2/24/2003 Shari Roan International Tea Committee (figures from 1999-2001) Tea may prove to be even more potent as a disease fighter than expected. As studies increase, so does optimism. Tea may prove to be even more potent as a disease fighter than expected. As studies increase, so does optimism. When it comes to a societal tonic, Americans have long preferred coffee over tea. But although coffee may be good, it's increasingly hard to ignore the evidence that tea is good for you. Long viewed simply as a reason to relax in the middle of a stressful day or as a folk remedy for colds and digestive problems, mounting research suggests that drinking tea could lower the risk of developing several serious illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Almost 300 tea studies were completed last year alone. Tea is as hot among consumers as it is among researchers. In the United States, sales rose from $1.84 billion in 1990 to an estimated $5.03 billion in 2002, according to the Tea Council of the USA, a trade organization. Though consumption per person still lags far behind that of many countries, the numbers reflect a soaring interest in this ancient brewed drink. The recent findings have made a believer out of Andrea Emmerich, 38, who was shopping recently at Elixir Tonics & Teas, a store and tea garden on Melrose Avenue. Emmerich was choosing from bowls of high-quality, loose tea leaves selling at $2.75 to $9 an ounce. A few years ago, [...]

2/1/2003 Jenny Huang, Lisa Barbera, Melissa Brouwers, George Browman, William J. Mackillop Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 21, Issue 3 / : 555-563 Purpose: The objective of this study was to synthesize what is known about the relationship between delay in radiotherapy (RT) and the outcomes of RT. Methods: A systematic review of the world literature was conducted to identify studies that described the association between delay in RT and the probability of local control, metastasis, and/or survival. Studies were classified by clinical and methodologic criteria and their results were combined using a random-effects model. Results: A total of 46 relevant studies involving 15,782 patients met our minimum methodologic criteria of validity; most (42) were retrospective observational studies. Thirty-nine studies described rates of local recurrence, 21 studies described rates of distant metastasis, and 19 studies described survival. The relationship between delay and the outcomes of RT had been studied in diverse situations, but most frequently in breast cancer (21 studies) and head and neck cancer (12 studies). Combined analysis showed that the 5-year local recurrence rate (LRR) was significantly higher in patients treated with adjuvant RT for breast cancer more than 8 weeks after surgery than in those treated within 8 weeks of surgery (odds ratio [OR] = 1.62, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21 to 2.16). Combined analysis also showed that the LRR was significantly higher among patients who received postoperative RT for head and neck cancer more than 6 weeks after surgery than among those treated within 6 weeks [...]

1/26/2003 Lucette Lagnado The Wall Street Journal Under pressure from lawmakers and consumer advocates, the hospital industry said it would consider making broad price cuts for the uninsured -- provided the federal government approves. The announcement by the American Hospital Association included a stark admission that some hospital billing and collections practices are unfair to needy patients. But even as some big hospitals scramble to curtail their most aggressive tactics, such as putting liens on debtors' homes, the trade group is also blaming much of the problem on Medicare. In a letter delivered Tuesday to the Department of Health and Human Services, the hospital group said Medicare regulations "make it far too difficult and frustrating" for hospitals to reduce prices for people who can't afford health care. The letter asks the agency, which oversees Medicare, the federal health-care program for the elderly, to change or clarify its rules so that hospitals "have the ability to do what they can to respond to the needs of these patients." In a document filed in support of its letter, the trade group also said it would urge its 4,800 member hospitals to adopt a set of voluntary guidelines on billing and collections. At the heart of the issue is the hospitals' common practice of charging full listed prices to the nation's 43.6 million uninsured patients. Meanwhile, other patients enjoy steep discounts negotiated on their behalf -- either by private insurers and HMOs or by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the federal-state [...]

1/9/2003 Respected novelist and playwright Peter Tinniswood has died at the age of 66 following a long battle with cancer. The writer was diagnosed with oral cancer in 1995 and had undergone surgery to have his larynx removed. Tinniswood was responsible for bringing many memorable characters to radio and television. One of his best-remembered characters was Uncle Mort, an indomitable northerner who contracted cancer in the screenplay I Didn't Know You Cared. Several of the television and radio plays written by Tinniswood attracted a devoted following. Perhaps his best-known works were Tales from a Long Room, and its sequel, More Tales from a Long Room, which told stories about cricket, one of Tinniswood's life-long passions. His novels were produced on television, radio and the stage. Most recently he worked on the small screen adaptation of HE Bates' Uncle Silas, which stars Albert Finney. Born in Liverpool, Tinniswood grew up in Sale, Greater Manchester, England where he lived above the dry-cleaners run by his mother. As a young boy he would sit under the counter among the dirty laundry, listening to customers' conversations. "It was like live radio," he said "it sharpened my ear for dialogue...I became a good mimic." He began his working life as a journalist, writing fiction in his spare time until it was able to provide him with a livelihood. Amongs others, he has written for, and had his work performed by, are Dame Judi Dench, Billie Whitelaw, Jane Lapotaire and Michael Williams. Tinniswood's second wife, the [...]

1/8/2003 New York New York State Dental Journal Legislation that NYSDA championed in the hopes it would help alter the deadly outlook for patients suffering from oral cancer was signed into law in September by Gov. George Pataki. The measure, which now becomes Capter 237 of the Laws of 2001, stipulates that dentists licensed in New York State must earmark no fewer than two hours of their mandated continuing education to a course devoted to the prevention and detection of oral cancer. This is a one-time requirement, which, it is hoped, will arm dentists with the knowledge they need to become a first-line defense against the scourages of oral cancer. Within weeks of the bill's passage, the New York State Dental Foundation learned it had been approved for a $150,000 grant from the New York State Department of Health to conduct a professional education/public awareness campaign to warn against the deletrious oral health effects of tobacco and tobacco products. A portion of these monies will be used to provide free oral cancer detection and prevention courses for dentists and hygienists.

1/5/2003 Frankfurt, germany Dr Jon Sudbo Department of Oncology at the Norwegian Radium Hospital Researchers plan world’s first phase III prevention trial for head and neck cancer Norwegian researchers are planning the world's first phase III randomised trial to prevent head and neck cancer. They will use COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs) – a particular type of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory group of drugs (NSAID) – better known as a treatment for conditions such as arthritis. These drugs block the action of COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2), an enzyme found mainly in inflammatory and immune cells and now suspected of playing a role in cell growth and genetic instability. Dr Jon Sudbo, Consultant at the Department of Oncology at the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo, revealed plans for the trial at a news briefing today (Thursday 21 November) at the EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics[1], in Frankfurt, Germany. His team at the Norwegian Radium Hospital and colleagues from the University of Oslo Department of Oral Biology, have carried out a study to compare levels of COX-2 expression in three groups of people – 30 with healthy mucous membranes in their mouths, 22 with dysplastic (premalignant) lesions and 29 with oral cancer. The objective was to see whether the levels of COX-2 were linked to aneuploidy (aberrant numbers of chromosomes) in the DNA, indicating a genetic risk marker for cancer. The results are being presented for the first time at the Frankfurt conference. "We found that COX-2 expression was up regulated from healthy to premalignant [...]

1/1/2003 Los Angeles David Brown Dental Research Institute at UCLA A tiny, silicon laboratory on a chip that could test patients for cancer and other harmful diseases while they wait to see the dentist is being developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at UCLA. Painless, noninvasive and cost efficient, the device could detect evidence of cancers before even the best-trained clinician would spot them, according to David Wong, Director of the Dental Research Institute at UCLA and principal investigator. Researchers at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science bring expertise in nanotechnology and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to the project. Chih-Ming Ho, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and Carlo Montemagno, who chairs the bioengineering department, are among a team of engineers. The project is funded by a $4.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. "We are integrating microtechnology, nanotechnology and microbiology to build a new class of devices for pre-cancer and oral pathogen detection," Montemagno said. "Because it would provide inexpensive, rapid, early detection of oral cancer and pathogen," Wong said, "it is technology that could take us to the next level of patient care." Early detection of cancer and pathogen is frequently cited as one of the best means of surviving cancer and oral infectious diseases. "Patients are often uncomfortable having their blood drawn," Wong said. The process requires trained technicians and exposes the patient and technician to possible contamination by infectious agents. This device would eliminate both the patient discomfort and danger to [...]

11/20/2002 Robert Bazell New England Journal of Medicine Experimental injection found 100 percent effective against virus that causes disease. Early testing shows an experimental vaccine to be 100 percent effective against the virus that causes cervical cancer, raising doctors’ hopes of someday sending the lethal disease into retreat in the same way as smallpox and polio. “IT APPEARS to be the real thing,” said Dr. Christopher Crum, a pathologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “You’re looking at some very compelling evidence that this vaccine will prevent cervical cancer.” It remains unclear how long the protection might last. Even so, researchers say a vaccine could reach the market within five years or so. The findings were published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. TARGETING HPV Vaccines work by teaching the body's immune defenses to recognize invading viruses and bacteria. Most types of cancer, by contrast, are blamed largely on genetic mutations and environmental factors. However, virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by a sexually transmitted virus - the human papilloma virus. A vaccine for cervical cancer is urgently being sought because the disease strikes about 450,000 women worldwide each year, killing about half. It is the leading cancer killer of women in the developing world. In the United States, where Pap tests are widely used for screening, it develops in about 13,000 women annually and kills about a third. The new vaccine, aimed at the viral strain Type 16 responsible for about half the cases [...]

9/18/2002 West Virginia Bev Davis Register-Herald When Gruen Von Behrens speaks, kids listen. It's more than his words, however, that captures their full attention. His face deformed and scarred from 27 different surgeries to correct damage caused by oral cancer, the 25-year-old Illinois native offers teens a passionate message - look at the results of spit tobacco use and beat the addiction while there's still time. "I started dipping when I was 13. I thought it was a cool thing to do. I can tell you this. Looking the way I do now is not cool," he told more than 100 Shady Spring High School sophomores gathered Tuesday for a special assembly in the school's cafeteria. Von Behrens suspected he had mouth cancer several months before he had the courage to see a doctor. "My tongue was completely split and it was all white and yucky looking. I knew it was cancer, but I didn't want to face it. Cancer has made my life a living hell. Every time I turn around, they are putting me in the hospital, either to have surgery or some kind of treatment. Do you think it's cool to have your girlfriend kiss you and you can't even feel it? Trust me, it isn't. It's terrible," he said. Students sat in rapt silence as the cancer victim told his story. When he asked how many of them knew someone who uses spit tobacco, scores of hands went up. RESA I tobacco prevention specialist Lori McGraw [...]

9/15/2002 Aviano, Italy Dr. Silvia Franceschi International Journal of Cancer, 85:787-790 The higher the consumption of alcohol the greater the risk of cancer of the mouth or pharynx, Italian researchers report in a recent issue of the International Journal of Cancer. Also, while duration of drinking has no bearing on the risk, they found that the risk persists after quitting alcohol. Dr. Silvia Franceschi, of the Centro di Riferimento Oncologico in Aviano, Italy, and colleagues interviewed 754 men and women in either Switzerland or Italy with incident cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx. The subjects answered questions regarding lifetime smoking and drinking habits. The investigators also interviewed 1,775 control subjects who were in the hospital for acute, non-neoplastic diseases. Drinkers of 20 alcoholic drinks per week or less showed similar odds ratios for oral cavity or pharynx cancer as never drinkers. But above that level, the risk of oral cavity or pharynx cancer increased with the number of alcoholic drinks per week. The odds ratio for individuals who consumed 91 drinks per week or more was 11.6 compared with never drinkers. Dr. Franceschi's group reports that the risk in former drinkers was 1.9 times that of current drinkers. However, former drinkers who had also quit smoking had a lower risk than current drinkers. "The direct association between alcohol intake and risk of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx is strongly dose-dependent but apparently unaffected by duration of alcohol consumption," Dr. Franceschi and co-authors say. The authors note that [...]