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

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|

Standard chemotherapy treatment for HPV-positive throat cancer remains the most effective, study finds

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: press release, University of Birmingham A new study funded by Cancer Research UK and led by the University of Birmingham has found that the standard chemotherapy used to treat a specific type of throat cancer remains the most effective. The findings of the trial, which aimed to compare for the first time the outcomes of using two different kinds of treatment for patients with Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive throat cancer, are published today (November 15th) in The Lancet. Throat cancer is one of the fastest rising cancers in Western countries. In the UK, incidence was unchanged between 1970 and 1995, then doubled between 1996 and 2006, and doubled again between 2006 and 2010. The rise has been attributed to HPV, which is often a sexually transmitted infection. Most throat cancers were previously caused by smoking and alcohol and affected 65 to 70 year old working class men. Today, HPV is the main cause of throat cancer and patients are middle class, working, have young children and are aged around 55. HPV-positive throat cancer responds well to a combination of cisplatin chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and patients can survive for 30 to 40 years, but the treatment causes lifelong side effects including dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, and loss of taste. The De-ESCALaTE HPV study, which was sponsored by the University of Warwick, compared the side effects and survival of 164 patients who were treated with radiotherapy and cisplatin, and 162 who were given radiotherapy and cetuximab. The patients were enrolled [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-11-16T09:36:03-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Researchers evaluate efficacy of salivary biomarkers for early detection of oral cancer

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: staff, reviewed by Kate Anderton, B.Sc. Over 90% of malign tumors in the head and neck are originated from carcinomas of squamous cells that appear in superficial areas of the oral cavity. Their detection with salivary biomarkers can contribute to their early treatment, before they transform into tumors. Researchers of the Oral Microbiology Research Group of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University (CEU UCH) in Valencia, Spain, have conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the salivary markers that show the highest efficacy for the early detection of oral cancer in different clinical trials. The results have just been published in the Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine, the official magazine of the International Association of Oral Pathogens in the field of Dentistry, Oral Surgery and Medicine. According to Verónica Veses, head researcher of the Group and professor at the Biomedical Sciences Department of the CEU UCH, "detection of this type of squamous cell cancer in the surface of the mouth essentially depends of the visual examination on behalf of oral health professionals. This is why it is important to find new diagnostic methods to help with accurate early detection. Specially if we take into account that oral cancer is the most common of the tumors in the head and neck, and which is increasingly prevalent among the young population due to the consumption of tobacco and alcohol". Three types of biomarkers The research team headed by Dr. Veses has conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-11-15T07:30:36-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Early detection, treatment helps conquer oral cancer

Source: www.newsbug.info Author: Bob Moulesong According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, almost 50,000 cases of oral cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2018. The American Cancer Society reports that 10,000 people will die from the disease this year. Half of all people diagnosed with oral cancer will be alive in five years, according to both sources. While those are disquieting statistics, Region physicians say routine checkups and early diagnosis improve the odds. Oral cancer Oral cancer includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheeks, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, saliva glands, and throat. “People we see usually come to us for a lesion or ulcer found in the mouth or throat,” says Dr. Akta Kakodkar, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Community Healthcare System. “Some of them experience no pain but notice a growth or patch of discolored tissue in their mouth, cheek or gum.” Kakodkar, who with her husband and fellow Community ENT physician, Dr. Kedar Kakodkar, treats oral cancer patients, is quick to point out that not every lesion, ulcer or mouth sore is cancer. “We see hundreds of nervous patients who have bacterial or fungal infections,” she says. “Treatment with antibiotics or antifungal medications clear up many of these lesions. There are also many white and red patches that clear up on their own.” The only way to know is a thorough examination. Types and risk factors “Most cases of oral cancer are linked to use of tobacco, alcohol and betel [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-01-04T20:02:56-07:00November, 2018|Oral Cancer News|