12/15/2004 Belfast, Northern Island Nigel Gould The Belfast Telegraph Ulster health experts have pioneered a revolutionary technology that is set to transform treatment for scores of cancer sufferers, it can be revealed today. The work of the Medical Physics team at Belvoir Park Hospital represents a breakthrough in the radiotherapy treatment of head and neck cancer and is being developed with the help of cancer charity, Friends of Montgomery House. This Northern Ireland development involves digital cameras and specialist computer software and has already brought inquiries from cancer facilities in the UK and the National Cancer Institute in Washington. The revolutionary new technology pioneered by Belvoir Park in conjunction with Dimensional Imaging Ltd, Glasgow is to totally transform treatment. To have radiotherapy treatment for head and neck cancer, patients must first have a personalised facial mask constructed. The radiotherapy sessions are then delivered daily over a number of weeks and the mask ensures that the radiation targets consistently the specific area affected by the cancer. The current process involves making a mould of the patient using plaster bandages over the face and neck. This can be uncomfortable, especially for children. It can also take several days to complete. The new process - photogrammetry - produces a more accurate treatment facial mask, which is ready within a few hours removing the patient's discomfort and reducing the waiting time for treatment. Photogrammetry works with a stereo digital photograph being taken by a bank of four high-tech cameras around the head and neck [...]

12/15/2004 UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Press Release Clinical Cancer Journal, Dec. 15, 2004 In one of the first studies using the RNA in saliva to detect cancer, researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center were able to differentiate head and neck cancer patients from a group of healthy subjects based on biomarkers found in their spittle. The study provides a first proof of principal that may result in new diagnostic and early detection tools and will lead to further studies using saliva to detect other cancers. Published in the Dec. 15, 2004, issue of the peer-reviewed journal Clinical Cancer Research, the study used four RNA biomarkers to detect the presence of head and neck cancer with 91 percent sensitivity and accuracy, said Dr. David Wong, professor and chairman of Oral Biology and Medicine, director of the UCLA School of Dentistry, Dental Research Institute, and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. “This is a new direction, using a non-invasive fluid for disease diagnostics, particularly in cancer,” said Wong. “This is our proof of principal. We now hope to demonstrate the utility of saliva for systemic diagnosis of other diseases such as breast cancer.” Typically, cancer researchers use blood serum and urine to look for cancer signatures. Saliva contains the same biomarkers for disease that are found in the blood, but they are present at much lower levels of magnitude. The emergence of nanotechnology allowing scientists to manipulate materials on an atomic or molecular scale helped researchers uncover the components of saliva, Wong said, [...]

12/14/2004 M. R. Hussein, U. M. Rashad and K. A. Hassanein3 Annals of Oncology 2005 16(1):171-172; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdi026 The diagnosis of head and neck mass lesions entails examination of initial frozen sections, followed by the evaluation of permanent histological sections. This process is worrying for the surgeon who is unsure about the tentative diagnosis of the frozen sections. Moreover, the pathologist should make a hurried diagnosis on suboptimally prepared specimens. To date, controversial reports are available about the use of touch imprint cytology (TIC) in the diagnosis of these lesions. To assess the utility of an intraoperative TIC in the diagnosis of these lesions, 30 head and neck masses (nasal, pharyngeal, laryngeal and oral lesions) were examined by TIC, permanent histological sections and immunostaining methods. Immediately after obtaining the biopsy specimens, and prior to placing them in fixative, each specimen was imprinted on several glass slides (TIC), fixed immediately and stained with hematoxylin & eosin. The cytological results were reported as: (i) malignant (the cellular findings are diagnostic of malignancy); (ii) suspicious for malignancy (suggestion of cancer but uncertain due to limited number of cells or to degree of atypia); (iii) negative for malignancy (no evidence of malignancy); or (iv) unsatisfactory specimen (scant cellularity, air drying or distortion artifact, obscuring blood or inflammation). The cytological interpretation was carried out intraoperatively. Histological examination of the permanent sections was carried several days later. The cytological evaluation of the TIC revealed 12, 16 and two cases as benign, malignant and suspicious for malignancy, respectively. [...]

12/13/2004 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Staff editor Canada Newswire (newswire.ca) Physicians, dentists and pharmacists team up to help Ontarians stop smoking. Today, three of Ontario's professional healthcare associations are promoting increased public awareness of the efforts of a growing number of physicians, dentists and pharmacists throughout Ontario who are helping their patients quit smoking through the Clinical Tobacco Intervention (CTI) Program. CTI is funded, in part, by the Government of Ontario. The Ontario Dental Association (ODA), The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and the Ontario Pharmacists' Association (OPA) have been working together to train dentists, physicians and pharmacists in stop smoking interventions and want the public to know they can look to their family doctor, dentist or pharmacist for help. "Dentists are oral health care specialists and routinely see health problems in patients that are directly linked to tobacco use," said Dr. Steve Goren, President of the Ontario Dental Association. "We see first hand the association between tobacco use and a range of oral diseases, from gum disease to oral cancer. That's why Ontario dentists are motivated to provide patients with tobacco cessation advice and assistance." Research shows that advice from a healthcare provider can significantly increase the chance of successfully quitting smoking. Success rates increase further when combined with stop-smoking medications and/or intensive counselling. "Pharmacists are aware of how difficult it is for some people to quit smoking," said OPA Chair Jane Farnham. "Our message to people is that you can quit and we can help by providing information and advice [...]

12/11/2004 Staff editors Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, Dec. 18 According to recent research published in the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, "sentinel node navigation surgery (SNNS) has received considerable attention for its role in deciding whether to perform neck dissection in patients with early oral cancer. However, diagnostic accuracy and its intraoperative availability of results remain important concerns. First, we shortened the examination time required for genetic diagnosis." "Second, we assessed the quality of the extracted mRNA. Third, 10 patients with early NO oral cancer underwent SNNS using our new technique for genetic diagnosis to determine whether neck dissection was required," said H. Hamakawa and colleagues, Ehime University, School of Medicine. "The examination time of our one-step reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method using a minicolumn and LightCycler was successfully shortened to 2 hours, permitting intraoperative genetic diagnosis. The extracted mRNA was of high quality. Six sentinel nodes in four patients were diagnosed to be metastatic on genetic diagnosis; these patients underwent neck dissection." "The other six patients avoided unnecessary surgery. We conclude that intraoperative genetic diagnosis of micrometastasis holds promise of being a sensitive method that can be used to support SNNS," Hamakawa and coauthors stated. Hamakawa and colleagues published their study in International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Intraoperative real-time genetic diagnosis for sentinel node navigation surgery. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 2004;33(7):670-675).

12/11/2004 Editors Medical Devices & Surgical Technology Week, Dec. 19, 2004 Gene expression patterns associated with invasive oral squamous cell tumors have been identified. "There are limited studies attempting to correlate the expression changes in oral squamous cell carcinoma with clinically relevant variables," scientists in the United States noted. In their study, G.A. Toruner and coauthors at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey "determined the gene expression profile of 16 tumor and 4 normal tissues from 16 patients by means of Affymetrix Hu133A GeneChips." "The hybridized RNA was isolated from cells obtained with laser capture microdissection, then was amplified and labeled using T7 polymerase-based in vitro transcription," the investigators explained. "The expression of 53 genes was found to differ significantly (33 upregulated, 20 downregulated) in normal versus tumor tissues under two independent statistical methods." "The expression changes in four selected genes (LGALS1, MMP1, LAGY and KRT4) were confirmed with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction," according to the report. "Two-dimensional hierarchical clustering of the 53 genes resulted in the samples clustering according to the extent of tumor infiltration: normal epithelial tissue, tumors less than or equal to4 cm in dimension, and tumors more than 4 cm in dimension (p=0.0014)." "The same pattern of clustering was also observed for the 20 downregulated genes. We did not observe any associations with lymph node metastasis (p=0.097)," the researchers concluded. Toruner and colleagues published their study in Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics (Association between gene expression profile and tumor invasion in oral squamous [...]

12/10/2004 no attribution Malden Observer (townline.com) PET/CT, the most advanced imaging equipment available for the detection and treatment of cancer, is now being offered through Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford, MA - or LMH - and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital - MWH. They are the only community hospitals within in a 20-mile radius outside of Boston to be approved for and offer PET/CT imaging. The PET/CT is located at Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford. Previously offering the advanced PET scan at LMH, the new combined PET/CT fuses the PET scan with a CT scan in one image, giving doctors the ability to pinpoint precisely where and how active a tumor may be. The PET scan reveals metabolic processes of tumor growth activity. The CT scan helps detect precisely the location of the tumor. With combined PET/CT, doctors are able to more accurately detect and track the stages of cancer, determine what is malignant growth and what is not, monitor progress of treatment, and determine the next steps of treatment. "We are dedicated to providing the most advanced diagnostic imaging for our patients and offering the PET/CT service was the natural next step. This technology will help us better track disease and provide patients greater comfort and sense of security that their disease will be treated in the most aggressive and accurate manner possible," said James Coleman, MD, chief of radiology at LMH. PET/CT is also used to monitor a patient's response to, and progress in therapy. Physicians can see in great detail [...]

12/10/2004 WASHINGTON DC U.S. Newswire- National Press Club Hill is presented the award by Dean Mike Alfano of NYU, a longtime oral cancer advocate Brian Hill, founder of The Oral Cancer Foundation, has received a prestigious advocacy award from the Friends of the National Institute of Oral and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) at the National Press Club. The annual event recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to oral health causes in the preceding year. Hill's award was for excellence in public service media, and reflects his efforts in developing web based information for patients, caregivers, and professionals in the area of oral cancer, and a national television effort to raise the awareness of oral cancer in the minds of the American public. Previous recipients of the award include Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona MD, Special Olympics CEO Timothy Shriver, Governor Jeb Bush, and Betsy Latiff of the Sjorgren's Syndrome Foundation. Acceptancespeech reiterates Hill’s focus on early detection to save lives Hill, an oral cancer survivor himself, dedicates his time not only to patient advocacy issues in relationship to this disease, but to the broader issue of the early detection and diagnosis of oral cancer through opportunistic screenings by dental and medical professionals. When caught in its early stages it can be 80 to 90 percent survivable. Unfortunately, the disease is currently found as a late stage disease 66 percent of the time, with significantly poorer survival rates in the 30 to 40 percent range. The statistics related to the death [...]

12/9/2004 San Antonio, TX Press Release prnewswire.com Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. reported data from its Phase 2 trial evaluating Advexin combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women with locally advanced breast cancer. Neoadjuvant treatments are administered prior to surgery and represent a novel and increasingly applied approach to make surgical tumor resections either more complete improving outcomes or less invasive facilitating breast conservation. Objective clinical responses with a greater than 50 percent reduction in tumor size were seen following the combined therapy in all of the patients. Complete tumor removal by subsequent surgery was achieved in 100 percent of the patients. The results of the therapy with the addition of ADVEXIN are better than what would be expected from neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment alone. In a novel finding, activation of a local immune response at the site of the tumor was observed. Treated tumors were infiltrated with cells of the immune system that are known to participate in immune responses against tumors, which may be useful in controlling local disease as well as disease outside the breast. Introgen's collaborator, Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, associate professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center presented the data yesterday afternoon at the 27th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Key findings of the study include: -- On average, tumor size decreased by nearly 80 percent. -- On average, size of lymph node tumors decreased by nearly 70 percent. -- Advexin-expressed p53 was detectable up to 19 days following administration in a [...]

12/8/2004 David R. Colnot et al. Clinical Cancer Research Vol. 10, 7827-7833, December 1, 2004 Purpose: Despite improvements in locoregional treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), local and distant failure rates remain high. The strongest prognostic indicator of HNSCC is the presence of lymph node metastases in the neck, but the value of this indicator has limitations when using for the individual patient. The presence of micrometastatic cells in bone marrow has been shown to be a putative prognostic indicator in HNSCC and other epithelial malignancies, which might allow more accurate staging and selection of patients for whom adjuvant or experimental therapy is recommended. The gene encoding the E48 antigen is selectively expressed by HNSCC, and the detection of E48 transcripts in bone marrow by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) presumably represents the presence of micrometastatic cells. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the presence of micrometastatic cells in bone marrow of HNSCC patients and clinical outcome. Experimental Design: A total of 162 patients treated surgically for primary HNSCC underwent a single bone marrow aspiration from the upper iliac crest for detection of micrometastatic cells using E48 RT-PCR. In total, 139 patients were evaluable. The primary statistical endpoints were disease-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival. In addition, bone marrow samples of 30 noncancer controls were evaluated. Results: E48 RT-PCR indicated the presence of micrometastatic cells in the bone marrow in 56 of 139 (40%) of the HNSCC patients and 0 of 30 [...]