Oral Cancer News – Page 255 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

Determined to play: man uses air compressor to play saxophone

Source: www.theindependent.com Author: Tracy Overstreet Jerry True just has the music in him. "Anything I touch -- it plays for me," he said. So when throat cancer took away his voice box -- and the air he needed to play the saxophone -- he took up the drums. But that was only until he could manufacture a way to play his Selmer mark VI B-flat sax with an air compressor. "It took me two years to get it just right," True said. True is now back on the band circuit playing in the front row for the Paul Kothe band of Hastings. "We've been playing together for 35 years," True said of Kothe. "He sounds just like he always did," Paul Kothe said. "He has a beautiful sound." True was front and center at the Feb. 21 Kolache Shoot-Out in Elba playing his saxophone with the Kothe Band. The band paused long enough for judges to announce the kolache winners and then for the audience to sing "Happy Birthday" to True -- his 83rd. True was raised in Arcadia and taught himself how to play the sax when his father, a part-time string instructor, brought the instrument home and couldn't make it work. "He sounded like a Canadian goose," True said through the Servox voice simulator he touched to his throat. But the instrument Leonard True couldn't get to work, simply sang for his son. "I was in a dance band by the time I was 12," True said. True's [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-01T19:47:11-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Ipsilateral radiation controls tonsil cancer

Source: www.medpagetoday.com Author: Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Patients with newly diagnosed tonsillar cancer can have long-term disease control and minimal risk of contralateral recurrence with ipsilateral (same side) radiation therapy, data from a large patient series showed. Only two of 102 patients had contralateral failure during a treatment experience dating back to 1970. Ipsilateral radiation therapy resulted in 100% locoregional control at the primary site and ipsilateral neck. "In properly selected patients, ipsilateral radiotherapy to the involved primary site and neck provides excellent local control with a low risk of contralateral nodal failure," Gregory Chronowski, MD, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reported at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. "High neck, nonbulky, N2b neck disease does not appear to be a contraindication to ipsilateral radiotherapy in patients with T1-T2 primary tumors. Neck dissection appears to offer reasonable salvage therapy in the event of isolated contralateral neck failure." Limiting radiation therapy to the ipsilateral primary site and neck offers potential advantages over more extensive irradiation. Limiting the treated area minimizes the risk of xerostomia and avoids complications related to exposure of the uninvolved contralateral vasculature, dentition, and musculature. A retrospective review of a large case series from Toronto provided the first evidence that a limited approach to radiation therapy offers good local control and minimal risk of contralateral failure (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2001; 51: 332-43). That analysis showed a three-year local control rate of 77%, cause-specific survival of 76%, and contralateral failure rate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-01T19:21:16-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Maximal standard uptake value predicted survival outcomes

Source: www.hemonctoday.com Author: Christen Haigh Maximal standardized uptake value measured from FDG PET readings from the primary tumor of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck predicted disease-specific survival, overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS). Additionally, pretreatment maximal standardized uptake value, or SUVmax, for lymphadenopathy was associated with distant metastasis, according to the findings of a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz. “FDG PET scan before treatment for head and neck cancer may help to guide future treatment of patients with high SUV in the tumor and node,” Min Yao, MD, PhD, radiation oncologist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, said during a news briefing. Researchers conducted a retrospective study of 295 patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy. There were 177 patients who had FDG PET pretreatment and had SUVmax for primary tumor and/or lymphadenopathy (SUV-LN). The three-year local recurrence-free survival rate was 95%; the regional recurrence-free survival rate was 95% and the local-regional recurrence-free survival rate was 92.6%. The three-year distant metastasis-free survival and disease-specific survival rates were both 78.8%. DFS was 63.95% and OS was 67.4%. Primary tumor SUVmax was significantly associated with DFS and OS. A strong association was noted for DFS as well, according to researchers. The three-year distant metastasis-free survival rate was 82.1% when SUV-LN was less than 11.3% and 63.4% when SUV-LN was greater than 11.3. “The findings of this study show that we may use SUV before treatment to personalize [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-01T19:08:50-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Accelerated, shorter course radiation option for advanced head and neck cancer

Source: www.hemonctoday.com Author: Christen Haigh In patients with advanced head and neck cancer, using an accelerated, shorter course of radiation therapy combined with cisplatin allowed a decreased amount of chemotherapy, thus reducing toxicity, according to findings from the phase-3 RTOG 0129 trial presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Chandler, Ariz. Researchers analyzed data from patients with stage III to stage IV carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx or larynx. They assigned 360 patients to accelerated radiation with two cycles of cisplatin and 361 patients to standard radiation with three cycles of cisplatin. The median follow-up was 4.8 years. “There were no differences in treatment outcome or in acute and long-term toxicity,” Phuc Felix Nguyen-Tan, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at CHUM Notre-Dame in Montreal, Canada, said during a news briefing. OS was similar between treatment groups: 59% for the accelerated radiation group and 56% for the standard radiation group (HR=0.9; 95% CI, 0.72-1.13). DFS rates were 45% for patients assigned to accelerated radiation and 44% for patients assigned to standard radiation (P=.42). Local-regional failure rates were 31% with accelerated radiation and 28% with standard radiation (P=.76). Metastasis rates were also similar with rates of 18% with accelerated treatment and 22% percent with standard treatment (P=.06). There were no major differences between groups for grade-3 to grade-4 acute mucositis and worst grade-3 to grade-4 late toxicity: The acute mucositis rate was 33% with accelerated radiation and 40% with standard radiation, and the late toxicity rate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-01T19:02:18-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Alcohol’s hidden effects revealed in new National Health Service campaign

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff A new 6 million pound NHS campaign to reveal alcohol's hidden effects warns people of the unseen damage caused by regularly drinking more than the advised limits and highlights drinkers' affected organs while they sup their drink in the pub or at home. The campaign was launched recently by Public Health Minister, Gillian Merron. It forms part of a government-wide strategy to tackle the harmful effects of alcohol and is backed by major health charities. Merron said in a press statement that: "Many of us enjoy a drink - drinking sensibly isn't a problem." But, she warned that: "If you're regularly drinking more than the NHS recommended limits, you're more likely to get cancer, have a stroke or have a heart attack." The Department of Health developed the campaign with Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association. Part of it entails showing a series of strong messages on TV, in the press and outdoor posters, showing how much harm drinking more than the NHS advised daily limit can do to your body. In the TV campaign, one advert of three men drinking in a pub, shows one of them with a semi-transparent body, and as he sups his beer, different organs are highlighted to show which parts the narrator, who is explaining the risks of drinking alcohol, is talking about (for example, when high blood pressure is mentioned, the heart becomes more visible). The NHS advises that women should drink no more [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-01T18:58:24-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Roger Ebert ‘ridiculously happy’ after receiving new computerized voice produced from his own words

Source: NYDailyNews Author: Helen Kennedy Famed movie critic Roger Ebert, who was robbed of speech by throat cancer, has a new computerized voice cobbled together from words he recorded for DVD commentary tracks. "It's nice to think of all these great movies sloshing around and coming out as my voice," he wrote in a column Sunday. Ebert's new voice is a mix of words he said on the DVD critiques for everything from classics like "Casablanca" and "Citizen Kane" to the cult porn film he wrote, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." He wrote that he had been using standard computer programs to turn typed text into sound, including one his wife liked where the speaker "had a British accent and sounded like a slightly crabby headmaster." But his own words - taken from original recordings unearthed in warehouses at Warner Brothers, the Criterion Collection, New Line and 20th Century Fox - are a vast improvement, he said. "Yes, 'Roger Jr.' needs to be smoother in tone and steadier in pacing, but the little rascal is good. To hear him coming from my own computer made me ridiculously happy," Ebert wrote. "I played it for (wife) Chaz, and she said, yes, she could tell it was me." Since being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002, and suffering numerous surgeries and some near-fatal complications, Ebert, of Chicago, lost the ability to speak, eat and drink. He uses a feeding tube and needs 24-hour nursing care. He has written poignantly about his [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-03-01T12:21:39-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

“Snus causes cancer” – health institute

Source: thelocal.se Author: Staff Swedish snus causes cancer and increases the risk of death from heart disease, according to the National Institute of Public Health. The warning, which will concern many Swedes who have turned to snus as a healthier nicotine alternative to smoking, is based on the institute's analysis of epidemiological and experimental studies carried out by the Karolinska Institutein recent years. Certain studies indicate that snus can also increase the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes, and that children could be born prematurely if mothers use snus during pregnancy. However, the Institute of Public Health said in its report that there is not yet enough evidence to be certain of the effect on births. The institute said that its analysis showed that using snus increased the risk of cancer of the pancreas and of the mouth. But there are no research results suggesting that it causes other forms of cancer. And while there is no evidence to suggest that using snus actually increases the risk of developing heart disease, it is clear that it does increase the risk of death for a person affected, for example, by a heart attack. The details of how much snus is dangerous are not yet known, said Göran Pershagen, professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska. "There's not enough evidence to say how much the risk increases. But it is clear that snus is not unhazardous - pancreatic cancer is a relatively common form of cancer with a very poor survival rate," he [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-03-01T12:07:28-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Efficacy of the ViziLite System in the identification of oral lesions

Source: Sciencedirect Author: Esther S. Oh DDS and Daniel M. Laskin DDS, MS Purpose Early detection of oral cancer is crucial in improving survival rate. To improve early detection, the use of a dilute acetic acid rinse and observation under a chemiluminescent light (ViziLite; Zila Pharmaceuticals, Phoenix, AZ) has been recommended. However, to date, the contributions of the individual components of the system have not been studied. The present study was done to investigate the efficacy of the individual components of the ViziLite system in providing improved visualization of early oral mucosal lesions. Patients and Methods A total of 100 patients, 39 males and 61 females, age 18 to 93 years (mean age, 44 years), who presented to the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry for dental screening were examined. There were 58 Caucasians, 29 African-Americans, 5 Hispanics, 6 Asians, and 2 of mixed ethnicity. Thirty-five patients smoked, 53 used alcohol, and 25 both smoked and drank. After written consent, the oral cavity was examined under incandescent light for soft tissue abnormalities. After 1-minute rinse with 1% acetic acid, the mouth was re-examined for additional mucosal abnormalities. Then, the mouth was examined once again using the ViziLite system’s chemiluminescent light. Any lesions detected by these 3 examinations that were clinically undiagnosable were brush biopsied (Oral CDx) for determination of cellular representation. Results In the original examination of the 100 patients, 57 clinically diagnosable benign lesions (eg, linea alba, leukoedema) and 29 clinically undiagnosable lesions were detected. After the rinse, 6 [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-03-01T18:45:46-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Analysis of primary risk factors for oral cancer from select US states with increasing rates

Source: Tobacco Induced Diseases 2010, 8:5 Authors: Anthony BunnellNathan et al. Objectives: To examine the primary risk factor for oral cancer in the US, smoking and tobacco use, among the specific US states that experienced short-term increases in oral cancer incidence and mortality. Methods: Population-based data on oral cancer morbidity and mortality in the US were obtained from the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for analysis of recent trends. Data were also obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to measure current and former trends of tobacco usage. To comprehensive measures of previous state tobacco use and tobacco-related policies, the Initial Outcomes Index (IOI, 1992-1993) and the Strength of Tobacco Control index (SoTC, 1999-2000) were also used for evaluation and comparison. Results: Analysis of the NCI-SEER data confirmed a previous report of geographic increases in oral cancer and demonstrated these were state-specific, were not regional, and were unrelated to previously observed increases among females and minorities. Analysis of the CDC-BRFSS data revealed these states had relatively higher percentages of smokers currently, as well as historically. In addition, analysis of the IOI and SoTC indexes suggest that many factors, including cigarette pricing, taxes and home or workplace bans, may have had significant influence on smoking prevalence in these areas. Trend analysis of these data uncovered a recent and significant reversal in smoking rates that suggest oral cancer incidence and mortality may also begin to decline in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-23T21:13:40-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Mayo oral cancer study shows full tumor genome

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: public release Mayo Clinic researchers along with collaborators from Life Technologies are reporting on the application of a new approach for sequencing RNA to study cancer tumors. Their findings from a proof-of-principle study on oral carcinomas appear in the current issue of PLoS One, the online science journal. To explore the advantages of massively parallel sequencing of genomic transcripts (RNA), the researchers used a novel, strand-specific sequencing method using matched tumors and normal tissues of three patients with the specific cancer. They also analyzed the genomic DNA from one of the tumor-normal pairs which revealed numerous chromosomal regions of gain and loss in the tumor sample. The key finding of this work was that alterations in gene expression which can arise from a variety of genomic alterations frequently are driven by losses or gains in large chromosomal regions during tumor development. In addition to the specific tumor findings, this study also demonstrated the value of this RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) method. It will allow researchers to measure strand-specific expression across the entire sample's transcriptome. This technology reveals far more detail about genome-wide transcription than traditional microarrays. "This method allows us to investigate genetic changes at a level that we were never able to see before," says David Smith, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic genomics researcher and corresponding author of the study. "This provides us with much more information about alterations during cancer development that could reveal important therapeutic targets. We can more completely understand the relationship between an individual's genome [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-23T13:07:48-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|