Oral Cancer News – Page 217 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

Manual Drainage for Lymphedema Investigated in First-Ever RCT

Source: Medscape Today By: Zosia Chustecka December 11, 2010 (San Antonio, Texas) — Manual lymph drainage (MLD) in the form of massage was not effective in preventing arm lymphedema in patients with breast cancer who had undergone axillary lymph node dissection. The results come from a randomized clinical trial in 160 patients with breast cancer, reported here today at the 33rd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. "This is a very nice study," commented session moderator Hiram Cody, MD, from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. "This has been a data-free zone, and this [study] is a very nice addition," he added. The results were presented by Nele Devoogdt, from University Hospitals Leuven, in Belgium, who undertook the study as part of her doctoral thesis. She was the recipient of a scholarship awarded by the American Association for Cancer Research Translational Research Scholars and funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Massage to Increase Lymph Drainage MLD is a kind of massage where the skin is stretched, Ms. Devoogdt explained. The theory is that it would help to prevent the development of lymphedema by increasing the resorption of lymph, increasing lymph transport, and creating collateral pathways to aid in lymph drainage. However, she pointed out that its effectiveness in preventing lymphedema has never been tested in a randomized controlled clinical trial. So this is what her group set out to investigate. They compared a program consisting of information and exercises therapy, with and without the addition [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-13T11:44:05-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

More Indians chew tobacco blend, get oral cancer

Source: Boston.com By: Adi Narayan MUMBAI — Safiq Shaikh was 13 when he began chewing a blend of tobacco, areca nut, and spices that jolted him awake when his job at a textile loom got too dreary. Five years later, doctors in Mumbai lopped off his tongue to halt the cancer that was spreading through his mouth. Shaikh believed the fragrant, granular mixture he chewed, known in India as gutka, was a harmless stimulant and at first he ignored the milky lump growing inside his mouth. Now Shaikh is one of about 200,000 Indians diagnosed with a tobacco-related malignancy this year, said his surgeon, Pankaj Chaturvedi. India now has the highest number of oral cancers in the world, after a group of entrepreneurs known locally as “gutka barons’’ turned a 400-year-old tobacco product hand-rolled in betel leaves into a spicy blend sold for 2 cents on street corners from Bangalore to New Delhi. Sales of chewing tobacco, worth $4.6 billion in 2004, are on track to double by 2014, according to Datamonitor, a branch of the international research firm based in Hyderabad, India. The combination of tobacco and areca nut makes gutka and its hand-made ancestor, known as paan, addictive, scientists said. Areca nut is the fourth-most commonly used psychoactive substance in the world after tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine, according to the World Health Organization. “Now you have an industrial version of a traditional thing’’ spurring demand, said Chaturvedi, who works at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Asia’s largest cancer [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-13T11:35:06-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Burgeoning market for smokeless tobacco products

Source: www.acsh.org Author: staff Now for some more good news on the harm reduction front: While cigarette sales have fallen by 17 percent since 2005 due to robust health campaigns and steeper taxes, smokeless tobacco products sales have grown by an annual rate of approximately 7 percent, reports The Chicago Tribune. The increase in sales of smokeless tobacco products can be partially attributed to their invisibility. For addicted smokers stuck in a smoke-free office environment all day long, these products relieve them of their nicotine craving. Economic factors have also been responsible for the rise in smokeless tobacco sales since a can of premium Swedish snus can run not much more than half the cost of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in places where state, county and city excise taxes are high. Perhaps the most intriguing element to this story is that the use of smokeless tobacco products is increasing even though advertisers aren’t allowed to market them as a safer alternative to cigarettes. “I wonder how these people get the message,” ponders ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. Even though medical experts agree that quitting tobacco altogether is the ideal scenario, scientists admit that smokeless tobacco products are much less harmful than cigarettes. But the potential benefit of these products, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, is often overshadowed by anti-tobacco camps that focus on the possibility of increased risks of oral cancer from smokeless tobacco products. Dr. Ross notes that this risk “is essentially nil in the kinds of highly purified [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-12T10:03:39-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

BioVex launches Phase 3 study on head and neck cancer treatment

Source: www.masshightech.com Author: James M. Connolly Woburn-based biotech company BioVex Inc. today said that it has launched a Phase 3 study of its OncoVEXGM-CSF as a treatment for patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The study will be conducted at sites in the U.S. and U.K., and will enroll 528 previously untreated patients. The goal is to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in two-year, event-free survival for patients treated with chemoradition and with OncoVEXGM-CF. BioVex founder and chief technology officer Robert Coffin said in a press release, “The start of a second pivotal Phase 3 study is part of a broad planned development program for OncoVEX GM-CSF beyond our lead indication of metastatic melanoma.” BioVex has an operational commercial scale manufacturing facility in Woburn. It is developing biologics for the treatment of cancer and prevention of infectious disease. In addition to OncoVEXGM-CSF, the company has a second development program, ImmunoVEXHSV2, a vaccine for genital herpes that displayed complete protection in animal models. That vaccine is currently undergoing clinical testing in the U.K.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-12T09:57:29-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco company pays $5M in groundbreaking case

Source: www.ctlawtribune.com Author: Thomas B. Scheffey Kelly June Hill, Executrix, et al. v. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco: The Altria Group, successor to tobacco marketer United States Smokeless Tobacco of Greenwich, has settled for $5 million a lawsuit filed by the estate of a North Carolina man who died of tongue cancer. The worker, Bobby Hill, initially went to an Ashville, N.C., lawyer, who referred his case to Bridgeport’s Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder. Partners Antonio Ponvert III and Christopher Bernard launched a state court wrongful death action in Connecticut. From the beginning, Ponvert said, Hill and his family wanted to draw attention to the danger of “dipping snuff” and to discourage youngsters from starting its addictive use. “It’s the first time a plaintiff has won a wrongful death chewing tobacco verdict or settlement in the history of the industry,” said Ponvert. Altria, based in Richmond, Va., also owns Philip Morris, and has a corporate policy of not settling any individual consumer cases, he added. Altria Group spokesman Steve Callahan said, “U.S. Smokeless Tobacco is honoring an agreement it made in this case prior to its acquisition by Altria….We have no current intention to settle cases like this in the future.” Historically, the tobacco industry has fiercely defended itself in the courts. And for decades, it denied that tobacco is addictive or a health risk. More recently, it has maintained that people know the risks of tobacco and they should take personal responsibility if they use it. In the industry, a no-settlement rule [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-12T09:51:00-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Electronic nicotine delivery systems: is there a need for regulation?

Source: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/ Author: Anna Trtchounian, Prue Talbot Purpose: Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) purport to deliver nicotine to the lungs of smokers. Five brands of ENDS were evaluated for design features, accuracy and clarity of labeling and quality of instruction manuals and associated print material supplied with products or on manufacturers' websites. Methods: ENDS were purchased from online vendors and analyzed for various parameters. Results: While the basic design of ENDS was similar across brands, specific design features varied significantly. Fluid contained in cartridge reservoirs readily leaked out of most brands, and it was difficult to assemble or disassemble ENDS without touching nicotine-containing fluid. Two brands had designs that helped lessen this problem. Labeling of cartridges was very poor; labelling of some cartridge wrappers was better than labelling of cartridges. In general, packs of replacement cartridges were better labelled than the wrappers or cartridges, but most packs lacked cartridge content and warning information, and sometimes packs had confusing information. Used cartridges contained fluid, and disposal of nicotine-containing cartridges was not adequately addressed on websites or in manuals. Orders were sometimes filled incorrectly, and safety features did not always function properly. Print and internet material often contained information or made claims for which there is currently no scientific support. Conclusions: Design flaws, lack of adequate labeling and concerns about quality control and health issues indicate that regulators should consider removing ENDS from the market until their safety can be adequately evaluated. Authors affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-11T06:13:33-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

When the state paid, people stopped smoking: study

Source: Reuters By: Maggie Fox When Massachusetts started paying for stop-smoking treatments, people not only kicked the habit but also had fewer heart attacks, researchers reported on Tuesday in the first study to show a clear payoff from investing in smoking prevention efforts. Smoking dropped by 10 percent among clients of Medicaid, the state health insurance plan for the poor, and nearly 40 percent of Medicaid patients who smoked used benefits to get nicotine patches or drugs to help them quit, the researchers said. The study -- which suggests states can save money from investing in efforts to cut smoking -- found the yearly rate of hospital admissions for heart attacks fell by 46 percent for Medicaid clients and 49 percent fewer of them were hospitalized for clogged arteries. "The dramatic decline in heart attack hospitalizations for smokers who used the benefit is stunning and demonstrates the effectiveness of tobacco treatment coverage that includes behavioral counseling and medicines approved by the Food and Drug Administration," American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown, who was not involved in the research, said in a statement. Thomas Land and colleagues at the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, as well as the Harvard Medical School, looked at hospital records for the study, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine. In July 2006, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, called MassHealth, began paying for drugs and other treatments to help smokers quit, including nicotine patches, gum and drugs. "Over 75,000 Medicaid subscribers used the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-10T12:20:36-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Age is not a limiting factor for brachytherapy for carcinoma of the node negative oral tongue in patients aged eighty or older

Source: 7thspace.com Author: Hideya Yamazaki et al Purpose: To examine the role of brachytherapy for aged patients 80 or more in the trend of rapidly increasing number. Methods: We examined the outcomes for elderly patients with node negative oral tongue cancer (T1-3N0M0) treated with brachytherapy. The 21 patients (2 T1, 14 T2, and 5 T3 cases) ranged in age from 80 to 89 years (median 81), and their cancer was pathologically confirmed. All patients underwent definitive radiation therapy, with low dose rate (LDR) Ra-226 brachytherapy (n=4; median 70Gy), with Ir-192 (n=12; 70Gy), with Au-198 (n=1) or with high dose rate (HDR) Ir-192 brachytherapy (n=4; 60 Gy). Eight patients also underwent external radiotherapy (median 30 Gy). The period of observation ranged from 13 months to 14 years (median 2.5 years). We selected 226 population matched younger counterpart from our medical chart. Results: Definitive radiation therapy was completed for all 21 patients (100%), and acute grade 2-3 mucositis related to the therapy was tolerable for patients with good performance status. Local control (initial complete response) was attained in 19 of 21 patients (90%). The 2-year and 5-year local control rates were both 91%, (100% for T1, 83% for T2 and 80% for T3 tumors after 2 years). The cause-specific survival rate was 83% and the regional control rate 84% at the 2-years follow-up. However, 12 patients died because of intercurrent diseases or senility, resulting in overall survival rates of 55% at 2 years and 34% at 5 years. Conclusion: Age is not [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-10T09:00:06-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Aspirin a day helps to keep cancer at bay, say scientists

Source: www.guardian.co.uk Author: Sarah Boseley Taking a low-dose aspirin every day will reduce your chances of dying from cancer, scientists say today, confirming the over-the-counter pill as the most extraordinary drug yet discovered. Daily aspirin has already been shown to cut the chances of heart attacks and stroke in people who are at risk. The study published today in the Lancet medical journal reveals that it also has a powerful preventive action against a range of cancers – and possibly more of them than there is currently enough evidence to prove. While the doctors who carried out the study say it is not for them to make recommendations, the lead author, 46-year-old Prof Peter Rothwell from Oxford University, says he has been taking aspirin for the last two years. The beneficial dose is 75mg – a quarter of a standard tablet, which is 300mg. Some pharmacies sell low-dose tablets, but at a higher price. Rothwell and his colleagues have already shown that daily aspirin cuts death rates from colorectal cancer by more than a third. For the study published today, they examined all the data they could find from well-conducted trials that had assessed the use of aspirin against a control drug and had recorded deaths from cancer. In eight trials involving more than 25,000 patients, they found there were 21% fewer deaths after five years among those who took a daily aspirin tablet, compared with those who did not. The effect was most noticeable in gastrointestinal cancers, where deaths [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-10T08:21:25-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless tobacco picking up steam — Products growing in popularity as smokers turn to cheaper and less obtrusive alternatives

Source: Los Angeles Times By: Julie Wernau Ron Carroll prefers to smoke cigars and pipes. But when he can't do that he says he manages to unobtrusively get his nicotine fix by slipping a packet of tobacco, about the size of a teabag, under his upper lip. "I use it all the time — movies, planes," said the Chicagoan, who adds that he likes the fact he can remove the packet as easily as a piece of gum. There's no chewing, spitting or mess, he says. "It's discreet, and you don't look like an addict, he said. "Smoking's definitely more about the flavor; the whole experience,'' Carroll said. "With this, it's just taking the edge off." Cigarette sales by volume have plummeted 17 percent from 2005, partly the result of health warnings and bans on smoking in public places as well as taxation by local and federal governments. And the heat on cigarette smokers is expected to intensify as the federal Food and Drug Administration requires images of corpses and diseased lungs to be featured on cigarette packs in two years. Smokeless tobacco products — which come in shapes ranging from toothpicks to orbs and in flavors from cherry to peach — so far have not met with the same intense scrutiny, although there have been some changes. In June, the FDA increased the size of warning labels on smokeless products. "This product is addictive" and "This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes,'' say the warnings. Scientists say [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-07T12:42:38-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|