3/31/2005 Toronto, Ontario, Canada cancerconsultants.com According to a recently completed clinical trial, a vaccine that is injected directly into the site(s) of cancer produces promising results in patients with head and neck cancer who have stopped responding to standard therapies. Approximately 40,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Cancers of the head and neck comprise several types of cancer, including the nasal cavity and sinuses, oral cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, and other sites located in the head and neck area. Once the cancer stops responding to standard therapeutic approaches, which typically consists of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, it is referred to as “refractory”. Patients with refractory head and neck cancer currently have very limited effective treatment options, with overall survival being dismal in this group of patients. There are currently no treatment modalities that have demonstrated an improvement in survival in the treatment of refractory head and neck cancer. Several clinical trials are underway to evaluate novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of this disease. A novel vaccine Proxinium™ recently completed an early-phase clinical trial in the evaluation of advanced head and neck cancer. Proxinium™ is comprised of a monoclonal antibody, which is a protein that is targeted against and binds to a specific component of a cell. The monoclonal antibody portion of Proxinium™ is targeted against EpCAM, a molecule that is often highly expressed in head and neck cancer cells. Proxinium™ also contains the toxin produced by the bacterium Pseudomonas. When the [...]

3/30/2005 Chesapeake, VA U.S. Newswire Chesapeake, Va. resident Minnie Ashworth, who successfully battled oral cancer two years ago, wants fewer people to have to withstand the ordeal she survived. She has joined a national effort to reduce the death rate from the disease, which can be conquered if caught in its early stages. A Walk for Awareness will take place Saturday, April 9, at Chesapeake City Park in Chesapeake, Va. Proceeds will benefit the non-profit Oral Cancer Foundation - Web: http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org Event Includes Free, Fast, and Painless Oral Cancer Screenings During the fund-raising walk, doctors from the VCU School of Dentistry and from the Eastern Virginia Medical School will conduct free oral cancer screenings. These quick and painless examinations of the mouth, if conducted as part of everyone's annual dental exam, could dramatically reduce the number of deaths from oral cancer. 30,000 individuals are newly diagnosed with oral cancer each year in the US, and it kills almost 9,000 Americans annually. The five-year survival rate is only about 50 percent. Early detection would drastically reduce the death rate. It was a dentist who raised the alarm when Ashworth told him her gum still hadn't healed long after she'd had a tooth extracted. The dentist immediately referred Ashworth to an oral surgeon, whose biopsy revealed cancer. Ashworth underwent radiation to shrink the tumor, then surgery to remove half her lower jaw, which was reconstructed using bone from her lower leg. During her recovery, Ashworth discovered the Oral Cancer Foundation's web site, [...]

3/30/2005 Tempe, AR Summer Robertson www.asuwebdevil.com It's a sign of the times. Kids are getting a lot more street smart. When they see an advertisement that reads: "Free money!" they begin to ask questions. The majority of us know it's just another ploy from some not-so-creative advertisers. The same goes with movies. If someone tells you to see a movie about which you know nothing, you're going to ask why. So why aren't the same questions being asked when it involves something more dangerous, say, hookah? Sure, opponents of smoking have televised ads that tell you to say no. But most of the time, they are so short that they don't say why. Or they will tell you the same old information: Tobacco may cause cancer, discoloration of the teeth, etc. But there's a reason to say no. So before you go out and buy your own hookah, perhaps you should take a few things into account. Hookah and shisha have been around for ages, originating in the Middle East. Because it is relatively new to the U.S., there have been next to no studies done on it. A lot of people are under the misconception hookah is healthier than cigarettes. Although hookah waters down tobacco, it doesn't water down the effects tobacco has on your body. Your lung tissue will still be damaged, and you will be more susceptible to smoking-related diseases such as lung, throat and mouth cancer. Another misconception is that hookah contains far less tobacco and [...]

3/30/2005 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Newswire Canada (www.newswire.ca) Stick out your tongue at your dentist. It's good for your health! A visit to your dentist is good for your health and well-being. That is the message being delivered to Ontario communities by the Ontario Dental Association in April, which is Oral Heath Month. This year, ODA-member dentists are undertaking a wide range of programs across the province. An important element is the ODA's oral cancer awareness program which is designed to raise public awareness of a potentially fatal disease. Last year, there were more than 3,100 new cases of oral cancer diagnosed nationally, accounting for approximately 2.1 percent of all new cancer cases in Canada. To reach younger audiences, the ODA and ODA-member dentists are also sponsoring the Brush-a-mania challenge designed to improve the oral health habits of elementary school students. "No matter what your age, oral health is important to your overall health," said Dr. Steve Goren, President of the Ontario Dental Association. "Dentists are part of your primary health-care team." This year, the ODA's oral cancer awareness efforts include an outdoor advertising campaign in 11 Ontario communities to increase public awareness. This disease has a greater mortality rate than either breast cancer or prostate cancer. ODA-member dentists are also conducting oral cancer checks at select shopping malls across the province. For schoolchildren, the ODA is teaming up with the Rotary Club and the Toronto Dental Academy to bring the Brush-a-mania program to about 35,000 students at 120 elementary schools [...]

3/29/2005 Toronto, Ontario, Canada PRNewswire (www.prnewswire.com) Viventia Biotech Inctoday reported preliminary results from an exploratory Phase I efficacy trial using direct intratumoral injection of Proxinium(TM) as a monotherapy for the treatment of patients with refractory head & neck cancer. A total of 20 patients were enrolled in the study, of which 18 were considered evaluable at the end of the trial. Preliminary efficacy analysis showed that 25% of the 16 evaluable patients who expressed the therapeutic target for Proxinium(TM) had a complete response to therapy (complete disappearance of treated tumor); 63% had an objective response (significant or partial shrinkage of treated tumor); and 88% had tumor growth control (objective response or stabilization of disease). The drug was reported to have a good safety profile and was well tolerated, consistent with previous results. "Current treatments for refractory head and neck cancer have shown limited efficacy. To have achieved such a high number of complete responses in patients that have, in essence, failed all other available therapies is very encouraging," said Dr. Nick Glover, President and CEO of Viventia. "These results, and the promising survival data that emerged from our previous Phase I trial, show the tremendous potential for Proxinium(TM) for the treatment of refractory head and neck cancer. With the recent granting of Orphan Drug designation by the FDA, we are on track to initiate advanced clinical trials for Proxinium(TM) in 2005." Dr. Barry Wenig, Professor of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School, and Director of the [...]

3/29/2005 Caroline Stanley Better Homes & Gardens (www.bhg.com) Dangerous Trend Oral sex has become a widespread practice among adolescents. A staggering 40 percent of 10th-graders engaged in oral sex in the past year, with a quarter reporting three or more partners, according to a survey in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. Kids like that oral sex preserves their status as virgins, won't result in pregnancy, and carries little risk of HIV or other STDs. The latter, however, now appears to be wishful thinking. In a 2003 University of Wisconsin study, 78 percent of new cases of genital herpes were caused by a virus found chiefly in the mouths of 16- to 21-year-olds. An even more sobering study from Johns Hopkins linked certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) to head and neck cancers. "Having performed oral sex on more than one partner in the previous year increased the risk of contracting this untreatable STD," says lead researcher Maura Gillison, MD. Clearly, parents need to have serious sex talks with their teens.

3/29/2005 Mobile, AL PRNewswire (www.prnewswire.com) Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, has begun treating patients once thought to have inoperable brain ailments with the new Trilogy(TM) stereotactic system, from Varian Medical Systems. The system allows the highly trained physicians at Providence to perform non-invasive brain treatment without an incision, with minimal pain and oftentimes, with no hospitalization. The Trilogy system is the most powerful and versatile cancer treatment technology available using image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), stereotactic treatment and conformal radiotherapy (CRT) in one system. The system delivers a wide range of precise treatments making it easier to treat difficult conditions including cancer and certain neurological conditions. "This technology brings us to a new level, significantly improving on precision and shortening the duration of these types of treatments," observed Robert Gilbert, MD, radiation oncologist. "That means more accurate targeting along with greater patient comfort, since patients spend less time on the treatment table." Providence Hospital worked closely with Coastal Neurological Institute, PC (CNI) to be among the first in the nation to deploy this new technology along the Gulf Coast. "As a community hospital, Providence was in the unique position to associate with CNI to provide Trilogy treatment to patients in the region bringing new hope to many. Providence Hospital will continue to team with Ascension Health partner Sacred Heart Health System of Pensacola, Fla. to expand cancer care along the Gulf Coast. Trilogy treatment provides our patients with treatment that has only just now become available. There are only a handful of [...]

3/27/2005 San Diego, CA Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) To investigate tumors, pathologists currently rely on labor-intensive microscopic examination, using century-old cell-staining methods that can take days to complete and may give false readings. A lightning-fast laser technique, led by Sandia National Laboratories researcher Paul Gourley, has provided laboratory demonstrations of accurate, real-time, high-throughput identification of liver tumor cells at their earliest stages, and without invasive chemical reagents. The technique generates a laser beam in single human cells pumped from a flask through tiny microchannels. The beam is altered by what it encounters. These changes, registered by an imaging spectrometer, instantly identify cancer-modified mitochondria in cells gone wrong. Mitochondria are known as the power pack of cells, energizing them like batteries do flashlight bulbs. "There are hundreds of mitochondria, sometimes thousands, in a cell," says Gourley. "To see them in the old way requires a time-consuming process like fluorescent tagging or a chemical reagent. We've found we can see them immediately by light alone." The techniques could be critical to advancing early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. More technically put, "To rapidly assess the health of a single mammalian cell," says Gourley, "the key discovery was the elucidation of biophotonic differences in normal and cancer cells by using intracellular mitochondria as biomarkers for disease. This technique holds promise for detecting cancer at a very early stage and could nearly eliminate delays in diagnosis and treatment." The technique is effective because "it measures changes in the cell architecture, especially those arising [...]

3/25/2005 San Francisco, CA Reuters News (reported by cancersourcemd.com) A genetically engineered mouthwash is effective in keeping mouth sores from becoming cancerous, researchers said here on Tuesday. The mouthwash is a formulation of ONYX-015, a virus that has been engineered to replicate in and kill cancer cells that have a dysfunctional p53 tumor-suppressor gene-- while sparing normal cells that have a functioning p53 gene. ONYX-015 is being jointly developed by Onyx and Pfizer Inc. Researchers from the University of Chicago reported the results from a small trial of 10 patients here at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Since oral cancer is frequently preceded by growths called dysplastic lesions, the idea was to find out if a novel gene therapy for killing cancer cells would work as a mouthwash --which comes into direct contact with the cells--to prevent the development of cancer. Heavy smokers, tobacco chewers and drinkers are at highest risk for developing the lesions and cancer of the mouth. The p53 gene is considered one of the body's most important naturally occurring tumor-suppressor genes. These genes are believed to help control runaway growth of cells and thereby prevent cancer. But when slight changes, or mutations, to the p53 gene occur, it is believed to lose its tumor-preventing effectiveness. The data presented on Tuesday were from 10 patients who were given ONYX-015 as a mouthwash once a week for 12 weeks after which tissues were biopsied and patients who showed improvement continued the therapy for another [...]