Oral Cancer News – Page 32 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

More women being diagnosed with mouth cancer, researchers say

Source: www.9news.com.au Author: Gabriella Rogers, Health Reporter Head and neck surgeons say more women are being diagnosed with mouth cancer and research is underway to help unravel what's fuelling the alarming trend. "These mouth cancers historically occur in older men, particularly smokers and drinkers," said Associate Professor Carsten Palme, Director of Head and Neck Surgery at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse. But surgeons here and overseas have identified a rise in the number of women being diagnosed with cases increasing about 5 per cent each year. Those women are not presenting with traditional risk factors and their diagnosis usually "comes out of the blue". "A lot of research at the moment at our institutions is being done to try and identify exactly what is happening and why," Dr Palme said. Dr Palme said his youngest patient had just finished her HSC. "She was 18 she presented with an ulcer at the right side of her tongue which was initially thought to be a benign traumatic ulcer and she ended up having a stage three tongue cancer," he said. "We are commonly seeing women between the ages of 20 and 40 present to our clinics, pretty well on a weekly basis," he said. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, more than 5,000 Australians are diagnosed with head and neck cancers each year. Doctors at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse are now routinely using innovative approaches to remove and rebuild a patient's jaw to help cure their cancer. Tara Flannery, aged 49, was [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-06-09T15:28:20-07:00June, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Increased epigenetic age acceleration observed among patients with head and neck cancer

Source: www.healio.com Author: Ryan Lawrence Patients with head and neck cancer experienced an increase in epigenetic age acceleration, especially directly after treatment, which appeared associated with greater fatigue and inflammation, according to a study in Cancer. “Our findings add to the body of evidence suggesting that long-term toxicity and possibly increased mortality incurred from anticancer treatments for patients with head and neck cancer may be related to increased epigenetic age acceleration and its association with inflammation,” Canhua Xiao, PhD, RN, FAAN, acting associate professor at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, said in a press release. Because fatigue is prominent among patients with head and neck cancer and has been linked to poorer quality of life and survival, as well as symptoms that significantly impact diet and physical activity, Xiao and colleagues hypothesized that cancer-related and treatment-related adverse events or morbidities may represent accelerated aging trajectories. Their prospective, longitudinal analysis included 133 patients (mean age, 59.19 ± 10.16 years; 72% men; 82% white) with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, no distant metastasis and no uncontrolled major organ disease. Most of the patients (54%) had been diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer, and 90% of those cancers were HPV related. The majority of patients (80%) underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and 71% of those who underwent chemotherapy received cisplatin. Researchers assessed all patients at baseline (approximately 1 week before radiotherapy), immediately after completing radiotherapy, and at 6 months and 12 months after radiotherapy. They collected demographic and clinical variables [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-06-03T09:48:35-07:00June, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

NIH supports a new strategy to reduce side effects of head and neck cancer treatment

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: Rice University, reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc A new strategy to reduce the side effects suffered by patients undergoing treatment for head and neck cancers now has the support of the National Institutes of Health. Andrew Schaefer, the Noah Harding Chair and a professor of computational and applied mathematics and computer science at Rice's Brown School of Engineering, won a prestigious four-year R01 grant for $1.2 million to develop a personalized approach to adaptive radiation therapy (ART) for head and neck cancers. The goal of the study is a tool to personalize chemo- and radiation-based therapies that both reduce risks to patients and make the process more efficient for providers. Schaefer is working with co-investigators Clifton Fuller, an associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Rice colleagues Mallesh Pai, an associate professor of economics, and Joey Huchette, an assistant professor of computational and applied mathematics. Head and neck cancers account for nearly 3% of cancers in the United States and most commonly affect people over 50, mostly men. Of primary concern is unwanted damage from radiation to structures adjacent to tumors, including glands, bone and muscle related to speech, eating and swallowing. The grant, which is administered by the National Cancer Institute, will allow Schaefer and his team to develop a mathematical model that helps providers optimize both individual treatment strategies for patients and health care providers' policies for the implementation of new technology. ART will [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-06-03T09:07:48-07:00June, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Naveris’ new saliva test detects head and neck cancer

Source: www.biospace.com/ Author: staff A new clinically-validated saliva test has been shown to detect HPV-associated head and neck cancer with high accuracy, a first-of-its-kind study result. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis used the Naveris, Inc. test to analyze saliva for sequences of the human papilloma virus (HPV) genome that are specific for HPV DNA released from malignant tumors. The test successfully distinguishes this tumor-tissue modified virus from non-cancerous sources of HPV DNA and precisely measures the number of tumor-tissue modified viral HPV (TTMV-HPV) DNA strands present in a saliva sample. The study results point to the potential for a significant improvement in early detection of the most common type of head and neck cancer, HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. “Naveris’ patient-friendly saliva test has the potential to radically advance early detection of HPV-positive head and neck cancer, which has been growing rapidly among men in the United States. Early detection of these cancers would make a dramatic difference in patient outcomes,” said Piyush Gupta, PhD, CEO of Naveris. The study quantified participants’ tumor-tissue modified viral HPV DNA in saliva samples and compared it to the levels found in their blood by utilizing Naveris’ NavDx® test. The results showed that TTMV-HPV DNA was commonly found in the saliva of HPV-associated head and neck cancer patients (44/46 cases), and at 18 times higher levels in the saliva samples than in the blood samples. One sample had undetectable TTMV-HPV and one was indeterminate for HPV DNA. Washington University [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-06-03T09:01:39-07:00June, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Bacteria and fungi might increase risk of head and neck cancers

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), which develops in the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, and throat, is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide. Globally, there were approximately 890,000 new cases of HNSCC and 450,000 associated deaths in 2018. Risk factorsTrusted Source for HNSCC include tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Araraquara, Brazil, hope that learning more about metabolomicsTrusted Source — the analysis of metabolites in an organism — will prove key to developing a better understanding of these types of cancer. The researchers conducted a laboratory study that showed how fungi and bacteria can activate genes associated with head and neck tumors. The study appears in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. The researchers’ work suggests that the metabolism of biofilms stimulates tumor cells by favoring cell signaling pathways that are required for tumor development. Biofilms occur when bacteria congregate and form a community. Specifically, the study details how biofilms secrete metabolites, which are the intermediate or end product of metabolism. These metabolites can modify the expression of genes that experts associate with tumor cell growth. “It was very exciting for us that we found a relationship between the metabolites of these microbes [and cell behavior],” Dr. Paula Aboud Barbugli, a professor at UNESP’s Araraquara Dental School and co-leader of the study, told Medical News Today. Microorganisms and cancer cells The researchers introduced metabolites from biofilms to healthy oral epithelial [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-06-02T06:20:42-07:00June, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Study finds major anti-inflammatory immune activity that favors oral cancer tumors

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: Melisa Institute A collaborative research led by immunologist Estefania Nova-Lamperti from the Universidad de Concepción (Chile), with a branch of researchers from MELISA Institute and other international academic centers, made progress in the understanding of molecular mechanisms preventing an effective antitumor immune response in oral cancer; The latter due to the production of chemical mediators that induce an anti-inflammatory regulatory response that favors tumor development through the vitamin D signaling pathway. The study was published in Frontiers in Immunology on May 7, 2021. Oral cancer, 90% of which corresponds to the squamous cell type, is a neoplasm with a high mortality and morbidity rate, mainly because the diagnosis is made in late stages when metastases already exist, and where treatment produces serious physical and functional sequel among survivors. It is well known that the immune system plays a key role in the development of cancer, either by stimulating pathways that play an anti-tumor role or, conversely, by generating an anti-inflammatory environment that allows the tumor to grow and be spread. The main biological agents of the immune system are lymphocytes or T cells, which have different functions or phenotypes. In cancer, the presence of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and helper T cells type 2 (Th2) are associated with a worse prognosis, whereas the responses of helper T cells type 1 (Th1) within tumors, in general, show a better prognosis. Dr. Nova-Lamperti points out that a key question in oral cancer is how an anti-inflammatory microenvironment is induced, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-06-02T06:14:11-07:00June, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer cells hijack nearby healthy tissue, promoting further invasion of cancer cells

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: University of Michigan news release Up to half of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma will experience tumor recurrence or new tumors--tumors that often spread and are difficult to treat. A team of scientists led by the University of Michigan School of Dentistry identified a mechanism by which head and neck cancer cells subvert adjacent normal tissue, allowing small clusters of cancer cells to burrow beneath the healthy tissue. The team decided to look at this particular mechanism in head and neck cancer because a specific gene, DMBT1, appeared on a screen of genes that are silenced during oral cancer, said principal investigator Nisha D'Silva, the Donald A. Kerr Endowed Collegiate Professor of Oral Pathology. Researchers from the D'Silva lab found that when DMBT1 was suppressed in head and neck cancer cells, it promoted aggressive invasion and metastasis in laboratory studies and was associated with metastasis in patients. They also found that two proteins secreted by head and neck cancer cells suppress DMBT1 in nearby healthy tissue, subverting it to promote invasion of a small amount of cancer cells, which burrow under healthy tissue. Researchers looked at this mechanism in mice, chick embryos and cultures of human cancer cells. "In the chick embryos, none of the tumors that overexpressed DMBT1 metastasized, whereas most of the control tumors that had low DMBT1 metastasized", D'Silva said. "The importance of this paper is that loss of DMBT1 in cancer cells and adjacent normal tissue benefits cancer cells, allowing [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-05-27T08:08:39-07:00May, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Chemical changes to peptide siRNA-carrier enhance gene silencing for future cancer drugs

Source: web.musc.edu Author: Caroline Wallace MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researchers are exploring the use of peptide carriers for the delivery of small RNA drugs as a novel treatment for cancer. The team’s recent work, published online March 19 in the Molecular Therapy — Nucleic Acids journal, lays the foundation for developing a clinically relevant peptide carrier RNAi-based drug treatment strategy for human oral cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, the estimated risk of developing oral cancer in the U.S. is 1 in 60 for men and 1 in 140 for women. Cancer therapies face multiple challenges, including off-target side effects and low efficacy. RNAi-based therapeutics have great potential to overcome these specific treatment challenges. Andrew Jakymiw, Ph.D., who is also an associate professor in the Oral Health Sciences Department at MUSC, focuses on the study of RNA interference (RNAi)-based therapies for oral cancer. RNAi is a method of gene silencing that specifically targets, or tags, messenger RNA (mRNA) for degradation. mRNA contains the genetic code needed to make proteins. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) are the pieces of RNA that can bind to specific regions on mRNA that stop proteins from being made. Scientists are figuring out how to use this to target and silence disease-causing genes. Decades of research have shown that certain proteins are overexpressed in cancer and drive cancer cell growth. The goal of the RNAi drug treatment strategy is to “turn off” the proteins that promote cancer development. Jakymiw said that although the principle is biologically [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-05-25T14:37:20-07:00May, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Henderson throat cancer patient rallies after cutting-edge treatment

Source: www.reviewjournal.com Author: Mary Hynes, Las Vegas Review-Journal In February, a cancerous tumor caused extreme swelling in Ruben Solis’ neck and face, blocking his airway. After an emergency tracheotomy, an incision to his windpipe that allowed him to breathe, Solis had to decide whether he wanted to enter a clinical trial to receive an experimental treatment. The 54-year-old Henderson resident was skeptical. But with stage 4 laryngeal cancer that had spread to his lungs, he was running out of options. Three months later, after three treatments, the tumors in his throat and lungs have dramatically shrunk and the swelling subsided. “I feel much better,” Solis said Monday. The father and grandfather, who worked in banquets and as a food and beverage manager on the Strip before falling ill, is the first person in the world to receive a combination of two experimental drugs, Enoblituzumab and Retifanlimab, as part of a new clinical trial for head and neck cancer, according to Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, the local site participating in the global study. Solis and his oncologist, Dr. Anthony Nguyen, spoke with reporters prior to the patient receiving his fourth infusion of the two drugs. The treatment is a new form of immunotherapy, which boosts the body’s immune system to combat the cancer. “So his immune system is actually being manipulated, turned on, to actually fight the cancer from inside,” Nguyen said. In this way it is different from traditional chemotherapy. “When we think of chemotherapy and cancer medicine, we [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-05-18T06:14:24-07:00May, 2021|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer patients paying tens of thousands for unnecessary imaging and radiologist reads

Source: radiologybusiness.com Author: Marty Stempniak Head and neck cancer patients are paying tens of thousands of dollars for unnecessary imaging surveillance and radiologist professional charges, according to a new single-center analysis published Thursday. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends follow-up imaging within six months after treatment for the disease, with further scans necessary only if patients show any signs of recurrence. Yet, providers often subject asymptomatic individuals to repeated rounds of costly imaging anyway, experts noted in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. Wanting to understand this concern at their own institution, NorthShore University HealthSystem looked to the data. Across 136 patients treated for head and neck cancer, the average individual received 14 imaging studies during a surveillance period of 3.2 years at an average cost of $36,800. Patients who lacked any symptoms received four imaging exams each year at an annual cost of $9,600, the authors concluded. Only 10.3% of patients developed a recurrence. “One could argue that such examinations were unnecessary and clearly not cost-effective,” Cheryl Nocon, MD, an otolaryngologist who worked with NorthShore at the time of the study but now practices in Los Angeles, and co-authors wrote May 13. “The amount of money spent on imaging in patients who ultimately proved to be disease free is substantial and should be carefully considered in the context of the current healthcare financial setting.” The Evanston, Illinois-based hospital system certainly isn’t alone. One recent study pegged annual U.S. spending on head and neck cancers at $4.2 billion, with per-individual expenditures [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2021-05-14T12:33:09-07:00May, 2021|Oral Cancer News|