher stage than if they were staged with CT alone, the study authors noted. In this retrospective study, the researchers sought to confirm whether the increased use of FDG-PET over time is associated with the appearance of improved stage-specific survival due to stage migration (JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, July 1, 2014, Vol. 140:7, pp. 654-661). Results In the study's model of clinically important variables, PET scan use was associated with a higher stage of disease. In addition, oropharyngeal cancers were more likely to be assigned a higher stage than oral cavity cancers. Within the PET era, no statistically significant survival difference was found between those who underwent FDG-PET and those who did not. However, a significant increase in stage-specific survival was detected for patients with locally advanced disease. No stage-specific survival differences were found in patients with local disease or metastatic [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-08-12T08:29:46-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Colgate Total ingredient linked to hormones, cancer spotlights FDA Process

Source: www.bloomberg.com Author: Tiffany Kary The chemical triclosan has been linked to cancer-cell growth and disrupted development in animals. Regulators are reviewing whether it’s safe to put in soap, cutting boards and toys. Consumer companies are phasing it out. Minnesota voted in May to ban it in many products. At the same time, millions of Americans are putting it in their mouths every day, by way of a top-selling toothpaste that uses the antibacterial chemical to head off gum disease - Colgate-Palmolive Co.’s Total. Total is safe, Colgate says, citing the rigorous Food and Drug Administration process that led to the toothpaste’s 1997 approval as an over-the-counter drug. A closer look at that application process, however, reveals that some of the scientific findings Colgate put forward to establish triclosan’s safety in toothpaste weren’t black and white -- and weren’t, until this year, available to the public. Colgate’s Total application included 35 pages summarizing toxicology studies on triclosan, which the FDA withheld from view. The agency released the pages earlier this year in response to a lawsuit over a Freedom of Information Act request. Later, following inquiries from Bloomberg News, the FDA put the pages on its website. The pages show how even with one of the U.S.’s most stringent regulatory processes -- FDA approval of a new drug -- the government relies on company-backed science to show products are safe and effective. The recently released pages, taken alongside new research on triclosan, raise questions about whether the agency did appropriate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-08-12T08:18:03-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

New cancer classification system might boost patient outcomes

Source: health.usnews.com Author: Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter Changes to the way cancers are classified could lead to more accurate diagnoses and perhaps more effective treatments in about one in 10 cancer patients, new research suggests. Typically, cancers are categorized according to the tissue in which they originated, such as breast, bladder or kidney cancer. But tissues are composed of different types of cells. In this study, researchers who analyzed more than 3,500 tumor samples of 12 different cancer types concluded that defining tumors by their cellular and molecular features, rather than by the tissues in which they originated, would improve diagnoses in about 10 percent of cancer cases. "This genomic study not only challenges our existing system of classifying cancers based on tissue type, but also provides a massive new data resource for further exploration, as well as a comprehensive list of the molecular features distinguishing each of the newly described cancer classes," study co-senior author Dr. Christopher Benz, professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a university news release. The study, published online Aug. 7 in the journal Cell, is part of The Cancer Genome Atlas initiative, which is led by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute. The researchers report particularly significant findings in bladder and breast cancers. They identified at least three different subtypes of bladder cancer, including one that was nearly identical to a form of non-small cell lung cancer [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-08-10T10:10:17-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Tumour Suppressor Mutations Alone Cannot Explain Deadly Cancer

Source: www.domain-b.comAuthor: Staff Although mutations in a gene dubbed ''the guardian of the genome'' are widely recognized as being associated with more aggressive forms of cancer, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have found evidence suggesting that the deleterious health effects of the mutated gene may in large part be due to other genetic abnormalities, at least in squamous cell head and neck cancers. The study, published online 3 August in the journal Nature Genetics, shows that high mortality rates among head and neck cancer patients tend to occur only when mutations in the tumour suppressor gene coincide with missing segments of genetic material on the cancer genome's third chromosome. The link between the two had not been observed before because the mutations co-occur in about 70 per cent of head and neck tumours and because full genetic fingerprints of large numbers of cancer tumours have become available only recently. ''These two genetic malfunctions are not two separate stab wounds to the body,'' says co-senior author Trey Ideker, PhD, chief of the division of genetics. ''One exposes the Achilles tendon and the other is a direct blow to it.'' To patients with these cancers, the study's results mean that there may be therapeutic value in testing tumours for the two genetic identifiers, known as a TP53 mutation (short for tumour protein 53) and a 3p deletion (short for deletions of genetic information on the short arm ''p'' of the third chromosome). TP53 plays a key role in [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-08T10:12:06-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Cowboy Cody Kiser Joins Anti-Tobacco Campaign to Help Educate Young Consumers

Source: parade.condenast.comAuthor: Lindsay Lowe The campaign to educate consumers about the dangers of tobacco has a new all-American hero: rodeo cowboy Cody Kiser, who’s partnering with the Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF) to educate parents and kids about the health risks associated with smokeless tobacco. While chewing tobacco has long been popular among rodeo cowboys, Kiser, 23, says the drug never appealed to him, and says he hopes to serve as a positive example in an industry with traditionally strong sponsorship ties to the tobacco industry. “My dad was a cowboy, so I know what it’s like looking up to cowboys as heroes for my whole life,” he said in a release. “Health and fitness have always been incredibly important to my family. My dad was a positive role model in my life growing up in that regard, and the idea of using spit tobacco never appealed to me.” Tobacco and rodeo have a long intertwining history; the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association was sponsored by the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company from 1986 to 2009, when the Cowboys Association decided to end its relationship with tobacco advertisers. One can of spit tobacco has the equivalent nicotine of 40 cigarettes, and a “30-minute chew” is the equivalent of smoking three cigarettes, according to the OCF, meaning that an addiction to smokeless tobacco “can be one of the hardest to break.” Spit tobacco (which can refer to smokeless tobacco, dip, snuff, chew, and chewing tobacco) can cause gum disease, tooth decay, and “white patches [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-08T09:35:22-07:00August, 2014|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Study Finds a ‘Fat Burning Process’ Termed ‘Cachexia’ Kills about One Third Cancer Patients

Source: scicast.comAuthor: Staff Madrid, Spain (Scicasts) — Most cancer researchers are working on the biology of the tumour. However, Michele Petruzzelli, a member of Erwin Wagner's group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), has been looking for ways to attack the disease indirectly. He focused on the effects of tumours on the rest of the body, and not on the tumour itself. His work on the body's response to a tumour has uncovered that cachexia—the extreme thinness and weakness eventually being the real cause of death in one third of patients with cancer—is triggered by a process that is heavily studied not to fight cancer, but to fight obesity: the conversion of white fat tissue into brown fat tissue. "It is the first time that this phenomenon we might call burning fat has been associated with a negative effect", says Erwin Wagner, the Director of the BBVA Foundation-CNIO Cancer Cell Biology Programme. "What we observe is that the transformation of white fat into brown fat, currently one of the most researched subjects because of its potential effects on obesity and diabetes, has very severe consequences in the context of cancer". The study is published in Cell Metabolism. The researchers also argue that if it is possible to reduce the transformation of fat tissue, the symptoms of cachexia will improve, although they do not completely disappear. The authors demonstrate this by blocking mediators of inflammation, a process linked to cachexia, specifically, to the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6. "Inhibiting [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-07T09:50:37-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Scientists Discover Genetic Mutations Linked to Salivary Gland Tumours

Source: scicasts.comAuthor: Staff Juniper, FL — Research conducted at the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has discovered links between a set of genes known to promote tumour growth and mucoepidermoid carcinoma, an oral cancer that affects the salivary glands. The discovery could help physicians develop new treatments that target the cancer’s underlying genetic causes. The research, recently published online ahead of print by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that a pair of proteins joined together by a genetic mutation—known as CRTC1/MAML2 (C1/M2)—work with MYC, a protein commonly associated with other cancers, to promote the oral cancer’s growth and spread. “This research provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms of these malignances and points to a new direction for potential therapies,” says TSRI biologist Dr. Michael Conkright, who led the study. The C1/M2 protein is created when the genes encoding CRTC1 and MAML2 mutate into a single gene through a process known as chromosomal translocation. Such mutant “chimera” genes are linked to the formation of several forms of cancer. The team discovered that the C1/M2 protein further activates genetic pathways regulated by MYC, in addition to CREB, to begin a series of cellular changes leading to the development of mucoepidermoid carcinoma. “The identification of unique interactions between C1/M2 and MYC suggests that drugs capable of disrupting these interactions may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of mucoepidermoid carcinomas, ” said Dr. Antonio L. Amelio, first author of the study who is now assistant professor with [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-08-06T09:59:24-07:00August, 2014|Oral Cancer News|