6/20/2007 Buffalo, NY Arlene Furlong American Dental Association (www.ada.org) The greater the bone loss from periodontal disease, the greater the risk of tongue cancer, new research suggests. Scientists at the University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute calculated that the risk of tongue cancer due to chronic gum disease increased fivefold with every millimeter of alveolar bone loss, regardless of smoking status. The scientists compared bone loss in 51 white men with tongue cancer to 54 white men without, all of whom were treated at the cancer institute between 1999 and 2005. Measurements of alveolar bone loss from panoramic radiographs were taken in all patients by the same periodontist, who did not know the cancer status of study patients. After eliminating the potential effects of age, smoking status and the number of existing teeth, persons with chronic gum disease were 5.2 times more likely to have tongue cancer with every millimeter of bone loss than those without gum disease. The results showed that other conditions of the teeth—decay, fillings, crowns and root canals—ad no significant effect on the incidence of tongue cancer. Dr. Mine Tezal, Ph.D., and colleagues hypothesize periodontal viruses and bacteria could be toxic to surrounding cells and produce changes that lead directly to oral cancer, or could indirectly contribute to cancer through inflammation."We have presented preliminary data suggesting an independent association between history of periodontitis and the risk of tongue cancer," the study's authors wrote in the May issue of The Archives of Otolaryngology: Head and [...]

6/20/2007 London, England staff medicexchange.com Molecular messages and signals circulating in blood or contained in cells lining the airway can identify early stage cancer, according to research reported at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Scientists looking to apply basic science knowledge to medical practice are developing tests that diagnose, predict or monitor cancer risks, without invasive tissue sampling. Such tests could benefit all, particularly underserved populations, such as the poor, who often wait until symptoms appear before seeing a doctor. A simple oral rinse could detect the early development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to researchers at the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Their strategy involves the detection of CD44, a protein biomarker for HNSCC tumors, combined with the detection of cancer-related altered DNA, and could reliably distinguish cancer from benign diseases. Currently, only 50 per cent of head and neck cancer patients are cured of the disease. While late-stage HNSCC has a poor prognosis, cure rates exceed 80 per cent if caught early enough. "Head and neck cancers are devastating for all patients. They are particularly challenging for the poor and disadvantaged, who often do not have the adequate, regular care that makes early detection more likely," said Elizabeth Franzmann, M.D., assistant professor of otolaryngology at Miami. "Our study has shown that an oral rinse test, simple enough to be administered at any community health center, is likely to detect cancer about 90 per cent of the time." [...]

6/20/2007 London, United Kingdom press release medicexchange.com Just as the clarity of high definition television has transformed the entertainment world, Siemens Medical Solutions is redefining the quality of molecular imaging with the introduction of high definition positron emission tomography. At the 2007 Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting (SNM), held June 2-6 in Washington, DC, Siemens unveiled HD-PET, the world’s first and only high definition PET technology to offer consistently sharper and clearly defined images across the entire field of view. “As the leading innovator in molecular imaging, Siemens raises the bar in innovation yet again by adding high definition to the Biograph TruePoint family of hybrid PET/CT systems,” said Michael Reitermann, president, Molecular Imaging, Siemens Medical Solutions. “The clarity of HD-PET will provide greater specificity and accuracy and will enable physicians to more confidently delineate small lesions – including those in lymph nodes, abdomen, head and neck, and brain– to provide earlier, more targeted treatment.” Changing the whole picture The clarity achieved by HD-PET is the result of a unique and proprietary technology that optimizes the elements of image uniformity, resolution and contrast – that together change the whole picture. “The uniform resolution provided by HD-PET throughout the field-of-view is a significant step in improving PET image quality,” said David Townsend, PhD, director, Molecular Imaging and Translational Research Program, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, who has worked with Siemens while testing the new HD-PET technology. “Historically with PET imaging, intrinsic image quality has been known to degrade [...]

6/20/2007 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Susan Lazaruk Edmonton Journal (www.canada.com/edmontonjournal) The state of Vermont is asking the B.C. courts to compel two University of British Columbia professors to testify in a lawsuit the state has launched against cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds and its claims of a safer "smokeless" cigarette. Dr. James Hogg and Dr. Stephan van Eeden have refused to voluntarily disclose the results of their 1990s research into Eclipse cigarettes to state prosecutors suing R.J. Reynolds for fraudulent advertising in the marketing of a cigarette that heats but doesn't burn tobacco. Reynolds promotes Eclipse as the "better way to smoke" and the U.S. ads say they "may present less risk of cancer, bronchitis and possibly emphysema," and "produce less inflammation in the respiratory system." It also claims: "The toxicity of its smoke is dramatically reduced," and the results backing the claims "have been presented at scientific meetings or published in scientific journals." R.J. Reynolds cites a research article called: "A Safer Cigarette? A Comparative Study. A Consensus Report", which was published in 2000 in the journal Inhalation Toxicology and written by co-principal investigators Hogg and van Eeden. The study, conducted at five medical centres, including UBC, was funded by R.J. Reynolds. State prosecutors said the article misrepresents the results, which haven't been published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. The state wants the two doctors to testify because they allegedly have relevant evidence as to whether switching to Eclipse does, as R.J. Reynolds claims, present smokers with the "next best choice" [...]

6/17/2007 web-based article John Spangler M.D. ABC News (www.abcnews.go.com) Stop smoking by using smokeless tobacco? Except for a very vocal minority of tobacco experts, most tobacco researchers would not recommend this. Nonetheless, with the blessing of this vocal minority, this is exactly what tobacco giant Philip Morris intends to do in August. This summer Philip Morris will introduce a tobacco product called snus (pronounced, snoose) in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to test market its appeal to adult smokers. And some tobacco experts are applauding this effort. Snus is a form of tobacco developed in Sweden that seems to be less risky than American smokeless tobacco products such as moist snuff (like Skoal), chewing tobacco (like Red Man) or dried, powdered snuff (Dental, Tube Rose, Peach and other brands). Using snus for smoking cessation falls under the banner of "harm reduction," and has some support in the field of tobacco control. Such an approach seems appealing: By reducing a smoker's dependence on cigarettes, switching to smokeless tobacco (particularly snus) potentially reduces the risk for a whole host of smoking-related illnesses. Harm reduction has been used successfully in other addictions: methadone administration for heroin addicts, for example, or clean needle exchanges for injecting drug users. But residual tobacco-related health risks remain when a smoker quits by using smokeless tobacco, and these risks are not trivial when compared to quitting totally. Less Risk Is Still Risk Although smokeless tobacco is much less risky than cigarettes, nonetheless mouth cancer and poor oral health definitely [...]

6/16/2007 MP Copper et al. Clin Otolaryngol, June 1, 2007; 32(3): 185-9 Objectives: Multiple primary tumours are a common problem in the head and neck cancer patients. Curative surgery or radiotherapy of these tumours can be very mutilating or even impossible. This study aims at evaluating meta-tetrahydroxy-phenyl chlorin-mediated photodynamic therapy for second or multiple primary tumours in the head and neck. Design: Retrospective study of all patients with second or multiple primary tumours treated by photodynamic therapy over a 10-year period. Setting: All patients were treated in the Netherlands Cancer Institute, a tertiary referral centre for the head and neck cancer patients. Participants: A total of 27 patients with 42 the second or the multiple primary head and neck tumours were treated by photodynamic therapy (0.15 mg/kg meta-tetrahydroxy-phenyl chlorin). Main outcomes measures: Cure rates. Results: Twenty-eight of 42 tumours were cured (67%). Cure rates for stage I or in situ disease were 85%versus 38% for stage II/III. Conclusions: Cure rates for photodynamic therapy of the multiple primary head and neck tumours were lower than previously described for first primaries, but were still very encouraging for this difficult patient population. The high cure rate obtained in stage I multiple primaries emphasises the importance of a meticulous follow-up of patients treated for the head and neck cancer to detect new tumours at a curable stage. Authors: MP Copper, M Triesscheijn, IB Tan, MC Ruevekamp, and FA Stewart Authors' affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

6/16/2007 Zurich, Switzerland Natalie Drabe et al. Psychooncology, June 5, 2007 The diagnosis of cancer not only affects the lives of patients but also the lives of their relatives. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and quality of life (QoL) among wives of patients treated for head and neck cancer (HNC). We examined 31 wives of patients treated for HNC from January 1998 to December 2004 (meantime since diagnosis 3.7 years) by questionnaires with regard to quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), quality of the relationship (Dyadic Adjustment Scale), and affective symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS). Prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was measured by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Results indicated that QoL and satisfaction with the relationship were comparable to the normal population. HADS mean scores showed no clinically relevant levels of depression and anxiety. A high prevalence of psychiatric disorders (38.7%, particularly agoraphobia) was found in the MINI. Wives diagnosed with an anxiety disorder reported significantly lower QoL compared to those without. The results of this study suggest that agoraphobia is a frequent psychiatric disorder seen in wives of HNC patients. Diagnosis of HNC can have a strong impact on the mental health of the spouse and should be taken in account in counselling of HNC patients. Authors: Natalie Drabe, Diana Zwahlen, Stefan Buchi, Hanspeter Moergeli, Roger A Zwahlen, and Josef Jenewein Authors' affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland

6/16/2007 New York, NY staff Forbes.com Uninsured Americans or those with certain types of public health insurance are more likely to have oral or breast cancer diagnosed at an advanced stage, compared to people with private insurance whose disease is caught earlier. That's the conclusion of two studies in the July 15 issue of the journal Cancer. They were produced by American Cancer Society researchers who analyzed data from a nationwide cancer database. The analysis of oropharyngeal cancer patient data found that patients with no health insurance were more likely than those with private insurance to be diagnosed with advanced disease, the largest tumors or invasive disease that had spread to regional lymph nodes. Patients with public health insurance, particularly Medicaid for low-income families, were also more likely than those with private insurance to have more advanced cancer, the largest tumors and lymph node involvement, the study found. The analysis of breast cancer patient data revealed that uninsured patients and those covered by Medicaid were almost 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease than patients with private insurance. Improved access to regular medical care and cancer screening programs for the uninsured and underinsured could help reduce these disparities, the authors of both studies said. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Richard C. Wender, president of the American Cancer Society and chairman of the department of family medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, wrote that having "a usual primary care clinician, a trusted source of care, also known [...]

6/10/2007 Burnsville, MN Brooke M. Walsh ThisWeekOnline (www.thisweek-online.com) No one thought Amy Gust, of Farmington, had oral cancer when she developed a persistent sore spot along her gum line in May 2006 — as a 37-year-old woman who rarely drank or smoked, she didn’t fit the perceived profile of someone who would contract oral cancer. But after months of mouthwash and exams, Amy was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the gingiva, “which is basically a cancer of the gums,” she said. What she, her dentist and doctor now know is that, as the 6th most common cancer in the United States, oral cancer affects many outside the perceived risk group. About 34,000 people are projected to be diagnosed with oral cancer — including cancer of the mouth, inner lip, tongue, salivary glands, pharynx, larynx and sinuses — in the U.S. in 2007, which is an 11 percent increase in new diagnoses since 2006. “Of them, 50-percent won’t be alive in five years, and that’s because it’s not being diagnosed early —it’s already spread places,” Amy said. It was in May 2006 that Amy first noticed what she thought was something stuck deep between her teeth. “It didn’t hurt or anything, it just felt like I had food caught,” she said. A week later, at her regular six month dental check up she pointed it out to her dentist, who performed an oral cancer screening — examining her face, neck and mouth both internally and externally, visually and through touch, [...]

6/10/2007 Chicago, IL staff United Press International (www.upi.com) More than 92 percent of Illinois dentists provide oral cancer examinations, but some are not performing the procedures thoroughly. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago say dentists are not doing all they should be doing to detect oral cancers in their patients. Lead researcher Charles LeHew had more than 500 dentists in 19 Illinois counties respond to the 38-item questionnaire that was used to gauge the extent of their knowledge of oral cancer prevention and early detection. The majority of dentists correctly identified squamous cell carcinoma, the most common form of oral cancer, as well as the most common sites for oral cancer and the most-common types of early lesions, but many were not able to answer those questions correctly, according to the study published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. Moreover, dentists lacked the knowledge needed for risk assessment and counseling. Some dentists incorrectly identified tobacco or alcohol as the least important risk factor for oral cancer, when in fact they are the two most important, according to LeHew.