3/4/2008 Chicago, IL staff Chicago Sun-Times (www.suntimes.com) Fluorescent scan helped detect man's lesions that could have developed into cancer It might be nothing serious, but a sore in your mouth that shows no sign of healing could also be a warning sign of oral cancer, which kills more than 8,000 people a year. Often, it's not diagnosed until it's advanced because symptoms -- sore throat, white or red patches on the gums or tongue, numbness -- are easy to put off to something less serious. Last year, Grant Achatz, the acclaimed chef at Alinea, shocked the food world by announcing he had late-stage oral cancer -- which, after treatment, is in remission. About 34,000 people a year are diagnosed with oral cancer nationally. Caught early, it has a 75 percent to 80 percent five-year survival rate. But late diagnosis lowers the survival rate to just 50 percent, says Richard Price, an American Dental Association spokesman. Also, screening for oral cancer typically has largely relied on a dentist spotting or feeling something amiss. But recent advances make it easier for dentists to spot problems early. Among them: the VELscope, an instrument that was showcased at the Chicago Dental Society's recent midwinter meeting. The device emits a blue light that causes the mouth to glow. Healthy tissue glows green under that light; cancerous tissue looks brown or black. The test takes two to three minutes. Some Chicago-area dentists use another device, called Vizilite -- a glowstick that highlights abnormalities in the mouth [...]

3/3/2008 Sioux Falls, SD Karen Pallarito Argus Leader (www.argusleader.com) If you're the parent of a "tween" daughter, your family physician may have recommended vaccinating her against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer. But how much do you really know about this new vaccine? "I do not think that the public understands all the potential benefits of HPV vaccination, including the protection it may offer against vulvar cancer, vaginal cancer, anal cancer, and head and neck cancers," said Dr. Jessica Kahn, associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the HPV vaccine, called Gardasil, in June 2006, to prevent precancerous conditions of the cervix. As a result, "vaccine marketing strategies have not focused on the potential for the vaccine to prevent other cancers, and in both men and women," Kahn explained. In addition, many people do not understand the link between HPV and other cancers that affect both sexes, such as head and neck malignancies, she added. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, accounting for the majority of cases of cervical cancer. At least 50 percent of sexually active people will get HPV at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While HPV usually goes away on its own, sometimes it lingers and continues to change the cells in a woman's cervix. Without treatments, these [...]

3/3/2008 Dallas, TX Augustson, Erik M Wanke et al. RedOrbit.com Objectives: Because US smoking rates have not declined during the past decade, there is a renewed need to identify factors associated with smoking cessation. Using a nested case-control design, we explored the association between ability to sustain cessation over an extended period and demographic, smoking, medical, and behavioral variables. Methods.: We selected a sample of 1379 sustained quitters (abstinent from smoking for at least 40 months) and 1388 relapsers (abstinent for more than 8 months before relapse) from participants in the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study, a nutritional intervention study involving Finnish men aged 50 to 69 years at baseline. Contingency table and multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate potential differences between the 2 groups on baseline variables. Results: Compared with sustained quitters, relapsers were more likely to report symptoms of emotional distress and higher levels of nicotine dependence, to drink more alcohol, and to report more medical conditions. Conclusions: Factors associated with both tobacco use and comorbid conditions impact an individual's ability to maintain long- term smoking cessation. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of action and potential common pathways among these factors may help to improve smoking cessation therapies. (Am J Public Health. 2008; 98:549-555. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.084137) Despite significant progress in smoking prevalence reduction within the United States since the mid-1990s, in the past 15 years, rates of smoking have remained virtually unchanged.1-3 Smoking continues to be a significant public health issue with asubstantial associated cancer4 and health care burden.5 [...]

2/28/2008 Tacoma, WA Craig Hill theNewsTrib.com When Rochel Cobb thinks of her dad, she thinks of running. She thinks of the frigid jogs together through the snow when she was a girl. She remembers the family reunions her dad organized at various fun runs around the country. And, perhaps most vividly, she remembers the day in 2004 when her dad finished the Avenue of the Giants Marathon 10 years after doctors told him he’d never run again. So in August, when her dad, Bobby Goddard, learned he had a life-threatening form of tongue cancer, she knew the perfect way to honor him. Cobb’s idea was the Live, Love, Run! a race through Point Defiance Park she hopes will become an annual event. She says her goal for the run on Saturday is to raise money to cover the more than $30,000 in treatment and to encourage people to “pursue things despite adversity.” Eventually, the Goddard family hopes the run will fund a health awareness center it wants to open in Bobby Goddard’s honor. Bobby Goddard, a 57-year-old general contractor in Tacoma, started radiation treatment in late January. Doctors say there is a 50-percent chance the treatment will work. If it doesn’t, Goddard’s wife, Jamie, says doctors may have to remove part of Bobby’s tongue. Bobby has beaten longer odds. In 1994, he fell 25 feet off of a roof and broke 14 bones including his hips and a leg. “It was pretty terrible,” said Jamie Goddard. “He had pulleys over [...]

2/25/2008 Tulsa, OK staff Dental Economics (www.dentaleconomics.com) Patients suffering from dry mouth (xerostomia) preferred treatment with a new, adhesive oral disk called OraMoist rather than treatment with the leading oral rinse, according to a new study. The study was conducted by Dr. Doron Aframian at Hadassah Medical Center in Israel. One group of patients suffering from xerostomia was treated with OraMoist, the other with the leading mouthwash. Results included: 1) 70 percent of those treated with OraMoist reported they would use the product in the future, compared to 30 precent of those using the mouthwash. 2) Patients treated with OraMoist showed an increase of saliva production from .11 ml/2 min to .19 ml; the patients treated with mouthwash increased only from .09 ml to .10 ml. 3) Both groups reported a statistically significant reduction in xerostomic sensation, but the moisturizing effect of OraMoist lasted longer than that of the mouthwash. OraMoist is a disk that adheres to the roof of the mouth, and releases ingredients that help moisten the mouth for up to four hours. It slowly releases tricaprin, a lipid that lubricates and moistens the mouth for up to four hours, and calcium carbonate, citric acid and natural lemon to stimulate saliva production and restore proper Ph balance to the mouth. Dry mouth results from health conditions, aging, drugs, or lifestyle choices. Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and Sjogren's syndrome cause xerostomia, as do more than 1,000 prescription drugs. Smoking or drinking alcohol or caffeine can also cause dry mouth. According [...]

2/22/2008 Evanston, IL Lisa Watson MedIll Report (news.medill.northwestern.edu) Candy-flavored cigarettes in bright packages, dissolvable tobacco tablets, chemical additives to increase addiction, and clever marketing have helped tobacco companies counter restrictions and declining smoking rates, according to a report released Wednesday. These innovations are garnering more support for pending legislation that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration power to regulate the design and marketing of tobacco products. There is a "new generation of designer tobacco products,” that is unregulated by the government, said Mary Maryland, incoming president of the Illinois division of the American Cancer Society, at a news conference at the Chicago Children's Museum Wednesday. “Tobacco products come in more forms, flavors, shapes and sizes, with more unproven health claims than ever before, all with the goal of getting kids to smoke and to keep smokers addicted.” The report, “Big Tobacco’s Guinea Pigs: How an Unregulated Industry Experiments on America’s Kids and Consumers,” details trends in the tobacco industry designed to attract new users and keep old ones. Issued by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the report documents additions that cigarette companies make to tobacco to encourage new users and discourage current users from quitting: - New smokeless products, such as dissolvable tobacco tablets, are promoted as a way to get a nicotine “fix” in places where smoking is prohibited. Camel Snus and Marlboro Snus are the newest examples, currently in test [...]

2/22/2008 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Andre Picard Globe and Mail (www.theglobeandmail.com) HPV immunization is the most highly publicized, expensive and politicized vaccination campaign in Canadian history. It is also, from a public health perspective, a monumental flop. Ontario launched its program to vaccinate all Grade 8 girls with much fanfare last August. Yet, to date, only half of those in the target group have received one or more of the three doses of Gardasil. That is a pathetically low level of uptake, particularly for a vaccine that has the potential to prevent cervical cancer. (The vaccine is not mandatory, but in school-based programs 80 to 90 per cent of students usually get vaccinated.) Why are teenaged girls and their parents rejecting the vaccine in such large numbers? Why have the greatest medical minds in our country been unable to convince the public that preventing cervical cancer with a simple vaccine is not only possible, but a wondrous thing? Answering those questions should be a priority for public health officials and health policy makers from coast to coast. The failure here is not with the vaccine. Gardasil is one of the most studied vaccines ever. The results from those studies were impressive: The vaccine has an almost universal ability to prevent infection with strains of the human papillomavirus that are responsible for the bulk of cases of cervical cancer (not to mention that HPV is also responsible for most causes of throat cancer and penile cancer). Logically, this should prevent cervical cancer, [...]

2/22/2008 Washington, D.C. press release EurekaAlert.org Scientists whose discoveries have led to fundamental advances in the science and treatment of cancer are the recipients of two prestigious international prizes offered by the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). This year’s Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research is awarded to John Mendelsohn, M.D., president and professor of cancer medicine at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, for his pioneering translational research that led to the discovery of a new class of agents to treat cancer and for his landmark contributions to our growing knowledge of targeted cancer therapies. “The translation of John Mendelsohn’s research from the laboratory into clinical practice created a new paradigm for treating cancer, providing novel treatment options and life-saving alternatives to many patients living with cancer,” Foti said. “His dedication and leadership deserve the highest recognition and we are proud to honor John for his revolutionary work.” The Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research Throughout his distinguished career, Mendelsohn has dedicated his research efforts to understanding how growth factors regulate the proliferation of cancer cells by activating receptors on the surface of the cells. Mendelsohn and his colleagues were the first to propose a new approach to cancer therapy by suggesting that blocking the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) could prevent cancer cell growth and reproduction. Mendelsohn and his colleagues proved their hypothesis by producing an anti-EGF receptor monoclonal antibody that [...]

2/20/2008 Baltimore, MD Carole Fakhry et al. JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2008 100(4):261-269 Background: The improved prognosis for patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)–positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) relative to HPV-negative HNSCC observed in retrospective analyses remains to be confirmed in a prospective clinical trial. Methods: We prospectively evaluated the association of tumor HPV status with therapeutic response and survival among 96 patients with stage III or IV HNSCC of the oropharynx or larynx who participated in an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) phase II trial and who received two cycles of induction chemotherapy with intravenous paclitaxel and carboplatin followed by concomitant weekly intravenous paclitaxel and standard fractionation radiation therapy. The presence or absence of HPV oncogenic types in tumors was determined by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization. Two-year overall and progression-free survival for HPV-positive and HPV-negative patients were estimated by Kaplan–Meier analysis. The relative hazard of mortality and progression for HPV-positive vs HPV-negative patients after adjustment for age, ECOG performance status, stage, and other covariables was estimated by use of a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Genomic DNA of oncogenic HPV types 16, 33, or 35 was located within tumor cell nuclei of 40% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 30% to 50%) of patients with HNSCC of the oropharynx or larynx by in situ hybridization and PCR. Compared with patients with HPV-negative tumors, patients with HPV-positive tumors had higher response rates after induction chemotherapy [...]

2/20/2008 Washington, D.C. staff redOrbit.com An insidious new generation of tobacco products is threatening efforts to reduce tobacco use in the United States, warns a new report issued today by a coalition of public health organizations. The report describes how tobacco manufacturers take advantage of the lack of government regulation to design and market products that recruit new youth users, create and sustain addiction to nicotine, and discourage current users from quitting. Responding to declining smoking rates and growing restrictions on smoking, tobacco manufacturers are finding novel ways to entice new users, especially children, and discourage quitting. To stop the tobacco industry's harmful practices and protect public health, leading public health organizations urge Congress to pass pending legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products and their marketing. The report, "Big Tobacco's Guinea Pigs: How an Unregulated Industry Experiments on America's Kids and Consumers," was issued by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, with funding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The full report and a slideshow of new tobacco products can be found at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/productsreport. The report details key trends including: - Flavored products: Cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars have been introduced in an array of candy, fruit and alcohol flavors. R.J. Reynolds' Camel cigarettes, for example, have come in more than a dozen flavors, including lime, coconut and pineapple, toffee, and mint. Flavorings mask the harshness of the products and [...]