1/17/2005 Michael Day Journal of the National Cancer Institute (vol 95, p 1772) as reported by www.newscientist.com Oral sex can lead to oral tumours. That is the conclusion of researchers who have proved what has long been suspected, that the human papilloma virus can cause oral cancers. The risk, thankfully, is tiny. Only around 1 in 10,000 people develop oral tumours each year, and most cases are probably caused by two other popular recreational pursuits: smoking and drinking. The researchers are not recommending any changes in behaviour. The human papilloma virus (HPV), an extremely common sexually transmitted infection, has long been known to cause cervical cancers. Several small studies have suggested it also plays a role in other cancers, including oral and anal cancers. "There has been tremendous interest for years on whether it has a role in other cancers. Many people were sceptical," says Raphael Viscidi, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, a member of the team that did the latest work. The researchers, working for the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, compared 1670 patients who had oral cancer with 1732 healthy volunteers. The participants lived in Europe, Canada, Australia, Cuba and Sudan. HPV16, the strain seen most commonly in cervical cancer, was found in most of the oral cancers too. Antibodies against HPV The people with oral cancers containing the HPV16 strain were three times as likely to report having had oral sex as those whose tumour did [...]

1/17/2005 Robert D. Hart, MD et al. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2005;131:34-38 Objectives: To ascertain the feasibility of sentinel lymph node (SLN) localization by preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma probe radiolocalization and to determine the predictive value of the SLN for occult metastasis of the neck in N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Design: A prospective study of 20 consecutive patients with N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who underwent lymphoscintigraphy and SLN biopsy. Interventions: On the day before surgery, each patient who completed the study underwent a submucosal peritumoral injection of unfiltered technetium 99m sulfur colloid followed by lymphoscintigraphy. Focal areas of radioactivity were marked on the overlying skin. The following day, the patients underwent resection of the primary tumor, elevation of subplatysmal flaps, identification and removal of the SLNs as identified by gamma probe, and complete neck dissections. Results: Lymphoscintigraphy and gamma probe radiolocalization accurately identified 1 or more SLNs in all 20 patients. In 4 (20%) of the 20 patients, the SLN correctly identified metastatic disease. In no instance was the SLN negative when the lymphadenectomy specimen was positive. Conclusions: In this study, the SLN had a negative predictive value of 100%. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is feasible and appears to accurately predict the presence of occult metastatic disease. Although further study is warranted, SLN biopsy could potentially guide head and neck oncologists to the patient with N0 disease who would benefit most from selective neck dissection and prevent [...]

1/17/2005 Vancouver, British Columbia Canadian Cancer Society as reported by newswire.ca The Canadian Cancer Society believes that the British Columbia government must make curbing tobacco a priority. Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in Canada. More than 47,000 Canadians, including 5,600 British Columbians, die each year from tobacco related illness, including lung cancer, throat and oral cancer, heart disease, stroke, and emphysema. Further, each year more than 500 British Columbians die from exposure to second-hand smoke. Cigarette smoking is responsible for 30% of all cancer deaths and more than 85% of lung cancers. "Given these sobering statistics, it is startling that British Columbia's existing second-hand smoke regulation allows smoking in enclosed rooms in restaurants and bars," said Barbara Kaminsky, CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon Division. The regulation, which states that rooms must be separately ventilated and workers can not spend more than 20% of their shift in these rooms, is more cosmetic than real. There is little enforcement of the law and businesses are not held accountable. Research has shown that the designated smoking rooms do not protect workers and patrons to the dangerous effects of second-hand smoke. Something must be done about this. The Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon Division, believes that the government of British Columbia must enact legislation that would restrict smoking in all public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars. In Canada, British Columbia was once a leader in tobacco control. Today, six [...]

1/16/2005 Philadelphia, PA Andrew J. Dannenberg, M.D. et al. Cancer Research Journal, Jan. 2005 Tobacco smoke triggers the production of COX-2, a cellular protein linked to the development and progression of cancer, according to research published in the January 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research. Tobacco smoke also promoted rapid cellular production of two proteins that initiate an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) driven cascade leading to the production of COX-2, the report stated. The report by Andrew J. Dannenberg, M.D., director of cancer prevention, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and colleagues, indicates that smokers produce as much as four times the amount of COX-2 in oral mucosal cells lining their mouths than their non-smoking counterparts. After observing the increased amount of COX-2 in the oral mucosa of smokers, Dannenberg and his team of collaborating scientists exposed cells in culture to tobacco smoke to define the mechanism underlying smoke-induced elevation of COX-2. The researchers determined that COX-2 levels were increased due to tobacco smoke induced activation of EGFR, a cell membrane protein also associated with various types of cancer. Tobacco smoke stimulated the oral mucosal cells to rapidly release two proteins that activate the EGFR, initiating a cascade resulting in COX-2 protein production. "In an oral mucosal cell line, tobacco smoke clearly activated the epidermal growth factor receptor. Tobacco smoke caused increased EGFR phosphorylation leading to increased COX-2 production," Dannenberg reported. "We were able to block the induction of COX-2 with either a small molecule that inhibited EGFR [...]

1/16/2005 Washington, D.C. Women In Government's Challenge To Eliminate Cervical Cancer Campaign as reported by prnewswire.com Women In Government today presented the findings from its first report on states' progress to eliminate cervical cancer -- a disease that is almost always preventable with the most-advanced screening technologies. The report titled, "A Call to Action:The 'State' of Cervical Cancer in America," finds that none of the states are where they should be, based on cervical cancer screening rates, coverage of routine screening tests in public insurance programs and passage of state legislation to make cervical cancer elimination a priority. "The report findings reveal that too many American women remain unscreened or under-screened for cervical cancer," said Women In Government chair and Michigan Senator, Beverly Hammerstrom (R-17th district). "We urge state legislators, public health officials, advocates and others to renew their efforts to prevent cervical cancer by ensuring that all women have access to the most advanced screening technologies -- including both the Pap and the HPV (human papillomavirus) tests -- regardless of their socioeconomic status. We will continue to monitor state successes and highlight their progress in future reports as part of our 10-year plan to eliminate this disease." Major findings in the report show: -- No state received an "excellent" grade. -- Massachusetts scored highest with 75 percent (achieving 12 out of 16 possible points), followed by Illinois, Maryland and North Carolina (69 percent or 11 out of 16 points each). -- Tennessee and Texas scored lowest (25 percent), followed [...]

1/15/2005 Thomas J. Belbin, PhD et al. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2005;131:10-18 Objective: To assess gene expression changes associated with tumor progression in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. Design: A microarray containing 17 840 complementary DNA clones was used to measure gene expression changes associated with tumor progression in 9 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. Samples were taken for analysis from the primary tumor, nodal metastasis, and "normal" mucosa from the patients’ oral cavity. Setting: Tertiary care facility. Patients: Nine patients with stage III or stage IV untreated oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. Results: Our analysis to categorize genes based on their expression patterns has identified 140 genes that consistently increased in expression during progression from normal tissue to invasive tumor and subsequently to metastatic node (in at least 4 of the 9 cases studied). A similar list of 94 genes has been identified that decreased in expression during tumor progression and metastasis. We validated this gene discovery approach by selecting moesin (a member of the ezrin/radixin/moesin [ERM] family of cytoskeletal proteins) and one of the genes that consistently increased in expression during tumor progression for subsequent immunohistochemical analysis using a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tissue array. Conclusion: A distinct pattern of gene expression, with progressive up- or down-regulation of expression, is found during the progression from histologically normal tissue to primary carcinoma and to nodal metastasis. Authros: Thomas J. Belbin, PhD; Bhuvanesh Singh, MD; Richard V. Smith, MD; [...]

1/15/2005 Lexington, KY By Jim Warren Lexington Herald-Leader Legends warn of chew's dangers A manly slugger digs in at the plate and awaits the pitch, his hands clenched tightly around his bat, and a hunk of chewing tobacco crammed firmly in his cheek. It's an image that has said "baseball" for 100 years -- and it's an image that baseball doesn't want today's youngsters to emulate. That's why representatives of the Lexington Legends minor league baseball team joined Dr. Brent Mortenson, a Lexington oral surgeon, to warn freshmen at Bryan Station High School yesterday about the health dangers of smokeless tobacco. The presentation, a partnership between the Legends and the National Spit Tobacco Education Program, is one of several planned for Lexington schools. "Baseball players have been using chewing tobacco, spit tobacco, smokeless tobacco, whatever you want to call it, for many years," Legends announcer Larry Glover told the students. "But baseball is trying to disassociate itself from that. Baseball is trying to change." Unfortunately, many young Kentuckians haven't gotten the word. According to the most recent federal figures, 13.7 percent of Kentucky high school students use smokeless tobacco -- one of the nation's five highest rates. One reason, critics contend, is that too many kids are copying that old image of the tobacco-chewing baseball hero. They shouldn't, Mortenson told the students yesterday. He presented a video about Bill Tuttle, a center fielder with Detroit, Kansas City and Minnesota from 1952 to 1963. Tuttle died in 1998 from oral cancer [...]

1/15/2005 Diana Parsell Science News USA Palm-Nut Problem Several hundred million people today practice the ancient custom of chewing betel. In south Asia, where the habit is most prevalent, the signs are hard to miss. Placed inside the cheek and sucked for hours, a betel wad turns saliva bright red, and betel users' spit does likewise to sidewalks and streets. People typically chew betel as a quid consisting of nut pieces from an Areca catechu palm mixed with powdered lime (calcium hydroxide) and wrapped in the leaf of the pepper plant Piper betle. Betel is used primarily as a stimulant. Areca nuts contain alkaloids that induce euphoria and raise a person's heart rate and skin temperature. Some chewers say a cheekful of betel aids digestion. Over the past decade, a variety of evidence has linked betel chewing to several types of oral cancer. Although the custom is falling out of fashion in several countries, such as Thailand and Cambodia, it's growing in popularity in other areas. Especially troubling is that many new betel users are adolescents and children, say Asian health officials. Some governments in Asia are taking steps to reduce betel use. Oral cancer is relatively rare in Western countries. In some south Asian countries, however, it ranks first among malignancies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a disproportionate number of the world's cases of oral cancer in men occurs in regions of Asia where betel chewing is common. Once diagnosed mainly in adults, such cancers are now [...]

1/12/2005 Cape Town, South Africa Ben MacLennan Mail & Guardian Online A good curry laden with spices can do wonders in keeping a range of diseases including cancer at bay, according to internationally acclaimed researcher Prof Bharat Aggarwal. "No question about it. I can commend it again and again," he said in Cape Town on Wednesday. "It is not only cancer, there are a number of other diseases ... right now there are clinical trials going on in the University of California with curcumin for dementia [and] Alzheimer's." Aggarwal was the main speaker on Wednesday at the opening of a three-day conference on the interface between natural products and molecular therapy, at the University of Cape Town's medical school. He is a researcher at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre at the University of Texas in the United States, where a major focus of his work has been curcumin, active component of the distinctive yellow curry spice turmeric. He said the dietary spices played an important role in fighting cancer. "That is becoming increasingly evident from a number of different sources. And that's why the incidence of cancer in countries like India where these spices are consumed is ten times lower [for] most cancers as compared to countries like the United States." Diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's were rare in India -- "actually unheard of. And the question is, why? In my mind, curcumin certainly plays a role. "Even within India, in the south of India they use more curcumin that [...]

1/11/2005 Santa Monica, CA Press release Yahoo Business (biz.yahoo.com) Santa Monica Cancer Treatment Center Becomes One of the First Sites in the Country to Offer Optical Tracking Technology That Localizes Tumor Targets Santa Monica Cancer Treatment Center has today become one of the first centers in the country to install a new generation of optical tracking technology that offers the potential for improved cancer care by allowing for increased precision in the delivery of radiation treatment, thus allowing for higher dose with fewer complications. This technology will aid significantly in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer and also has applications in breast cancer and head and neck cancer. Developed by NOMOS Corporation in Pennsylvania, the new technology provides a continuous stream of ultrasound images that can be utilized in real time to localize cancer targets prior to a patient undergoing radiation treatment. Physicians and therapists can move and align what are called "structure sets" with the touch of a finger, assuring a level of accuracy and precision previously not available. "This new tumor tracking devise leads to greater precision by providing the localization of tumor targets from any angle or direction," says Michael Steinberg, M.D., of the center. "We can literally cycle through hundreds of anatomical planes and position a treatment plan to precisely match the patient's anatomy -- and that minimizes the impact of radiation on surrounding healthy tissues." Recent years have seen tremendous technological advances in the field of radiation oncology. The most sophisticated technology available today [...]