9/13/2007 web-based article Katherine Bourzac Digital Pathology Blog (tissuepathology.typepad.com) Researchers at the University of Texas are developing a microfluidics device that detects oral-cancer cells in 10 minutes and is simple and cheap enough for use in the dentist's office. The device could be adapted to test for other cancers, including cervical cancer. It works well on cancer cells grown in the lab and is currently being tested on biopsies from oral-cancer patients. Many oral cancers are painless or, in their early stages, resemble dental disease, so patients and doctors may overlook them, says Carter Van Waes, chief of head and neck surgery at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The National Cancer Institute estimates that, this year, 22,560 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer, and more than 5,000 will die of the disease. "Even though oral cancer is not common, it's usually advanced when it's diagnosed," says Spencer Redding, chair of dental-diagnostic science at the University of Texas Health Science Center, in San Antonio. Redding is helping test the new device, which was developed by John McDevitt, professor of chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. "The goal is to identify patients earlier," when the survival rate is about 90 percent, says Redding. Patients diagnosed in the later stages of the disease don't respond well to treatment, and only about 50 percent survive. McDevitt and Redding envision a compact device that would be standard in dental offices. Any suspicious-looking sores in a patient's mouth could [...]

9/13/2007 Memphis, TN staff CancerConsultants.com According to an article recently published in Annals of Oncology, over half of patients diagnosed with cancer experience pain, despite guidelines that have been adopted for the reduction of pain. Patients diagnosed with advanced or terminal cancer experience an even higher rate of pain, with those diagnosed with head and neck cancer experiencing the most pain. Pain is one of the most feared consequences associated with the diagnosis of cancer. As cancer becomes more advanced, it grows and spreads throughout the body. This growth crowds organs, tissues, vasculature (veins, arteries, or capillaries), lymph nodes (part of the immune system), and/or bones. The cancerous growth itself can cause pain as it places pressure on nerves and it can interfere with normal biological processes, causing a blockage and/or buildup of fluid or other components. Pain has been recognized as an important focus of treatment among cancer patients. Guidelines have been established by healthcare panels for the treatment of pain, depending upon severity and other existing medical conditions of the patient. Often, patients with terminal cancer remain on pain medications throughout the duration of treatment once their disease has become advanced. In fact, controlling pain is one of the top priorities in end-of-life patient care. However, data regarding the prevalence of pain among patients with cancer remain limited. Researchers from the Netherlands recently conducted a clinical study to review data regarding the prevalence of pain among cancer patients. The data included a literature review regarding pain in different [...]

9/13/2007 Edmontaon, Alberta, Canada staff CanadianPress.com Imperial Tobacco Canada announced Wednesday it will test market a new type of smokeless tobacco in Canada called snus - and while the company is touting it as a safer alternative to cigarettes, it's been banned as a health risk in most of Europe. Benjamin Kemball, president and CEO of Imperial, said the powdered tobacco product will be sold at 230 retail outlets in Edmonton in the coming months to determine whether it might catch on with consumers. Users wad the moist powder between their lips and gum, where it dissolves. Kemball points to recent studies from Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia which suggest that snus is less harmful than cigarettes. "According to these independent reports, there is no increase to the risk of lung (or oral) cancer among snus users, compared to people who have never used any tobacco products at all," he said in an interview. "We should be looking at products such as this because if people are able to move away from cigarettes and to this sort of product, there will be a substantial reduction in risk to those people." The European Union banned snus in all countries except Sweden and Norway in 1992 after a World Health Organization report concluded that oral tobacco products were carcinogenic to humans. It's also banned in Australia. In 2004, the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice upheld the European ban, ruling that the dangers of snus merited that it be outlawed. [...]

9/11/2007 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada press release EarthTimes.org TapImmune Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the development of immunotherapeutics for cancer and vaccines for infectious diseases, today announced FDA compliant testing company AppTec, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, has begun preclinical testing of its lead product, a TAP-based therapeutic cancer vaccine. The immunotherapy vaccine is designed to treat a wide variety of TAP deficient carcinomas that include lung cancers, liver cancers, kidney cancers, head and neck cancers, breast cancers, melanomas, prostate cancers, colorectal cancers, and cervical cancers. This is the first step in the product development program that will bring the vaccine to Phase 1 Human studies. After this initial testing and certification, TapImmune will move forward with the production of commercial grade vaccine in FDA approved facilities to commence toxicology and Phase I clinical trials. The TAP vaccine performs a key step in moving characteristic markers called antigens to the surfaces of cells. Without TAP, there are no cancer markers, so the immune system fails to spot the rogue cells and the cancerous cells can grow undetected. In pre-clinical animal models, the Company's vaccine has shown effective restoration of TAP which restores and augments the marker (antigen) presentation and subsequent recognition and killing of cancer cells by the immune system. "This is a very promising technology that we believe could hold the key to making these types of cancers visible to our immune system thus allowing for an appropriate immune response," said Denis Corin CEO TapImmune Inc. "It's gratifying [...]

9/10/2007 London, United Kingdom staff medicexchange.com Positron emission tomography-computed tomography using fluorodeoxy-glucose F 18 (FDG-PET/CT) provides early, accurate detection of bone metastases from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, researchers report in the August issue of Archives of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Brian Nussenbaum of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri and colleagues evaluated 13 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients with FDG-PET/CT findings suggestive of metastases. These patients were identified by retrospective review of data from 683 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who had undergone the procedure during initial staging or restaging. All of the 13 patients lacked clinical symptoms of bone involvement and nine had serum alkaline phosphatase levels in the normal or minimally elevated range. Five patients underwent bone biopsy and 4 were confirmed as having metastasis. The fifth patient was found to have Rosai-Dorfman bone disease, a rare non-malignant condition, and was excluded from further analysis. In the remaining 12 patients, FDG-PET/CT identified a total of 27 bone lesions. At the time of metastasis identification, six of the patients had no other identifiable distant metastatic disease and two of these lacked disease at any other site. The findings influenced therapeutic decision making in five patients. The study "further shows the utility of obtaining PET/CT imaging for radiographically restaging patients with head and neck carcinoma," Dr. Nussenbaum told Reuters Health. Source: Arch Otolaryngology Head Neck Surg 2007;133:801-805.

9/10/2007 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Claire Weaver Daily Telegraph (www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph) Research shows dogs, cats and birds are developing virulent cancers and dying from exposure to their owners' cigarette smoke. Like babies and children, small animals, including birds, have been found to be vulnerable to the effects of passive smoking, which can trigger lymphoma and deadly oral, lung and nasal cancers. Vets warn that pets in smoking households are far more likely to get sick and have shorter lives than those in smoke-free homes. A study by the Tuft College of Veterinary Medicine in the US reveals a strong link between second-hand smoke and squamous cell carcinoma - or mouth cancer - in cats. Because they lick themselves while grooming, cats consume deadly doses of carcinogens that build upon their fur from cigarette smoke. Dogs are at greater risk of lung and nasal cancer, which kills most of its victims within 12 months. Long-nosed dogs such as schnauzers are more likely to have nasal tumours, whereas short-nosed breeds such as bulldogs or pugs are more prone to lung cancer. Sydney veterinary surgeon Phil Brain, of the Australian Small Animal Veterinary Association, says cancer is an increasingly frequent diagnosis in pets. Dr Brain is treating lymphoma patient Basil, a dog whose owners do not smoke, with chemotherapy. "We have diagnosed three or four cases of lung cancer in dogs, and they have all been in smoking households, so that's an interesting connection,'' he says.

9/7/2007 web-based article PM Specenier et al. Annals of Oncology, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdm346 Background: Radiotherapy (RT) with concurrent chemotherapy is the current standard of care for patients with unresectable locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Gemcitabine (GEM) is a potent radiosensitizer and in addition has activity as an anticancer agent in SCCHN. Patients and methods: Twenty-six patients with locally far advanced SCCHN were enrolled in a chemoradiation feasibility study between November 1998 and September 2003. Use was made of conventionally fractionated RT and GEM 100 mg/m2, which was given within 2 h prior to radiotherapy on a weekly basis starting on day 1 of RT. Response was assessed according to WHO criteria, toxicity according to NCI-CTC version 2. Results: The patients received a median of 7 (2–8) weekly cycles of gemcitabine and a median cumulative RT dose of 70 Gy (66–84.75). Hematologic toxicity was mild, but non-hematologic toxicity was severe: grade 3–4 stomatitis occurred in 85% of patients, dermatitis in 69%, pharyngitis/esophagitis in 81% and 80% of the patients needed a feeding tube during treatment. All 22 evaluable patients responded (50% complete, 50% partial). Median follow up of the surviving patients is 46 months. Median disease-free and overall survival is 13 months and 19 months, respectively; 27% of the patients are alive without evidence of recurrence beyond 3 years. Conclusions: Conventionally fractionated RT in combination with GEM 100 mg/m2 weekly is feasible and highly active in the treatment of locally advanced SCCHN. In particular, long-term local control [...]

9/7/2007 Lyon, France Neela Guha et al. Am. J. Epidemiol., August 30, 2007 Poor oral health has been reported as a risk factor in the etiology of head and neck cancer. Data on oral health were ascertained as part of two multicenter case-control studies comprising 924 cases and 928 controls in central Europe and 2,286 cases and 1,824 controls in Latin America. Incident cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (oral cavity, pharynx, larynx) and esophagus, as well as age (in quinquennia)- and sex frequency-matched controls, were enrolled from 1998 to 2003. Poor condition of the mouth (central Europe: odds ratio (OR) = 2.89, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.74, 4.81; Latin America: OR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.47, 2.42), lack of toothbrush use (Latin America: OR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.28, 4.36), and daily mouthwash use (Latin America: OR = 3.40, 95% CI: 1.96, 5.89) emerged as risk factors for head and neck cancer, independent of tobacco use and alcohol consumption. Missing between six and 15 teeth was an independent risk factor for esophageal cancer (central Europe: OR = 2.84, 95% CI: 1.26, 6.41; Latin America: OR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.04, 4.59). These results indicate that periodontal disease (as indicated by poor condition of the mouth and missing teeth) and daily mouthwash use may be independent causes of cancers of the head, neck, and esophagus. Authors: Neela Guha, Paolo Boffetta, Victor Wunsch Filho, Jose Eluf Neto, Oxana Shangina, David Zaridze, Maria Paula Curado, Sergio Koifman, Elena [...]

9/7/2007 web-based article K Mystakidou et al Int J Nanomedicine, January 1, 2007; 2(1): 49-54 Pain is experienced by most cancer patients and represents an important issue in the clinical setting. Breakthrough pain is a transitory flare of pain that occurs in most cancer patients on a background of otherwise controlled persistent pain. Treatment of breakthrough pain is a challenging phenomenon. Oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate, a new opioid formulation with a unique delivery system, utilizing the advantages that nanotechnology offers, reflects the characteristics of breakthrough pain (rapid onset of action and short duration), which makes it an effective treatment to cancer patients who are already receiving opioids and continue to experience such flares of pain. Oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate is specifically developed and approved for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients and it has the potential to be a useful tool for clinicians. Authors: K Mystakidou, E Tsilika, M Tsiatas, and L Vlahos Authors' affiliation: Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece

9/6/2007 web-based article press release Scoop Health (www.scoop.co.nz) Shocking pictures of smoking's health effects appearing on Australian cigarette packets have increased requests for quitting help by 91 percent. This dramatic increase was revealed to the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference in Auckland today by researcher Jacqueline Hickling of The Cancer Council South Australia. "Although graphic pictorial warnings have been introduced elsewhere, no one has researched their effect upon help lines," Ms Hickling told the 370 international delegates. “We monitored the number of calls to Quitline in Australia as the graphic images campaign was rolled out from February to July last year. During that time, the number of calls increased by 91 percent.” The close up images included a gangrenous foot, the contrast between a healthy lung and one with emphysema, a cancerous mouth and lips, a brain bleeding as a result of a stroke and a pair of cancerous lungs. The images were divided into two series which were rotated so the shock value would not be reduced. "The images were accompanied by a series of confronting television advertisements showing the little-known link between smoking and mouth cancer, and smoking and peripheral vascular disease which causes gangrene," Ms Hickling said. Countries planning to introduce such warnings should expect similar impact and flow on benefits to quitting. Ms Hickling said. Helen Glasgow, Executive Director of the Quit Group in New Zealand, said the Quit Group is gearing up for a busy year in 2008 when similar graphic warnings are introduced here, and [...]