African Americans more likely to develop keloid after head and neck surgery

Source: http://www.news-medical.net/ Author: staff African Americans are seven times more likely than Caucasians to develop an excessive growth of thick, irregularly shaped and raised scarring on their skin - known as a keloid - following head and neck surgery, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. This finding, however, is much lower than that previously reported in medical literature, where rates of keloid development have been shown to be up to 16 percent in African Americans. Unlike regular scars, keloids do not subside over time and often extend outside the wound site. Keloids also may be painful to the touch and itchy. "Many African American patients are afraid to have head and neck surgery or any facial cosmetic procedures for fear of developing keloids at the incision sites," says Lamont R. Jones, M.D. vice chair, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford. "We hope our study helps to eliminate that fear by showing that keloid development on the head and neck following surgery is actually much smaller than other reports." Much of the uncertainty surrounding keloids is rooted in there being no known cause for their development. But Dr. Jones and his research team at Henry Ford hope to eliminate that unknown. They are embarking on another keloid study to find a new technique to identify the genes that may be responsible for keloid development. By identifying the genetic cause, it may be possible to develop better treatments for keloids in the near future. [...]

2012-03-07T15:24:01-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Robotic surgery less invasive on HPV-related oral cancers

Source: Dr.Bicuspid.com March 1, 2012 -- Robotic surgery conducted through patients' mouths provides excellent results in removing squamous cell carcinoma at the back of the throat, especially in patients with HPV, according to a new Mayo Clinic study (Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March 2012, Vol. 87(3), pp. 211-212). "We were surprised that the cancer cure results were even better than the traditional treatments that we have been doing, but that is probably almost as much of a matter that these cancers are HPV-mediated for the most part, and they respond much better to treatment," said study author Eric Moore, MD, a head and neck surgeon at Mayo Clinic. "Importantly, the treatment preserved patients' ability to swallow, and their speech performance was excellent." Dr. Moore and his team followed 66 patients with oropharyngeal cancer who underwent transoral robotic surgery with the da Vinci robotic surgical system. Every few months, the patients underwent imaging studies, scans, and exams to determine if cancer was recurring. After two years, the researchers found that the patients' survival rates were greater than 92%, which is as high as some other surgical and nonsurgical treatments for oropharyngeal cancer. Because traditional surgery techniques to remove throat tumors can be traumatic, requiring cutting and reconstructing the mandible, neck, and tongue, the researchers were also interested in patients' healing after robotic surgery. "We found that with transoral robotic surgery, 96% of patients could swallow a normal diet within three weeks of treatment," Dr. Moore said. Less than 4% required a gastrostomy [...]

2012-03-01T16:21:18-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Judge Rules Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels Unconstitutional

 Source: Time Magazine- Healtland The government’s effort to put graphic warning labels about the dangers of smoking on cigarette packs hit another legal snag on Wednesday. A Washington judge declared unconstitutional a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandate that would force cigarette makers to use the labels, which include images of a corpse of a smoker, smoking-damaged teeth and gums and diseased lungs, saying that it violated cigarette makers’ freedom of speech under the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote in his ruling that the images “were neither designed to protect the consumer from confusion or deception, nor to increase consumer awareness of smoking risks; rather, they were crafted to evoke a strong emotional response calculated to provoke the viewer to quit or never start smoking.” SPECIAL: FDA Unveils Final Cigarette Warning Labels That’s been the argument of cigarette makers, who say that the images go beyond merely informing the public to forcing the manufacturers to advertise the government’s anti-smoking agenda, with the purpose of convincing smokers to give up the habit. Leon’s ruling fell in line with his previous decision in the case in November, when he issued a temporary injunction blocking the new labeling effort. That decision has already been appealed by the government. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco products for the first time. Under that law, the FDA required cigarette makers to cover the top half of the front and back of cigarette [...]

2012-03-01T14:10:43-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Evaluation of a combined triple method to detect causative HPV in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas: p16 Immunohistochemistry, Consensus PCR HPV-DNA, and In Situ Hybridization

Source: 7thspace.com Recent emerging evidences identify Human Papillomavirus (HPV) related Head and Neck squamous cell carcinomas (HN-SCCs) as a separate subgroup among Head and Neck Cancers with different epidemiology, histopathological characteristics, therapeutic response to chemo-radiation treatment and clinical outcome. However, there is not a worldwide consensus on the methods to be used in clinical practice. The endpoint of this study was to demonstrate the reliability of a triple method which combines evaluation of: 1. p16 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (p16-IHC); 2. HPV-DNA genotyping by consensus HPV-DNA PCR methods (Consensus PCR); and 3 viral integration into the host by in situ hybridization method (ISH). This triple method has been applied to HN-SCC originated from oral cavity (OSCC) and oropharynx (OPSCC), the two anatomical sites in which high risk (HR) HPVs have been clearly implicated as etiologic factors. Methylation-Specific PCR (MSP) was performed to study inactivation of p16-CDKN2a locus by epigenetic events. Reliability of multiple methods was measured by Kappa statistics. Results: All the HN-SCCs confirmed HPV positive by PCR and/or ISH were also p16 positive by IHC, with the latter showing a very high level of sensitivity as single test (100% in both OSCC and OPSCC) but lower specificity level (74% in OSCC and 93% in OPSCC).Concordance analysis between ISH and Consensus PCR showed a faint agreement in OPSCC (kappa = 0.38) and a moderate agreement in OSCC (kappa = 0.44). Furthermore, the addition of double positive score (ISHpositive and Consensus PCR positive) increased significantly the specificity of HR-HPV detection on [...]

2012-02-29T17:24:29-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Cancer Patients Who Smoke Report Worse Pain, Symptoms

Source: MedScapeToday.com February 24, 2012 (Palm Springs, California) — Cancer patients who smoke experience more severe symptoms than nonsmoking cancer patients and are also at greater risk of misusing opioids, a new study shows. "Our findings show a profile of higher levels of physical symptoms (pain, fatigue, poor appetite, and insomnia) and psychological symptoms (depression and anxiety) among smokers than non-smokers," report Diane Novy, PhD, from the Pain Management Center at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and colleagues. The findings underscore the importance of smoking cessation for this patient population, she told Medscape Medical News, even though it's unclear if there is a causal effect. "We don't know the cause. They may smoke more because of the pain," she said in an interview. However, studies also show that smoking has been known to increase certain types of pain such as back pain, and nerve pain, she added. "If we can motivate them to stop smoking, I think they're better off." The findings were presented here at the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) 28th Annual Meeting. Pain, Fatigue, Insomnia The study included 486 cancer patients (52% female), with a mean age of 55 years, who were referred to the Pain Management Center for uncontrolled pain. Ninety-four patients were smokers, and the rest (n = 356), classified as nonsmokers, were former smokers or never-smokers. The patients were diagnosed with a wide range of cancers, the most common being gastrointestinal (18.5%), followed by hematologic (15%) and [...]

2012-02-28T17:43:34-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Kenneth Price dies at 77; artist transformed traditional ceramics

Source: Los Angeles Times   Kenneth Price was among the first generation of iconoclastic L.A. artists to attain international stature. His work with glazed and painted clay was 'resolutely original' and redefined contemporary sculpture, an observer says. Kenneth Price, a prolific Los Angeles artist whose work with glazed and painted clay transformed traditional ceramics while also expanding orthodox definitions of American and European sculpture, died early Friday at his home and studio in Taos, N.M. He was 77. Price had struggled with tongue and throat cancer for several years, his food intake restricted to liquids supplied through a feeding tube. Despite his infirmity, he continued to produce challenging new work and to mount critically acclaimed exhibitions at galleries in Los Angeles, New York and Europe. At the time of his death Price had completed preparations for a 50-year retrospective, scheduled to open at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the fall in an exhibition designed by architect Frank Gehry. The show will travel to the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A 1992 retrospective traveled from the Menil Collection in Houston to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In the decades following World War II, Price was among the first generation of iconoclastic L.A. artists to attain international stature. Three Price sculptures were on view in "Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970," a survey of 47 leading postwar artists that closed this month at theJ. Paul [...]

2012-02-27T12:28:51-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Palliation Trumps PET in Prolonging Head and Neck Cancer Survival

Source: Elsevier Global Medical News. 2012 Feb 23, D McNamara MIAMI BEACH (EGMN) - Using PET scans to diagnose distant metastasis in patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma does not significantly prolong life expectancy, compared with other imaging techniques, according to a retrospective study. Palliative chemotherapy did make a difference, however, significantly increasing life expectancy by 215 days in patients who received it, Dr. Matthew E. Spector and colleagues from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, reported at a meeting of the Triological Society. "Over 90% of patients at University of Michigan have at least one PET scan at some point in their treatment," Dr. Spector said. Increased sensitivity is one reason for such widespread adoption of the imaging technique. "We were wondering, while it may be more sensitive to identify distant metastatic disease, was it changing what we were doing?" In a retrospective look at 170 patients with such cancers at their institution, researchers found no significant difference in median survival between patients who had a PET scan (168 days) and those who did not (193 days). Determination of any survival difference was a primary aim of the study. "A lot of studies have looked at PET scans, and we know in up to one-third of cases it may change our decisions," Dr. Spector said. For example, a negative PET scan might mean definitive treatment, whereas a positive PET finding might lead to palliative therapy. However, "no one has looked at the impact of the PET findings on the life expectancy after diagnosis." All patients in the study had a distant metastasis diagnosis. "We found PET was more [...]

2012-02-27T11:42:48-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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More troops on smokeless tobacco after deployment

Source: Reuters.com The findings, reported in the journal Addiction, follow other studies that have tied deployment and combat to health risks, including higher rates of smoking and drinking. "This adds to the list of things we're learning are associated with combat," said lead researcher Dr. Eric D.A. Hermes, of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. It's not fully clear why some troops take up smokeless tobacco after deployment. But Hermes suspects stress is involved. That's because deployment with combat exposure was linked to a higher risk than deployment alone. And troops with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also had an increased risk. The findings come from the Millennium Cohort Study, an ongoing government project looking at the health effects of military service. Of more than 45,000 personnel followed from 2001 to 2006, 2 percent started using smokeless tobacco during that time. Another 9 percent had already developed the habit, and kept it up. Overall, troops who were deployed but did not see combat were almost one-third more likely to take up a smokeless tobacco habit than their non-deployed counterparts. Those odds were two-thirds to three-quarters higher for troops who were in combat or who deployed multiple times. According to Hermes, those different levels of deployment can be seen as stand-ins for different levels of stress. So it's possible that stress plays a role, he said. Another finding gives weight to that idea. "We also saw a relationship with PTSD symptoms," Hermes said. Just under 4 [...]

2012-02-27T10:28:20-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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Canadian provinces weighing HPV vaccination of boys

Source: www.cmaj.ca/ Author: Laura Eggertson Provinces weighing the merits of implementing the National Advisory Committee on Immunization's recommendation to offer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to boys and men aged 9–26 are facing a tricky trade-off between benefits and costs. “I think the benefits are there, but the costs are high,” which is a crucial issue for publicly funded programs, says Dr. Monika Naus, medical director of immunization programs and vaccine-preventable diseases for the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization last month recommended extending the human papillomavirus vaccine to boys and men aged 9 to 26 “for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) grades 1, 2, and 3, anal cancer, and anogenital warts”. The move followed on the heels of an October 2011 recommendation from United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel recommendation that HPV vaccine be given to boys aged 11–12 to ward off genital warts, anal cancer and “possibly” head and neck cancer. In deciding whether to proceed, the provinces should note that “the public health and economic burden of AGWs [anogenital warts] in Canada is considerable, particularly among men whose incidence rates and incidence rate ratios compared to females have been increasing in recent years,” the committee stated. The committee’s report also noted that the number of annual cases (and average annual incidence per 100 000) of penile cancer among men in Canada is 127.4 (1.0 per 100 000), while the number for cancer of the anus is [...]

2012-02-26T10:01:29-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|
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