Oral Cancer News – Page 268 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

Dentists your first defence in fight against oral cancer

Source: Timescolonist Author: Johnathan Skuba In 2003, an estimated 3,100 Canadians were newly diagnosed with oral cancer. That same year, 1,090 people died of the disease. In the U.S., oral cancer kills roughly one person per hour, 24 hours a day. Of those newly diagnosed, only half will survive five years later, and this terrifying death rate has not declined for decades. Those statistics are frightening, but the good news is that early detection plays a major role in preventing or curing oral cancers. The first line of defence is the dentist. They are specifically trained to recognize even subtle changes in the mouth and take action. Pre-malignant lesions usually manifest as white patches (leukoplakias) that can look like small calluses. They could be benign and nothing but skin thickened by trauma or normal wear and tear of oral tissues. Of greater concern are spots that become ulcers, bleed, rapidly change appearance or that are obviously getting larger. Red patches (erythroplakia) should also be examined as they too could represent cancerous tissue. If any such spots are present and either enlarge or don't improve within 10-14 days, or if they disappear and then recur, patients are advised to see their dentists as soon as possible. Once in the chair, patients will find that dentists do not take chances, especially when the spots appear in areas where normal trauma is unlikely, such as the soft palate of the mouth or under the tongue. When such spots are seen, and particularly when [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-11-09T12:23:32-07:00November, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

“French” kissing ups risk of oral HPV infection

Source: The Journal of Infectious Diseases Author: Staff NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Oral sex and open-mouthed "French" kissing increase the risk of acquiring oral infections of human papillomavirus, or HPV, a study shows. "Performing oral sex is not without risks," Dr. Maura L. Gillison told Reuters Health. It is associated with gonorrheal pharyngitis - a sexually transmitted infection of the tonsils and back of the throat that immediately causes symptoms, she noted, and now is associated with mouth HPV infections that are silent "yet may lead to oral cancer 10 to 20 years later." Gillison from The Ohio State University, Columbus, and colleagues explored whether sexual behaviors were associated with the odds of oral HPV infection in 332 adults and in 210 college-aged men. They found that 4.8 percent of the adults and 2.9 percent of college-aged men had oral HPV infection. Among adults, the odds of oral HPV infection were significantly elevated among current tobacco smokers and among individuals who reported having either more than 10 oral or more than 25 vaginal sex partners during their lifetime. Similar risk factors applied to the college-aged men. For them, having at least six recent oral sex or open-mouthed kissing partners were independently associated with increased odds of developing oral HPV infection. For the 28 percent of college-aged men who reported never having performed oral sex, having at least 10 lifetime or at least five recent open-mouthed kissing partners was associated with a significantly higher risk of developing oral HPV infection. [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-11-09T12:12:19-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Incidence of carcinoma of the major salivary glands according to the WHO classification, 1992 to 2006: a population-based study in the United States

Source: CEBP.com Author: Staff Requests for reprints: Graça M. Dores, Medical Service (111), Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 921 North East 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104. Phone: 405-456-3325. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Background: Carcinomas of the major salivary glands (M-SGC) comprise a morphologically diverse group of rare tumors of largely unknown cause. To gain insight into etiology, we evaluated incidence of M-SGC using the WHO classification schema (WHO-2005). Methods: We calculated age-adjusted incidence rates (IR) and IR ratios (IRR) for M-SGC diagnosed between 1992 and 2006 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program. Results: Overall, 6,391 M-SGC (IR, 11.95/1,000,000 person-years) were diagnosed during 1992 to 2006. Nearly 85% of cases (n = 5,370; IR, 10.00) were encompassed within WHO-2005, and among these, males had higher IRs than females [IRR, 1.51; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.43-1.60]. Squamous cell (IR, 3.44) and mucoepidermoid (IR, 3.23) carcinomas occurred most frequently among males, whereas mucoepidermoid (IR, 2.67), acinic cell (IR, 1.57), and adenoid cystic (IR, 1.40) carcinomas were most common among females. Mucoepidermoid, acinic cell, and adenoid cystic carcinomas predominated in females through age ∼50 years; thereafter, IRs of acinic cell and adenoid cystic carcinomas were nearly equal among females and males, whereas IRs of mucoepidermoid carcinoma among males exceeded IRs among females (IRR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.38-1.78). Except for mucoepidermoid and adenoid cystic carcinomas, which occurred equally among all races, other subtypes had significantly lower incidence among Blacks and Asians/Pacific Islanders than among Whites. Adenoid cystic carcinoma occurred equally in [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-11-09T13:55:37-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

GenVec receives orphan drug designation

Source: www.onemedplace.com Author: staff GenVec’s experimental drug to treat pancreatic cancer has been granted orphan drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drug candidate TNFerade stimulates the production of an immune system protein known for having anti-cancer effects. Shares in GenVec rose 25 percent following the announcement. Last summer, Gaithersburg, Maryland-based GenVec announced positive data from a Phase II/III clinical trial of TNFerade. The drug provided a 42.5% reduction in the risk of death when combined with standard treatment, when compared to standard treatment alone. TNFerade is also being explored as a candidate to treat esophageal cancer, rectal cancer, and head and neck cancer. Note: The FDA grants orphan drug designation to drugs that may be significantly more effective than currently existing treatments, and target conditions that affect less than 200,000 U.S. patients per year. Upon approval, drugs granted orphan status enjoy seven years of marketing exclusivity in the United States.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-08T12:07:30-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cetuximab continues to increase survival in patients with head and neck cancer for up to 5 years

Source: www.docguide.com Author: staff Adding cetuximab to radiation therapy prolongs survival in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer compared with radiotherapy alone, and this improvement persists for up to 5 years. As such, this combined treatment should be considered as a standard option for patients with advanced head and neck cancer, according to a study published online first and appearing in an upcoming issue of The Lancet Oncology. The use of chemoradiotherapy has been shown to improve survival and has become a popular treatment, but is not ideal because of its associated side-effects and increased toxicity. In 1999, a trial commenced to examine the effect of adding cetuximab to radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancers of the oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx. In total, 424 patients were randomly assigned to 6 to 7 weeks of radiotherapy alone (n = 213) or radiotherapy and cetuximab (n = 211). The primary results of the trial showed that patients treated with cetuximab had a 13% improvement in absolute disease control and 10% improvement in absolute survival at 3 years without increased side-effects, compared with patients given radiotherapy alone. In the current article, James Bonner, MD, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, and colleagues reported the long-term 5-year outcomes of patients involved in the original trial. Overall, findings showed an improvement in absolute survival of about 9% in patients given cetuximab compared with those given radiotherapy alone (36.4% vs 45.6%) at 5 years. Interestingly, patients treated with cetuximab who developed [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-07T11:26:48-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Patterns of alcohol and tobacco use affect head and neck cancer risk

Source: www.rtmagazine.com Author: staff Assuming that total exposure is the same, it is worse to smoke lightly for many years than to smoke heavily for a few years when it comes to the risk of head and neck cancer, new research shows. With alcohol use, however, the opposite is true. The results, which were published in the October 15th issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, also confirmed previous research showing that smoking was more strongly associated with laryngeal cancer and that alcohol consumption was more strongly associated with pharyngeal and oral cavity cancers. "Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption are known risk factors for head and neck cancers, including cancers of the larynx, oral cavity, and pharynx," co-researcher Dr. Jay H. Lubin, of the National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, told Reuters Health. "This paper presented a detailed quantitative evaluation of their effects, using data which were pooled from 15 case-control studies." The researchers modeled the excess odds ratio (EOR) to assess risk by total exposure (pack-years and drink-years), as well as the modification of risk by exposure rate (cigarettes/day and drinks/day). The smoking analysis included 1761 laryngeal, 2453 pharyngeal, and 1990 oral cavity cancer cases. For controls, 7963 were included for laryngeal and 10,114 for pharyngeal and for oral cavity cancer cases. The alcohol analysis included 2551 laryngeal, 3693 pharyngeal, and 3116 oral cavity cancer cases. For controls, 12,179 were included for laryngeal cancer and 15,589 for pharyngeal and oral cavity cancer cases. While smoking increased the risk of all [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-07T11:01:10-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Microarray technologies in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer

Source: emedicine.medscape.com Authors: Perminder S Parmar, MD et al. Introduction Since the draft sequence of the human genome was published in 2001 (Lander, 2001), the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project index of tumor genes has classified more than 40,000 genes directly or indirectly involved in one or more cancers (Strausberg, 2001; Strausberg, 2000). Conventional techniques of gene investigation in cancer rely on the identification of single genetic alterations associated with disease. This has proven to be both time consuming and cost ineffective. The introduction of complementary DNA (cDNA) microarray technology in 1995 (Schena, 1995) has helped to facilitate the identification and classification of DNA sequence information and the assignment of functions to these new genes by allowing investigators to analyze expression of thousands of genes simultaneously in a single experiment. Microarrays are a significant advance because they contain a very large number of genes and because of their small size. Therefore, microarrays are useful when one wants to survey a large number of genes quickly or when the study sample is small. Microarrays may be used to assay gene expression within a single sample or to compare gene expression in 2 different cell types or tissue samples, such as in healthy and diseased tissue. Because a microarray can be used to examine the expression of hundreds or thousands of genes at once, it promises to revolutionize the way gene expression is examined. Methods DNA microarrays are small solid supports onto which the sequences from thousands of different genes are attached at [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-06T21:36:37-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Rice wins NIH funding for oral-cancer test

Source: www.nanotech-now.com Author: staff The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers in Rice University's new BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) a $2 million Grand Opportunity (GO) grant to develop a fast, inexpensive test for oral cancer that a dentist could perform simply by using a brush to collect a small sample of cells from a patient's mouth. "We want to provide an accurate diagnosis for oral cancer in less than 30 minutes using a minimally invasive test that requires no scalpels or off-site lab tests," said principal investigator John McDevitt, Rice's Brown-Wiess Professor in Bioengineering and Chemistry. "The payoff for this could be tremendous because oral cancers today are typically diagnosed much too late in their development." NIH established the GO grant program to support projects that address large, specific research endeavors that are likely to deliver near-term growth and investment in biomedical research and development, public health and health care delivery. GO grant funding was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If oral cancer is detected early, the prognosis for patients is excellent, with a five-year survival rate of more than 90 percent. Unfortunately, the actual five-year survival rate for oral squamous cell carcinoma is only about 50 percent, among the lowest rates for all major cancers. Oral squamous cell carcinoma affects about 300,000 people per year worldwide, and most cases are diagnosed in their late stages. The new test is possible because of a novel microchip invented in McDevitt's lab. This "lab-on-a-chip" uses the latest [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T13:38:46-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Autofluorescence-guided surveillance for oral cancer

Source: cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org Authors: Vijayvel Jayaprakash et al. Early detection of oral premalignant lesions (OPL) and oral cancers (OC) is critical for improved survival. We evaluated if the addition of autofluorescence visualization (AFV) to conventional white-light examination (WLE) improved the ability to detect OPLs/OCs. Sixty high-risk patients, with suspicious oral lesions or recently diagnosed untreated OPLs/OCs, underwent sequential surveillance with WLE and AFV. Biopsies were obtained from all suspicious areas identified on both examinations (n = 189) and one normal-looking control area per person (n = 60). Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were calculated for WLE, AFV, and WLE + AFV. Estimates were calculated separately for lesions classified by histopathologic grades as low-grade lesions, high-grade lesions (HGL), and OCs. Sequential surveillance with WLE + AFV provided a greater sensitivity than WLE in detecting low-grade lesions (75% versus 44%), HGLs (100% versus 71%), and OCs (100% versus 80%). The specificity in detecting OPLs/OCs decreased from 70% with WLE to 38% with WLE + AFV. Thirteen of the 76 additional biopsies (17%) obtained based on AFV findings were HGLs/OCs. Five patients (8%) were diagnosed with a HGL/OC only because of the addition of AFV to WLE. In seven patients, additional HGL/OC foci or wider OC margins were detected on AFV. Additionally, AFV aided in the detection of metachronous HGL/OC in 6 of 26 patients (23%) with a history of previously treated head and neck cancer. Overall, the addition of AFV to WLE improved the ability to detect HGLs/OCs. In spite of the lower [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T13:17:24-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Green tea shows promise as chemoprevention agent for oral cancer, M. D. Anderson study finds

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: press release Green tea extract has shown promise as cancer prevention agent for oral cancer in patients with a pre-malignant condition known as oral leukoplakia, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The study, published online in Cancer Prevention Research, is the first to examine green tea as a chemopreventative agent in this high-risk patient population. The researchers found that more than half of the oral leukoplakia patients who took the extract had a clinical response. Long investigated in laboratory, epidemiological and clinical settings for several cancer types, green tea is rich in polyphenols, which have been known to inhibit carcinogenesis in preclinical models. Still, clinical results have been mixed. "While still very early, and not definitive proof that green tea is an effective preventive agent, these results certainly encourage more study for patients at highest risk for oral cancer," said Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and the study's senior author. "The extract's lack of toxicity is attractive - in prevention trials, it's very important to remember that these are otherwise healthy individuals and we need to ensure that agents studied produce no harm." In the Phase II dose-finding study, 41 M. D. Anderson oral leukoplakia patients were randomized between August 2002 and March 2008 to receive either green tea extract or placebo. Participants took the extract, an oral agent, for three months at one of three doses - 500 per [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-05T13:05:14-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|