Oral Cancer News – Page 59 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

HPV discovery raises hope for new cervical cancer treatments

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: press release - University of Virginia Health Syste Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have made a discovery about human papillomavirus (HPV) that could lead to new treatments for cervical cancer and other cancers caused by the virus. HPV is responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer and 95 percent of anal cancers. It is the most common sexually transmitted disease, infecting more than 79 million Americans. Most have no idea that are infected or that they could be spreading it. "Human papillomavirus causes a lot of cancers. Literally thousands upon thousands of people get cervical cancer and die from it all over the world. Cancers of the mouth and anal cancers are also caused by human papillomaviruses," said UVA researcher Anindya Dutta, PhD, of the UVA Cancer Center. "Now there's a vaccine for HPV, so we're hopeful the incidences will decrease. But that vaccine is not available all around the world, and because of religious sensitivity, not everybody is taking it. The vaccine is expensive, so I think the human papillomavirus cancers are here to stay. They're not going to disappear. So we need new therapies." HPV and Cancer HPV has been a stubborn foe for scientists, even though researchers have a solid grasp of how it causes cancer: by producing proteins that shut down healthy cells' natural ability to prevent tumors. Blocking one of those proteins, called oncoprotein E6, seemed like an obvious solution, but decades of attempts to do so [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-12-19T14:14:58-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco 21 — its time has come

Source: vtdigger.org Author: Nevin Zablotsky, DMD As we approach the holiday season I am reminded of the gifts of love we share with our families, as well as the New Year’s resolutions we make and try to keep after Jan. 1 history. I am a periodontist having practiced in Burlington and South Burlington for the past 40 years. In that time I have treated patients that have been severely compromised by tobacco. Some have lost teeth from advanced periodontal disease and some have lost parts of their tongue and jaw due to oral cancer, leaving them significantly compromised functionally as well as well as emotionally. I have had to advise teenagers and their families that their tobacco chewing habit had caused significant enough changes in their mouth to warrant a biopsy of the involved area. This caused great stress to them as they waited a week to find out the results. Some may think that it takes many years for tobacco use to compromise one’s health, but teenagers can die a horrible death from tobacco use if they are one of the unlucky ones who is genetically predisposed to oral cancer. Over the years, I have traveled throughout Vermont teaching about tobacco and nicotine addiction to elementary, junior and senior high school students. I feel that I have a good sense of what kids are thinking about these subjects. The elementary school students seem to understand that cigarettes are bad for them. When one talks to the middle school kids, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-12-11T20:44:16-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer prognostic signature identified

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: press release Researchers in Brazil have identified a correlation between oral cancer progression and the abundance of certain proteins present in tumor tissue and saliva. The discovery offers a parameter for predicting progression of the disease - whether cervical lymph node metastasis is present, for example - and points to a strategy for overcoming the limitations of clinical and imaging exams. It could also help guide the choice of an ideal treatment for each patient. The study began in the discovery phase with a proteomic analysis of tissue from different tumor areas using 120 microdissected samples. In the verification phase, prognostic signatures were confirmed in approximately 800 tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and in 120 samples by targeted proteomics. The study was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP and conducted at the National Energy and Materials Research Center (CNPEM) in partnership with the São Paulo State Cancer Institute (ICESP), the University of Campinas's Piracicaba Dental School (FOP-UNICAMP), the Institute of Computing from the same university, the University of São Paulo's Mathematics and Computer Science Institute (ICMC) in São Carlos, and the Dental School of the West Paraná University (UNIOESTE), in addition to other institutions in Brazil and abroad. "The data led to robust results that are highly promising as guides to defining the severity of the disease. We suggested potential markers of the disease in the first phase of the study and verified these markers in the second phase, enhancing the reliability of the findings and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-12-06T12:27:03-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Immunotherapy extends the life of head and neck cancer patients

Source: Pharmatimes.com Date: 12/3/18 Author: Anna Smith A new immunotherapy can greatly extend the lives of a proportion of people with advanced head and neck cancer, with some living for three years or more, reports a major new clinical trial. The study, by The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, found that the drug – MSD’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) - has been shown to have significant benefits for patients, with 37% of those who received it surviving for a year or more, compared with only 26.5% of those on standard care. The drug was evaluated in a trial of nearly 500 patients with very advanced head and neck cancer that had spread around the body and already become resistant to platinum chemotherapy, the first-line treatment for the disease. Some 247 patients were randomised to receive Keytruda and 248 to standard of care – chemotherapy or the targeted agent Erbitux (cetuximab). When chemotherapy or targeted therapies stop working, treatment options for people with advanced head and neck cancer are limited, and they are normally expected to survive for less than six months. Patients in the Keytruda arm survived for a median of 8.4 months, compared to 6.9 months with standard treatment. However, a minority of patients responded extremely well to Keytruda – 36 patients saw their cancer partially or completely disappear, and some are still cancer free three years after first receiving the drug. “Our findings show that the immunotherapy pembrolizumab extends the life of people with [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-12-05T17:20:46-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Australian doctor helps restore cancer patient’s jaw using 3D printed mandible

Source: neoskosmos.com Author: staff Anelia Myburgh, a 31-year-old woman from Melbourne who lost most over her upper jaw and teeth to cancer has been offered a second chance in life thanks to Maxillofacial Surgeon George Dimitroulis, who customised a 3D printed jaw. The fitted 3D mandible featuring a titanium frame, has changed Ms Myburgh’s life who had been left embarrassed and self-conscious, let alone unable to experience basic functions like eating or talking normally. It all starter in April 2017, when she was diagnosed with jaw cancer after she noticed a small bump above her teeth, which was causing them to move and decided to have it checked with the dentist. While a team of specialists reassured her it was fine, the test results that came a week later proved it was cancer which resulted in Ms Myburgh undergoing immediate lie-saving surgery to remove most of her upper jaw and part of her lips. The patient was then left with only two teeth at the back of each side of her mouth and a deformed face. People’s reactions – who sometimes stopped to take photos of her – made her avoid leaving her home and covering her face with a surgical mask if she had to. “We communicate with our mouths, we eat with our mouths, if you don’t have a mouth we can’t really live in a way a person takes for granted,” Ms Myburgh told Nine News. It wasn’t until she started researching possible treatment online that she stumbled [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-01-05T16:34:40-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Study: Immunotherapy better than chemotherapy for subtype of head and neck cancer

Date: November 30th, 2018 Source: Scienmag A randomized clinical trial involving 97 medical centers in 20 countries, including Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, found that treating patients who have chemotherapy-resistant head and neck cancer with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab is more effective and less toxic than standard chemotherapy, reports an international team of researchers in the November 30 online issue of The Lancet. Previous research had shown that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was safe and effective for treating patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose disease had progressed while on or after receiving standard chemotherapy. Data from this clinical trial called KEYNOTE-040, a phase III study sponsored by Merck & Co., the manufacturer of the drug, takes the research a step further by comparing the immunotherapy drug head-to-head to three go-to chemotherapy drugs currently used as standard treatment: methotrexate, docetaxel and cetuximab. "We compared pembrolizumab against standard of care to see if it fulfilled the promise of early data for patients who are unlikely to do well on standard therapy," said Ezra Cohen, MD, professor of medicine at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and corresponding author on the study. "In this trial, patients who received pembrolizumab alone had a higher response rate compared to those receiving standard chemotherapy while those responses lasted, on average, one-and-a-half years. Furthermore, the median survival at one year was markedly better. I feel it is safe to say that these types of therapies should be the [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-12-03T11:14:28-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Israeli company set to begin testing new radiation cancer therapy

Source: www.forbes.com Author: Robin Seaton Jefferson An Israeli medical technology company is set to begin testing its new radiation cancer therapy in leading medical centers in Italy. The Alpha DaRT (Dіffusіng Alpha-emіtters Radіatіon Therapy) device delivers high-precision alpha radiation that is released when radioactive substances decay inside the tumor and kills cancer cells while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue, the company says. The company hopes to get approval from the European Commission by next year for the therapy. Early results from an ongoing pre-clinical trial on patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) tumors at the Rabin Medical Center in Israel and the IRST (Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori) in Italy showed a reduction in all tumor sizes and more than 70 percent of the tumors completely disappearing within a few weeks after treatment, NoCamels reported. The therapy has already been tested on more than 6,000 animals and has been found “to be effective and safe for various indications, including tumors considered to be resistant to standard radiotherapy.” according to the breakthrough innovation news site NoCamels. Alpha Tau Medical was founded in 2016 to focus on research and development as well as commercialization of its Alpha DaRT cancer treatment. The therapy was initially developed in 2003 by Professors Itzhak Kelson and Yona Keisari at Tel Aviv University. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), cancers that are known collectively as head and neck cancers, or squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, usually begin [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-11-27T07:52:21-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Scientists Confirm There’s Nothing But Misinformation On Anti-Vax Sites

Source: Huffington Post, LIFE Author: Agata Blaszczak-Boxe Date: 11/04/18 Many websites that promote unscientific views about vaccinations use pseudoscience and misinformation to spread the idea that vaccines are dangerous, according to a new study. For example, of the nearly 500 anti-vaccination websites examined in the study, nearly two-thirds claimed that vaccines cause autism, the researchers found. However, multiple studies have shown that there is no link between vaccines and autism. About two-thirds of the websites used information that they represented as scientific evidence, but in fact was not, to support their claims that vaccines are dangerous, and about one-third used people's anecdotes to reinforce those claims, the scientists found. Some websites also cited actual peer-reviewed studies as their sources of information, but they misinterpreted and misrepresented the findings of these studies. "So the science itself was strong, but the way it was being interpreted was not very accurate," said study author Meghan Moran, an associate professor in Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School's Department of Health, Behavior and Society. "It was being distorted to support an anti-vaccine agenda." In the study, the researchers looked at websites with content about childhood vaccines. They used four search engines to find the sites — Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves — and searched for terms including "immunization dangers" and "vaccine danger" as well as other phrases. Their final sample of 480 anti-vaccination websites included a mix of personal websites, blogs, Facebook pages and health websites. The researchers examined the content of the websites, looking for [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-11-26T10:36:47-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

New guidelines from NCCN help people with mouth cancers understand treatment options

Source: www.heraldmailmedia.com Author: press release The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® ( NCCN ®) has published the first of three guidelines for patients with head and neck cancers, focused on oral cavity (mouth and lip) cancers. The guidebook offers treatment explanations based on the recommendations from the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology ( NCCN Guidelines ®) used by clinicians, put into plain language with accompanying glossary and background. This free online resource is also available in print through Amazon.com for a nominal fee. The publication was made possible thanks to funding through the NCCN Foundation ®, and sponsorship from the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance ( HNCA ) and Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer ( SPOHNC ). "These guidelines will help to decrease the anxieties associated with a cancer diagnosis," explained Mary Ann Caputo, Executive Director, SPOHNC. "You will learn and empower yourself with the necessary knowledge of the disease and its treatment. These tools will enable one to go forward with a strong conviction of moving on and living a full life." "When I was first diagnosed, I was surprised, overwhelmed and scared. I was completely focused on the treatment for my cancer, and so initially I was less aware of all the information shared with me during my medical appointments about my particular diagnosis," said Jason Mendelsohn, HNCA Board Member and Survivor. "These guidelines are a great resource that patients, their caregivers, and families can read when they're ready and able to focus [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-11-20T08:22:40-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Call for closer links between GPs and dentists

Source: www.onmedica.com Author: Adrian O'Dowd GPs must work more closely and liaise better with dentists if the rising number of patients with oral cancer are to be helped properly, according to a new action plan. The action plan launched by trade union the British Dental Association (BDA) calls for better coordination between health professionals, checks to ensure patients have regular dental check-ups, and better detection and prevention of the disease. The document Oral Cancer: A Plan for Action was launched in Edinburgh by BDA Scotland at a Stand Up to Oral Cancer event held to coincide with Mouth Cancer Action Month in November. New cases of oral cancer in the UK have reached 8,302 per year and this has increased by 49% in the last decade. Cancer Research UK estimates that incidence rates for oral cancers will rise by a further 33% in the UK by 2035. In the UK last year, 2,722 people died after developing oral cancer. The 10-year survival rate is between 19% and 58%, depending on where the cancer strikes and how early it is diagnosed. The plan focuses on prevention, early detection and having better referral pathways to ensure good links between dentists, GPs and pharmacists. It follows the publication of the Scottish Government’s Oral Health Improvement Plan (OHIP) earlier this year, which proposed extending the dental recall interval for some patients to 24 months – a move strongly opposed by the BDA. Anas Sarwar MSP (member of the Scottish Parliament) has tabled a motion [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-11-16T09:39:39-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|