Oral Cancer News – Page 319 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

Oncolytics reports positive results from phase I/II cancer studies

Source: www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com Author: staff Oncolytics Biotech has announced positive interim results in its Phase I and Phase II UK combination Reolysin and paclitaxel/carboplatin clinical trials for patients with advanced cancers. Four of the responding patients continue on study, while a fifth patient is too early to evaluate for response, the company said. These results appear to confirm preclinical evidence of synergy for Reolysin and platinum/taxane combinations. A US Phase II trial has now been opened in this patient population utilizing this regimen. The Phase I trial has two components. The first is an open-label, dose- escalating, non-randomized study of Reolysin given intravenously to patients with paclitaxel and carboplatin every three weeks. In this portion of the trial, standard dosages of paclitaxel and carboplatin are delivered to patients with escalating dosages of Reolysin intravenously. The second component of the trial includes the enrollment of a further nine patients at the top dose of Reolysin in combination with a standard dosage of paclitaxel and carboplatin. Eligible patients include those who have been diagnosed with advanced or metastatic solid tumors such as melanoma, lung and ovarian that are refractory (have not responded) to standard therapy or for which no curative standard therapy exists. The Phase II trial is a 14-patient, single arm, open-label, dose-targeted, non-randomized trial of Reolysin given intravenously in combination with a standard dosage of paclitaxel and carboplatin. Eligible patients include those with advanced or metastatic head and neck cancers that are refractory to standard therapy or for which no curative [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-04T13:40:52-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Patient perception of risk factors in head and neck cancer

Source: Head Neck, October 28, 2008 Author: Leeor Sommer et al. Background: A previous study at our institution noted that only 15% of newly diagnosed patients with oral cancer could identify smoking or alcohol abuse as major risk factors for the development of their cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a simple educational intervention in 189 consecutively identified patients with head and neck malignancy. Methods: Patients were interviewed prior to and immediately following reading a written educational pamphlet. The patients were then interviewed 5 weeks later to determine longer-term recall. Recall success was correlated to patient demographic parameters including level of education, occupation, sex, age, and place of residence. Results: Immediate recall success increased, on average, 27% from preintervention knowledge, with the largest increase for the risk factor of alcohol abuse. Five-week postintervention recall success decreased on average 10.5% for all risk factors with the largest decrease being seen for smokeless tobacco use (12%). The immediate and 5-week recall success increases were both statistically significant when compared to the preintervention recall success (p

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-03T09:56:33-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Survival after surgical resection of pulmonary metastases and second primary squamous cell lung carcinomas in head and neck cancer

Source: Head Neck, October 28, 2008 Authors: Thomas W Geurts et al. Background: Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are at risk for developing both pulmonary metastasis and second primary lung cancer (SPLC). The objective of this study was to determine survival characteristics of patients with pulmonary lesions after curative treatment for HNSCC. Methods: Lung resection or biopsy specimens of 36 patients, curatively treated for HNSCC between 1978 and 2002, were defined as second primary squamous cell lung cancer or metastasis by loss of heterozygosity (LOH analysis). Twenty-two of them underwent surgical resection. Survival characteristics were estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis according to the LOH characterization. Results: The number of resected lung lesions ranged from 1 to 3. Median overall survival after lung surgery was 23.1 months for SPLC (n = 14) and 25.1 months for lung metastases (n = 8). Fourteen patients, SPLC (n = 6) and metastases (n = 8), did not undergo surgical resection, and their median overall survival was 3.7 and 4.4 months, respectively. Conclusion: Survival after resection of metachronic lung lesions following curative treatment of HNSSC is similar for lesions characterized as second primary squamous cell lung cancer and those characterized as metastases. Authors: Thomas W Geurts, Alfons J M Balm, Marie-Louise F van Velthuysen, Harm van Tinteren, Jacobus A Burgers, Nico van Zandwijk, and Houke M Klomp Authors' affiliation: Department of ORL, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-03T09:49:47-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Mouthwash and oral cancer risk: an update

Source: Oral Oncol, October 24, 2008 Author: Carlo La Vecchia The possible relationship between mouthwash use and oral cancer risk has been the subject of at least 10 case-control studies published over the last three decades. Three of these reported relative risks above unity and seven no consistent association. Only a few studies, moreover, included information on different types of mouthwash, and addressed the issue of alcohol-containing mouthwash. Thus, critical review of published data revealed that a link between mouthwash use, specifically alcohol-containing mouthwash, and oral cancers is not supported by epidemiological evidence. Author's affiliation: Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri" Milano e Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria "G.A. Maccacaro", Universit degli Studi di Milano, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156 Milano, Italy

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-03T09:44:40-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Cranberry and grape seed extracts inhibit the proliferative phenotype of oral squamous cell carcinomas

Source: Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., July 23, 2008 Authors: Kourt Chatelain et al. Proanthocyanidins, compounds highly concentrated in dietary fruits, such as cranberries and grapes, demonstrate significant cancer prevention potential against many types of cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate cranberry and grape seed extracts to quantitate and compare their anti-proliferative effects on the most common type of oral cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma. Using two well-characterized oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, CAL27 and SCC25, assays were performed to evaluate the effects of cranberry and grape seed extract on phenotypic behaviors of these oral cancers. The proliferation of both oral cancer cell lines was significantly inhibited by the administration of cranberry and grape seed extracts, in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, key regulators of apoptosis, caspase-2 and caspase-8, were concomitantly up-regulated by these treatments. However, cranberry and grape seed extracts elicited differential effects on cell adhesion, cell morphology, and cell cycle regulatory pathways. This study represents one of the first comparative investigations of cranberry and grape seed extracts and their anti-proliferative effects on oral cancers. Previous findings using purified proanthocyanidin from grape seed extract demonstrated more prominent growth inhibition, as well as apoptosis-inducing, properties on CAL27 cells. These observations provide evidence that cranberry and grape seed extracts not only inhibit oral cancer proliferation but also that the mechanism of this inhibition may function by triggering key apoptotic regulators in these cell lines. This information will be of benefit to researchers interested in elucidating which dietary [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-03T09:42:11-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Microvascular free tissue transfer for tongue reconstruction after hemiglossectomy: a functional assessment of radial forearm versus anterolateral thigh flap

Source: J Oral Maxillofac Surg, November 1, 2008; 66(11): 2270-5 Authors: JC de Vicente et al. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate tongue function and donor site morbidity in patients with oral cancer surgically treated and reconstructed with radial or anterolateral thigh free flaps. Patients and Methds: Twenty patients underwent primary reconstruction after hemiglossectomy between January 2002 and June 2004. Ten patients were reconstructed using a free forearm flap and the remaining with an anterolateral thigh flap. Eight patients on each group underwent postoperative radiotherapy (average, 60 Gy). All of them were followed postoperatively to determine after 6 months their functional outcome as it related to speech, deglutition, tongue mobility, and donor site morbidity. The intelligibility, deglutition, and tongue mobility were each scored on a scale ranging from 1 to 7 by an independent investigator. Data were analyzed by the 2-tail Mann-Whitney U test. Results: No differences in mean speech intelligibility, tongue mobility, or deglutition mean scores were seen between radial forearm flap and anterolateral thigh flap (P > .05). In all anterolateral thigh flap-treated cases, the donor site was closed directly and no complications were seen. However, in all forearm flaps donor site closure was carried out with skin grafts and dorsal forearm splinting was applied for 1 week postoperatively. In 4 cases a partial skin graft failure was observed and donor sites healed for second intention. Conclusion: Anterolateral thigh flap, with its versatility in design, long pedicle with a suitable vessel diameter, and low donor [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-03T09:37:01-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Inspiring words from Roger Ebert

Source: New Wanderings of Dr Ben (drben54.blogspot.com) Author: Roger Ebert Blind people develop a more acute sense of hearing. Deaf people can better notice events on the periphery, and comprehend the quick movements of lips and sign language. What about people who lose the ability to speak? We expand other ways of communicating. There are three ways I can "speak." I can print notes. I can type on my laptop, and a built-in voice says them aloud. I can use my own pidgin sign language, combining waving, pointing, shrugging, slapping my forehead, tracing letters on my palm, mime, charades, and more uses of "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" than I ever dreamed of. Another path is open to me in the age of the internet. I can talk with new friends all over the world. Writing has always been second nature to me, as satisfying in a different way as speaking. Maybe because I was an only child with lots of solitary time, I always felt the need to write, and read. I was editor of my grade school, high school and college newspapers. I published the "Washington Street News" with a primitive Hectograph system when I was 9 or 10. I was a full-time newspaper sports writer and reporter (not an intern) when I was 16. I am a quick writer. It flows conversationally. I know I could become fluent in American Sign Language, but the problem is, I need another person who speaks ASL. Selfishly, at this stage [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-03T09:29:45-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

HPV virus helps cervical and head and neck cancer grow and spread

Source: www.newswise.com Author: staff The human papillomavirus (HPV) allows infected cervical and head and neck cancer cells to maintain internal molecular conditions that make the cancers resistant to therapy and more likely to grow and spread, resulting in a poor prognosis for patients, researchers with UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center found. Virtually all human cancers experience a state called intratumoral hypoxia, or a low amount of oxygen within the tumor. In the UCLA study, researchers showed that the HPV-positive cancers adapted to and took advantage of the hypoxic environment by expressing a protein that activates a cell signaling pathway that helps the cancers survive, grow and spread. The study is published in the Nov. 4, 2008 issue of the journal Cancer Cell. The research, done on cells in culture and in animal models, may lead to the development of new therapies that target the cell signaling pathway, thereby interrupting ability of the cancer cells to thrive, said Dr. Matthew Rettig, senior author of the study and a researcher at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. “There is potential for therapeutic intervention based on this finding,” said Rettig, an associate professor of urology and medicine. The finding is crucial because 90 to 98 percent of cervical cancers are caused by HPV. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with more than 500,000 cases diagnosed annually. In all, 200,000 women die from cervical cancer every year. In oral cavity and pharynx cancers, the HPV virus is linked to about 20 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-03T13:08:17-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Cerebrovascular disease risk in older head and neck cancer patients after radiotherapy

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 26, No 31 (November 1), 2008: pp. 5119-5125 Authors: Grace L. Smith et al. Purpose: Cerebrovascular disease is common in head and neck cancer patients, but it is unknown whether radiotherapy increases the cerebrovascular disease risk in this population. Patients and Methods: We identified 6,862 patients (age > 65 years) from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) –Medicare cohort diagnosed with nonmetastatic head and neck cancer between 1992 and 2002. Using proportional hazards regression, we compared risk of cerebrovascular events (stroke, carotid revascularization, or stroke death) after treatment with radiotherapy alone, surgery plus radiotherapy, or surgery alone. To further validate whether treatment groups had equivalent baseline risk of vascular disease, we compared the risks of developing a control diagnosis, cardiac events (myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass graft, or cardiac death). Unlike cerebrovascular risk, no difference in cardiac risk was hypothesized. Results: Mean age was 76 ± 7 years. Ten-year incidence of cerebrovascular events was 34% in patients treated with radiotherapy alone compared with 25% in patients treated with surgery plus radiotherapy and 26% in patients treated with surgery alone (P

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-31T07:46:40-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Oral rinses used for tracking HPV-positive head and neck cancers holds promise for cancer screening

Source: www.eurekalert.com Author: staff A study published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, validates a non-invasive screening method with future potential for detection of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck cancers. In the study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University used oral rinses and targeted DNA amplification to track and identify oral HPV infections in patients with HPV16-positive and negative head and neck carcinomas (HNSCC) before and after therapy. Findings showed detection of high-risk HPV infections in patients with HPV16-positive HNSCC for up to five years after therapy, indicating a high rate of persistent infection and reaffirming the connection between high-risk types of HPV and HPV-positive head and neck cancer. "There is no question of cause," said the study's co-author Maura Gillison, M.D., Ph.D. associate professor of oncology. "It has now become a question of tracking the infection over time to identify those at risk of developing HPV-positive cancer, and for those who have had it, the risk of recurrence and risk of transmission. This is the first study in which we have been able to track the disease and related oral infections for an extended period of time." Researchers obtained oral rinse samples from a group of 135 patients with head and neck carcinomas. Tissue analysis showed that 44 of these patients had HPV16-positive tumors. Both the tissue and oral rinse samples were genetically sequenced to specify the HPV variants in each. Patients with HPV16-positive tumors were significantly more likely to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-31T07:32:31-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|