Oral Cancer News – Page 144 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

Scientists find new way to boost cancer drugs

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff Shutting down a specific pathway in cancer cells appears to improve the ability of common drugs to wipe those cells out, according to new research from scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center (Cancer Discovery, January 2013, Vol. 3:1, pp. 96-111). The new approach appears to enhance the tumor-killing ability of a commonly prescribed class of drugs that includes cetuximab (Erbitux), used to treat head and neck cancers. These drugs work by blocking the activity of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which sits on the cell surface and senses cues from the environment, telling cancer cells to grow and divide, according to co-author Igor Astsaturov, MD, PhD, an attending physician in the department of medical oncology at Fox Chase. In 2010, Dr. Astsaturov and his colleagues identified a pathway in the cell that, when blocked, completely suppressed EGFR activity. Interestingly, the pathway consists of a series of enzymes that, when working in concert, synthesize new molecules of cholesterol. Working with cancer cells in the lab, the researchers inactivated a key gene in the cholesterol synthesis pathway, and found the cells became more vulnerable to treatment with cetuximab. The same was true in mice that lacked this particular pathway, according to Dr. Astsaturov. "Most tumors are only moderately sensitive to inhibitors of EGFR, but when these tumors lack an essential gene in the cholesterol pathway, they become exquisitely sensitive to the anti-EGFR drugs," he said. "The cancers literally melt away in mice." The researchers then removed [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-21T07:05:01-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

‘Dentist should have spotted my cancer’

Source: menmedia.co.uk Author: staff An NHS dentist who advised a patient to treat what turned out to be a life-threatening oral cancer with mouthwash is being sued for tens of thousands of pounds in damages. Paula Drabble, 58, went to Pinfold Dental Practice, in Hattersley, Hyde, in June 2008 with concerns about a white lesion on her gum. She was told by her dentist, Ian Hughes, it was nothing serious, a court heard. Mrs Drabble of Mottram Moor, Mottram, Hyde, had five further appointments with Mr Hughes and was advised to ‘manage’ her complaint with mouthwash. She was eventually referred to hospital in April 2009, and ‘seriously invasive cancer’ diagnosed. She had surgery, including removal of affected bone, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. She has now made a good recovery and has begun a High Court fight for damages, claiming Mr Hughes was negligent to have not spotted the cancer and referred her to hospital earlier. Timothy Briden, for Mrs Drabble, told the court his client had developed the patch on her gum some years earlier. The lesion was found to be benign by medics at the University Dental Hospital in Manchester and she was discharged in 2004 with a letter being sent to Mr Hughes, warning him to ‘re-refer if you notice or indeed Mrs Drabble notices any changes’. Marcus Dignum, for Mr Hughes, denied that his client was at fault in failing to spot the cancer. He said: “Plainly the court will have every sympathy with Mrs Drabble [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-21T06:56:22-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine issue returns to legislature

Source: abcnews4.com Date: January 14, 2013 by Stacy Jacobson CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- A local state representative will introduce a bill that would give middle school students better accessibility to information about the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine and to the vaccine itself. Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed the bill last year. But lawmakers wanted to try again. HPV can cause cervical cancer, as well as head and neck cancer, doctors said. Therese Speer is a mother of three, and grandmother of four. She knew what it was like to worry as a parent. "More information is always a benefit to parents. The more you know, the more informed decision you can make," Speer said. She said she supports a new bill called the Cervical Cancer Prevention Act. Rep. Bakari Sellers (D-90th District) proposed it. "The CDC just stated the cost of cervical cancer in South Carolina is upwards of $25 million. This is something we can head off," Sellers said. The bill would make information about the HPV vaccine more available to seventh grade students. The bill would also allow the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to offer the vaccine through school. "When that information is provided and parents have opportunity to speak to pediatrician about this vaccine, they overwhelmingly accept it," MUSC gynecologic oncologist Dr. Jennifer Young-Pierce said. Officials said the bill had no mandates, only options. "Too often, people get info from friend or Internet that doesn't have the most up-to-date information. This is requiring us to provide information [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-01-16T11:27:50-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Dysphagia after definitive radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

Source: Strahlentherapie und Onkologie Authors: L. Deantonio MD, L. Masini MD, M. Brambilla PhD, F. Pia MD, M. Krengli MD Background Dysphagia is a complication of head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT). We analysed frequency and severity of swallowing dysfunction and correlated these findings with dose–volume histograms (DVHs) of the pharyngeal constrictor muscles. Methods A total of 50 patients treated by radical RT were enrolled. DVHs of constrictor muscles were correlated with acute and late dysphagia and with the items of three quality of life questionnaires. Results Mean dose to superior and middle constrictor muscles (SCM, MCM), partial volume of SCM and MCM receiving a dose ≥ 50 Gy dose to the whole constrictor muscles ≥ 60 Gy and tumour location were associated to late dysphagia at univariate analysis. Mean dose to the MCM was the only statistically significant predictor of late dysphagia at the multivariable analysis. Conclusion The study shows a significant relationship between long-term dysphagia and mean doses to SCM, MCM, whole constrictor muscles, and oropharyngeal tumour. This finding suggests a potential advantage in reducing the RT dose to swallowing structures to avoid severe dysphagia. This article was sourced by The Oral Cancer Foundation and vetted for accuracy and appropriateness.

Charlotte Parker2013-01-14T20:58:52-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Why can’t doctors tell cancer patients the truth?

Source: SALON.com By: Mary Elizabeth Williams Medical journals and physicians underplay what treatment is really like. And it hurts patients (Credit: Henk Vrieselaar via Shutterstock) Everyone appreciates a bright perspective, especially in grim circumstances. But you know what’s a really poor arena for downplaying the bad news? Medicine. A new report in the Annals of Oncology this week reveals that in two thirds of breast cancer studies, side effects were downplayed – including serious ones. And, as Reuters reports, it’s a field-wide problem in the health care industry: Last fall, cardiology journal editors warned authors to “watch their language” in reporting, and pediatrics researchers warned of “spin and boasting” in their journals. Aside from the ethical issues of publishing misleading information, the habit of rushing to make it all seem better has serious consequences. Because the sunnyside talk doesn’t stop at the journals. It trickles over to doctors, who then minimize what a patient’s real experience is going to be like. And even without overly optimistic literature to inspire them, doctors and their lack of understanding can be an issue. A 2007 study in the journal Drug Safety found that over 60 percent of patients who complained of side effects to a particular drug said “their doctors did not appreciate the impact the symptoms had on their quality of life.” At the time, health policy professor Albert W. Wu told American Medical News that doctors “have the bad habit of discounting patients’ complaints. In our desire not to worry [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-01-11T15:03:36-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Experts warn of epidemic of head and neck tumors caused by sexually-transmitted HPV infections and obesity

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: staff While cancer rates continue to drop, two new increasingly common causes of cancer could lead to an epidemic of head and neck cancer, experts warn. Obesity and the human papillomavirus, or HPV, are the next wave of cancer threats, according to a report released Monday with data from the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. Baby boomers already infected with HPV will likely develop cancers from the virus in coming years and the youger generation is not being vaccinated against it at anything close to the recommended rate. And a third of cancer cases have been linked to obesity, which is a growing health concern with little done to combat it. The report was published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. From 2000 to 2009 cancer death rates dropped steadily by 1.8 per cent among children and men and 1.4 per cent among women. Cancer diagnosis rates were stable for women, dipped slightly among men, and went up a tiny 0.6 per cent among children under 14. 'The fact that people are not dying of cancer is clear evidence of progress,' Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society told MSNBC. 'But could have a much lower death rate from cancer if we simply got serious about doing all the things that work. 'Over the next 10 years, a combination of high caloric intake and low physical activity [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:52:16-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Study to assess lubricant that stops HPV transmission

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff A new study at McGill University will test the ability of a personal lubricant with a special form of carrageenan gel to prevent the transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV). The large-scale, double-blind human trial is called CATCH, an acronym for Carrageenan-gel Against Transmission of Cervical HPV, and will involve tracking HPV infections in more than 400 female volunteers for a one-year period. Divine 9, a carrageenan-based personal lubricant from the company Divine, was the only personal lubricant selected for the trial due to earlier laboratory studies by the National Cancer Institute that showed it to be a strong inhibitor of HPV transmission, according to the firm. Oropharyngeal cancer is the second-most diagnosed of cancers associated with HPV, according to a reportlast year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 26,000 new cancers attributable to HPV occur each year: 18,000 among females and 8,000 among males, including an estimated 11,500 cervical cancers and 7,400 oropharyngeal cancers, the CDC found.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:37:54-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

HPV-related cancers on the rise

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: Drbicuspid staff The rising incidence of cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) shows a need to increase HPV vaccination coverage levels, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (January 7, 2013). Despite the decline in cancer death rates in the U.S., the rate of HPV-associated cancers has increased, the report noted. The American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries annually provide updates on trends in cancer incidence and death rates in the U.S. This year's report highlighted trends in incidence rates for HPV-associated cancers and HPV vaccination coverage levels. Two HPV vaccines (bivalent and quadrivalent) have been shown to protect against most cervical cancers in women and one vaccine (quadrivalent) also protects against genital warts and cancers of the anus, vagina, and vulva. However, the report had no data available on the vaccine's efficacy for preventing HPV-associated cancers of the oropharynx. To assess trends in HPV-associated cancer incidence rates and HPV vaccination coverage levels, ACS researchers looked at trends in age-standardized incidence and death rates for all cancers combined and for the leading cancers among men and women. They also analyzed HPV vaccination coverage levels during 2008 and 2010. Nationally, 32% of females ages 13 to 17 years received three doses of the HPV vaccine in 2010, showing the necessity for increased efforts to increase HPV vaccination coverage, the report said. HPV vaccination efforts should [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:28:54-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Chicago ENT head and neck surgeons using VELscope Vx to enhance oral cancer surgery success rate

Source: www.menafn.com Author: press release LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. subsidiary LEDDental announced today that its VELscope Vx enhanced oral assessmentdevice will now be used by Chicago Otolaryngology Associates for oralmucosal abnormality assessment and when performing surgery on oral cancer patients. According to Chicago Otolaryngology Associates' Howard Kotler, MD,FACS, "We pride ourselves on embracing state-of-the-art technologies that allow us to provide the best patient care possible. The VELscopeVx may significantly enhance our ability to see the entire cancerous or precancerous lesion that needs to be excised, allowing us to minimize risk of additional unnecessary surgery." The VELscope Vx's fluorescence visualization technology is the first approved by the FDA and Health Canada to help surgeons determine the surgical margins when excising cancerous and precancerous tissues. The technology is also approved to help dental and medical professionals discover cancerous and precancerous tissue that might not be apparent to the unaided eye. The vast majority of the nearly 12,000 VELscope devices in use around the world are used by dental practices. Typically, when a suspicious lesion is detected by a dentist, the patient is referred to an oral surgeon or a periodontist for a surgical biopsy, which is then evaluated by an oral pathologist. If the biopsy sample is determined to be cancerous or precancerous, the patient is usually referred to an ENT head and neck surgeon for consultation and likely excision. VELscope technology was developed to address the problem of detecting all abnormal tissue, including that beneath the surface, as well as making [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-10T09:25:49-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Another Side Effect Of Chemotherapy: ‘Chemo Brain’

Source: NPR Date: December 28, 2012 Author: Patti Neighmond It's well-known that chemotherapy often comes with side effects like fatigue, hair loss and extreme nausea. What's less well-known is how the cancer treatment affects crucial brain functions, like speech and cognition. For Yolanda Hunter, a 41-year-old hospice nurse, mother of three and breast cancer patient, these cognitive side effects of chemotherapy were hard to miss. "I could think of words I wanted to say," Hunter says. "I knew what I wanted to say. ... There was a disconnect from my brain to my mouth." Before getting treated for cancer, Hunter led a busy, active lifestyle. But the effects of chemotherapy on her brain made it difficult for her to do even the most basic things. "I couldn't even formulate a smile. I had no expression," she says. "I might feel things on the inside, but it didn't translate to the outside. ... It literally felt like you were trying to fight your way through fog." Some cancer patients call this mental fog "chemo brain." And now researchers are trying to quantify exactly what chemo brain really is. Oncologist Jame Abraham, a professor at West Virginia University, says about a quarter of patients undergoing chemotherapy have trouble processing numbers, using short-term memory and focusing their attention. Using positron emission tomography, or PET, scans to measure blood flow and brain activity, Abraham looked at the brains of 128 breast cancer patients before they started chemotherapy and then again, six months later. On [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-01-10T13:00:01-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|