Oral Cancer News – Page 14 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

The invisible side effect of visible cancer survivorship

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: Miranda Lankas How do survivors of head and neck cancer cope with drastic changes to one of the most visibly identifiable body parts — the head? Many cancer survivors display outward signs of their disease history; people lose hair, gain scars and ostomy bags, or even experience the full or partial loss of a body part. Some survivors embrace the physical changes in their lives wholeheartedly, with tattoos or photo shoots commemorating their new normal. However, coping with external changes can be a unique challenge for head and neck cancer survivors, whose facial changes include not only disfigurement but challenges with eating, talking and socializing in general. Head and neck cancer refers to a group of diagnoses where cancer forms in the face, mouth (including the lips, tongue and jawbone), throat, voice box and salivary glands: highly sensitive and critical areas. Survivors often face challenges speaking, chewing, swallowing and smiling, as well as changes to the skin and control over facial muscles, making this a diagnosis nearly impossible to disguise. Changes to a person’s face and their ability to eat and speak will significantly affect their ability to socialize, which poses a clear risk to mental health as well as the ability to return to previous activities. Stacey Maurer, an assistant professor and clinical psychologist in behavioral medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, has been working with head and neck cancer survivors on the psychological [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-03-08T07:50:13-07:00March, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Tech innovation offers hope for head/neck cancer treatment

Source: www.miragenews.com Author: University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Over the past decade, human papillomavirus (HPV) has increasingly been identified as a significant cause of certain head and neck cancers – for example, evidence suggests it causes 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States. Further, over the past three decades, incidence of HPV-driven cancers has increased substantially worldwide and in the U.S. While there are well-established screening tools, as well as vaccines, for HPV-driven cancers such as cervical cancer, there are fewer resources for HPV-driven head and neck cancers. As a result, researchers are working with a sense of urgency to develop innovative therapeutics to treat them. One groundbreaking therapeutic has shown significant promise in a phase 1 clinical trial led by Antonio Jimeno, MD, PhD, co-leader of the University of Colorado Cancer Center Developmental Therapeutics Program and the CU Cancer Center head and neck cancer SPORE grant. Research results published today show that a microfluidic squeezing technology used on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), a type of immune cell, helps stimulate anti-tumor activity in a subtype of HPV16-positive cancers, including head and neck, cervical, and anal cancers. “This technology is quite novel,” Jimeno explains. “As opposed to other cell therapies that require a patient’s cells to be genetically modified, this involves a different way of manipulating cells that does not lead to genetic modifications. It makes the process faster and perhaps more agile as to what you can direct the cells against.” “Sending them to boot camp” This [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-03-04T20:48:49-07:00March, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Health and geology experts work together in 250k project to improve early detection of oral cancer

Source: www.abdn.ac.uk Author: issued by The Communications Team, Directorate of External Relations, University of Aberdeen University of Aberdeen experts across the institutes of Dentistry, Medical Sciences and The School of Geosciences will work together to improve the ability to detect malignant changes in precancerous lesions which can develop into oral cancer in a £250k project. Oral cancer is a growing health problem that has seen little improvement in survival rates, mainly because of late diagnosis when the disease has progressed beyond a cure. One of the main challenges clinicians face is the lack of ways to reliably predict malignant changes in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) which carry a higher risk of developing into cancer. The researchers will use techniques typically used in geological and material science to develop methods that can detect disease progression to help identify patients at early stages when the potential of a cure is more likely. Funded by Cancer Research UK, the multidisciplinary team from the University of Aberdeen, including Dr Rasha Abu-Eid of the Institute of Dentistry, Professor Valerie Speirs from the Institute of Medical Sciences, and Dr Dave Muirhead, Head of the School of Geosciences, will work with specialists around the world including Professor WM Tilakaratne and Dr TG Kallarakkal from the University of Malaya in Malaysia, Professor BSMS Siriwardena from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and Professor J James from Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dr Rasha Abu-Eid explains: “In recent years we have seen a rise in oral cancer [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-03-02T21:47:34-07:00March, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Another setback for vapes? Using the devices can increase the risk of oral cancer as much as cigarettes do, study finds

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: Cassidy Morrison, Senior Health Reporter DailyMail.com Using a vape causes cancer-linked DNA damage to the mouth at the same rate as using a cigarette does, study finds. The latest study from researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) further pokes holes in the notion that vaping e-cigarettes such as Juul and PuffBar devices are a healthier alternative to smoking. Vapers who regularly use e-cigarettes saw just as much damage to DNA in their mouths as smokers of regular tobacco cigarettes, raising the specter of chronic diseases including cancer. Flavor pods in particular were the most dangerous. Cancers are caused by such DNA damage, also referred to as gene mutations that, over time, may stop working normally or grow out of control and become cancerous. This is not the first study to come to this conclusion. Canadian researchers found that mice exposed to flavored vapes consistently suffered serious cellular and molecular damage to their lungs. Dr Ahmad Besaratinia, senior author of the study and public health experts at USC, said: ‘For the first time, we showed that the more vapers used e-cigarettes, and the longer they used them, the more DNA damage occurred in their oral cells.’ Smoking exposes the cells coating the inside of the mouth, the airways, and the lungs to dozens of powerful chemical carcinogens. The cells in parts of the body that are directly exposed to smoke are damaged most acutely, with 150 mutations found to occur in each lung cell within one [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-02-18T14:11:07-07:00February, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

FDA grants priority review to Avasopasem for radiotherapy-induced severe oral mucositis

Source: www.onclive.com/ Author: Chris Ryan The FDA has granted priority review to the new drug application (NDA) for avasopasem manganese (GC4419) as a treatment for radiotherapy-induced severe oral mucositis (SOM) in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing standard-of-care treatment.1 The NDA was supported by data from the phase 2b GT-201 (NCT02508389) and phase 3 ROMAN (NCT03689712) trials, which enrolled a total of 678 patients. Findings from GT-201 demonstrated that 90 mg avasopasem induced a significant reduction in median SOM duration compared with placebo (1.5 vs 19 days; P = .024).2 Additionally, 43% of patients treated with avasopasem experienced SOM compared with 65% of patients who received placebo (P = .009). Grade 4 instances of SOM occurred in 16% and 30% of patients in the avasopasem and placebo arms, respectively (P = .045). In the ROMAN confirmatory trial, avasopasem also significantly reduced incidence of SOM.3 Data presented during the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that through the course of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), SOM was reported in 54% of patients administered avasopasem (n = 241) vs 64% of those given placebo (n = 166; relative risk [RR], 0.84; P = .045), meeting the trial’s primary end point. Additionally, when avasopasem was given prior to IMRT, patients experienced a 56% reduction in median duration of SOM compared with placebo (8 vs 18 days, respectively; P = .002). Compared with placebo, these patients also had a 27% reduction in incidence of grade 4 SOM (33% vs 24%; P = .052) and a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-02-17T13:22:39-07:00February, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Precision oncology inches into head and neck cancer paradigm

Source: www.targetedonc.com Author: Nichole Tucker In an interview with Targeted Oncology, to Everett E. Vokes, MD, discussed precision oncology for head and neck cancer and how the molecular biology of head and neck cancers is an opportunity for new investigations and treatment development. Treatment of head and neck cancer is moving away from invasive surgery and chemoradiotherapy and toward precision medicine, according to Everett E. Vokes, MD. But the field still has a long way to go, compared with other solid tumors.1 Patients with squamous cell cancers of the head and neck cancers are typically treated with chemoradiotherapy, said Vokes, the John E. Ultmann Distinguished Service professor of Medicine, professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, chair of the Department of Medicine, and physician-in-chief, at University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences, during a presentation at the Inaugural Miami Cancer Institute Precision Medicine Oncology Symposium. The only targeted therapy available is for HRAS-driven tumors. Although the farnesyltransferase inhibitor, tipifarnib (Zarnestra), has achieved anti-tumor activity in the HRAS-positive population, the activity is modest for patients with HRAS-mutated salivary gland cancer.2 Vokes explained that more therapies are needed for these patients, but other investigational strategies like de-escalation are promising.1 For thyroid cancers, the precision medicine landscape is vaster, Vokes said. In addition to immunotherapy, lenvatinib (Lenvima), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is FDA approved for multiple indications. Looking ahead, Vokes hopes research leans towards a multidisciplinary approach to get patients with all forms of head and neck cancer to remission. In an interview with [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-02-06T09:56:45-07:00February, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

New saliva home test can detect early signs of oral and throat cancer ‘with 90% accuracy’

Source: www.euronews.com Author: Josephine Joly Oral and throat cancers are notoriously difficult to detect – but a new saliva test, launched in the US, could change the game and enable much earlier diagnosis for patients. - Copyright Copyright: Canva A new home screening test using artificial intelligence to detect oral and throat cancers from saliva samples has been launched in the United States, with hopes the device could change the future of oral and throat cancer detection. With more than 90 per cent accuracy, the saliva test is the first to detect early signs of oral and throat cancers based on a technology that has received the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) “breakthrough device” designation. Notoriously difficult to detect, these cancers can often go undiagnosed until they have reached an advanced stage due to a lack of effective diagnostics tools, resulting in low survival rates. Current screening methods rely on visual and tactile examinations by a healthcare provider, meaning lesions must grow large enough until they can be detected by the naked eye. Only 28 per cent of patients receive an early diagnosis, and those receiving a late diagnosis face a prolonged battle with oral cancer. The five-year survival rates for oral and oesophageal cancers are 68 and 20.6 per cent respectively, but when detected early, those numbers can jump to more than 86 and 47 per cent. In the US alone, the National Cancer Institute estimates that there will be 54,000 new cases of oral cancer [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-01-23T19:06:51-07:00January, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

Ultralow dose of nivolumab offers huge cost savings

Source: www.medscape.com Author: M. Alexander Otto, PA, MMS A randomized clinical trial from India raises the possibility of huge cost savings by using much lower doses of immunotherapy. The researchers used just 6% of the recommended dose of nivolumab instead of the full dose in their treatment of patients with advanced head and neck cancer, and the addition of this low dose to the standard regimen improved 1-year survival by 25%. The study was published on January 10 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and has been downloaded almost 2000 times. The findings suggest that low doses of immunotherapy might be equivalent to the much higher doses that are approved and are currently used, two medical oncologists comment in a related editorial. If these findings can be extrapolated to other immune checkpoint inhibitors and to other tumor types, switching to the lower doses could save healthcare systems billions of dollars, write Aaron Mitchell, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, and Daniel Goldstein, MD, of Tel Aviv University, Israel. Improving Access With limited resources, the Indian healthcare system cannot afford full-dose checkpoint inhibitors, and as a result, fewer than 5% of patients have access to them, explained trial investigators led by Vijay Maruti Patil, MD, a medical oncologist at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India. The goal of the trial was to see whether lower, less expensive doses were effective for patients with advanced head and neck cancer. The idea is to increase access by making treatment more [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-01-19T06:40:45-07:00January, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

What is HPV-type throat cancer, and how can it be prevented?

Source: www.washingtonpost.com Author: Lindsey Bever and Marlene Cimons Tennis great Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with throat and breast cancer, which she described as a “double whammy” to tennis.com Monday. Calling the illnesses “serious but still fixable,” the 18-time Grand Slam singles winner said she was “hoping for a favorable outcome.” Martina Navratilova smiles during a match on May 19, 2019, in London. (Dan Istitene/Getty Images) Navratilova’s Stage 1 throat cancer is related to the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and the precursor to several cancers. “HPV-related head and neck cancers are increasing dramatically in the United States,” said Otis Brawley, a professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University. “The incidence rate has doubled over the last 15 years.” The majority of patients are men, but “anybody can get it,” he said. The Washington Post spoke with several health-care experts to answer common questions about HPV and cancer. What is HPV? HPV is a group of viruses typically transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, including during sexual activity such as oral, anal or vaginal sex. Most people will contract some form of HPV at some point in their lives, experts said. Some people may never know they have it, and the active infection may be short-lived because, in many cases, the body’s immune system suppresses the virus on its own. But in other cases, the virus can lead to certain forms of cancer, including cervical, anal, vaginal and penile and oral cancers. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-01-05T13:06:40-07:00January, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

HPV, PD-L1 move to the forefront of biomarkers for head and neck cancers

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Silas Inman The frontline treatment for patients with head and neck cancer is largely dominated by surgery and radiation therapy, with ongoing efforts to find biomarkers and other strategies to better individualize care. The leading markers used to tailor therapy are human papillomavirus (HPV) status, which typically signals the aggressiveness of the disease, and PD-L1 expression level, which may help guide selection of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. These markers are gaining notice in different settings. HPV status has broad applicability across head and neck cancers, whereas the clinical utility of PD-L1 expression remains a more nuanced question. HPV-Positive Tumors Approximately 70% of head and neck cancers, specifically oropharyngeal cancers, are positive for HPV, with most cases associated with the HPV-16 subtype. These tumors appear most commonly in nonsmoking White men with a mean age of diagnosis of 60.3 years (SD, 10.8) for oropharyngeal cancer and 63.2 years (SD, 12.7) for other types of head and neck cancers.1,2 Moreover, HPV-positive tumors typically fall into a low- to intermediate-risk category, with 5-year overall survival (OS) outcomes far superior compared with rates for HPV-negative tumors, which are typically caused by smoking. For patients with HPV-associated head and neck cancers, the 5-year OS rate ranges from 75% to 80% compared with 45% to 50% for those with HPV-negative tumors.3 In many cases, although the prognosis is more favorable for patients with HPV-positive tumors, the treatment is the same as it is for HPV-negative tumors. However, with the introduction of ICIs [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-01-05T12:58:57-07:00January, 2023|Oral Cancer News|