Oral Cancer News – Page 67 – The Oral Cancer Foundation News Archive

How often should you see a dentist?

Source: www.bbc.com Author: staff Margie Taylor says seeing a dentist once a year - or even once every two years - is enough for many patients. Some dentists argue this could make it harder for them to spot diseases such as mouth cancer. And they say it could see the wealthy paying for private dental care - while the poor have less access to a dentist. Ms Taylor met representatives of the British Dental Association (BDA) in Stirling on Wednesday afternoon to discuss their concerns. What is the Scottish government proposing? The Scottish government published its Oral Health Improvement Plan earlier this year, which says NHS dental services should focus on preventing oral health disease, meeting the needs of the ageing population, and reducing oral health inequalities between Scotland's rich and poor. The document says there is no clinical evidence that all patients need basic check-ups every six months - regardless of their oral health - as is currently the case. It quotes National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, which state that "patients who have repeatedly demonstrated that they can maintain oral health and who are not considered to be at risk of or from oral disease may be extended over time up to an interval of 24 months." Risk assessment Under the new system outlined by the government plans, an Oral Health Risk Assessment (OHRA) would be introduced for every patient - with the frequency of check-ups determined by their overall score. This may mean that [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-07T07:53:50-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

The rise of HPV-related cancers in men

Source: www.tmc.edu Author: Alexandra Becker Scott Courville admired his full beard and round belly in the mirror: He was ready for the upcoming holiday season. It was November 2015 and Courville, who plays Santa Claus in Lafayette, Louisiana, was too excited about his favorite time of year to worry much about the pain developing in his jaw. By February, though, the ache had worsened and was accompanied by new symptoms: white spots on his right tonsil, difficulty swallowing and lumps in his throat. He finally made his way to a walk-in clinic where he was diagnosed with tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics. “They sent me home and said, ‘In two weeks everything should clear up,’” Courville recalled. But his symptoms only worsened. Courville made an appointment with a local ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist who also diagnosed Courville with tonsillitis. The doctor prescribed more antibiotics and steroids, but two weeks later there were no improvements. Courville was referred to a dentist—“In case they see something we don’t”—but that, too, was a dead end. Courville’s dentist insisted he return to his ENT, where he ultimately had a CT scan that revealed a mass in his throat. That was June 6, 2016. Two days later, Courville underwent a biopsy. When he awoke from the surgery, his doctor was standing over him. Courville always gets choked up retelling this part of his story. “The hardest part for me is always remembering when the doctor said, ‘I’m sorry, but you’ve got cancer.’” Courville was [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-06T12:31:29-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Ask the Dentist: Cancer patients should be aware how radiotherapy can affect saliva

Source: www.irishnews.com Author: Lucy Stock SALIVA – we normally give little thought to our spit but we definitely notice when it's not there. Every day in the UK 31 people are diagnosed with a head and neck cancer. With increasing numbers of people undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancers there are more people living with the side-effects of not having enough saliva. Dry mouth, termed xerostomia, is common after radiotherapy. It's not only extremely uncomfortable, it makes speaking and swallowing more difficult and alters how things taste. Food can taste saltier, metallic; you can lose your sense of taste totally; and perhaps even worse, foods can taste foul, like sour milk. Not being able to chew and swallow easily can reduce how much you eat and how well you eat, leading to weight loss and poor nourishment. Saliva performs numerous jobs. It starts digestion by breaking down food and flushes food particles from between the teeth. Crucially, saliva contains minerals such as calcium and phosphate that keep teeth strong. So no saliva means that teeth decay rapidly and extensively. Even voice quality can change. Without enough saliva, bacteria and other organisms in the mouth take the opportunity to grow uncontrollably. Nasty sores and mouth infections, including yeast thrush infections, are run-of-the-mill. Luckily a dry mouth is usually a temporary nuisance that clears up in about two to eight weeks but it can take six months or longer for the salivary glands to start producing saliva again after radiotherapy ends. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-06-06T11:32:58-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Nivolumab Plus Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Fails To Improve Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer

June 02, 2018 By: James Nam, PharmD Source: https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com CHICAGO—Although the addition of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to nivolumab did not increase toxicity, it did not lead to any improvement in response rates or survival outcomes among patients with metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), according to an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2018 Annual Meeting on Friday, June 1. Researchers sought to determine whether or not SBRT to a single lesion plus nivolumab would improve abscopal responses (tumor regression in non-irradiated lesions) and other outcomes among this patient population. In this phase 2 interventional study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02684253), researchers randomly assigned 53 patients with metastatic HNSCC to receive nivolumab alone every 2 weeks or with SBRT between the first and second doses of nivolumab. The 2 study arms did not have any significant differences in terms of age, EBV/HPV viral status, primary site, or median lines of previous chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 12.8 months. Results showed that the overall response rate (ORR) was 26.9% (95% CI, 13.7-46.1) compared with 22.2% (95% CI, 10.6-40.8) in the nivolumab alone arm and nivolumab plus SBRT arm, respectively (P = .94). Patients receiving nivolumab alone did not have an evaluable median duration of response (DOR) compared with 9.3 months (95% CI, 55.2-not reached [NR]) among patients in the SBRT arm. The 1-year overall survival rate was 64% (95% CI, 47-88) in the nivolumab alone arm compared with 53% (95% CI, 36-79) in the nivolumab plus SBRT arm [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-06-04T10:12:12-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

History of the Anti-Vaccine Movement – When Did the Anti-Vaccine Movement Really Start?

February 8th, 2018 By: Vincent Iannelli, MD Source: https://www.verywellfamily.com It is likely a surprise to many people that there has always been an anti-vaccine movement. It isn't something new that was created by Jenny McCarthy and Bob Sears. 18th Century Anti-Vaccine Movement In fact, the anti-vaccine movement essentially predates the first vaccine. Edward Jenner's first experiments with a smallpox vaccine began in 1796. Even before that, variolation as a technique to prevent smallpox was practiced for centuries in many parts of the world, including Africa, China, India, and the Ottoman Empire. In fact, Onesimus, his African slave, taught Cotton Mather about the technique in 1706. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduced inoculation to England, having learned about the practice in Turkey. As she encouraged others to inoculate and protect their children against smallpox, including the Royal Family, there was much debate. It is said that "Pro-inoculators tended to write in the cool and factual tones encouraged by the Royal Society, with frequent appeals to reason, the modern progress of science and the courtesy subsisting among gentlemen. Anti-inoculators purposely wrote like demagogues, using heated tones and lurid scare stories to promote paranoia." Were those the first vaccine debates? 19th Century Anti-Vaccine Movement Eventually, Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine replaced variolation. Even though this was much safer than the previous practice and smallpox was still a big killer, there were still those who objected. Much of the resistance may have come because getting the smallpox vaccine in the UK in the 19th century was compulsory—you [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-06-04T10:08:53-07:00May, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

When Is Insurance Not Really Insurance? When You Need Pricey Dental Care.

May 21, 2018 By: David Tuller Source: https://khn.org I’m 61 years old and a San Francisco homeowner with an academic position at the University of California-Berkeley, which provides me with comprehensive health insurance. Yet, to afford the more than $50,000 in out-of-pocket expenses required for the restorative dental work I’ve needed in the past 20 years, I’ve had to rely on handouts — from my mom. This was how I learned all about the Great Divide between medicine and dentistry — especially in how treatment is paid for, or mostly not paid for, by insurers. Many Americans with serious dental illness find out the same way: sticker shock. For millions of Americans — blessed in some measure with good genes and good luck — dental insurance works pretty well, and they don’t think much about it. But people like me learn the hard way that dental insurance isn’t insurance at all — not in the sense of providing significant protection against unexpected or unaffordable costs. My dental coverage from UC-Berkeley, where I have been on the public health and journalism faculties, tops out at $1,500 a year — and that’s considered a decent plan. Dental policies are more like prepayment plans for a basic level of care. They generally provide full coverage for routine preventive services and charge a small copay for fillings. But coverage is reduced as treatment intensifies. Major work like a crown or a bridge is often covered only at 50 percent; implants generally aren’t covered at all. [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-05-21T09:32:46-07:00May, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Eight-time GRAMMY® winner Ziggy Marley partners with the Oral Cancer Foundation

Source: ww.prnewswire.com Author: press release The Oral Cancer Foundation has a new relationship with eight-time GRAMMY® winner, Emmy winner, humanitarian, singer, songwriter and producer, Ziggy Marley. Mr. Marley has generously offered to allow CharityBuzz to auction off three (3) VIP events for two (2) on his REBELLION RISES TOUR. The winner(s) will enjoy this highly anticipated tour that only a select few get to experience up close and personal, meeting Mr. Marley. After the concert at a tour city of the winners choosing, a photo opportunity will be provided during their meet & greet with Ziggy Marley himself. The tour starts in America and travels to several European cities. Raising funds for the oral cancer issue via OCF, this auction will help support awareness campaigns, research, early discovery initiatives, and outreach that will help save lives. The auction begins today; May 20, 2018. Available tour dates are here: https://bit.ly/2dZPCcR (Dates may be subject to change). Grammy winning artist Ziggy Marley partners with the Oral Cancer Foundation to raise awareness of the disease, and funds for its many missions to reduce impact of oral cancers. (PRNewsfoto/Oral Cancer Foundation) Reggae icon Ziggy Marley will release his seventh full-length solo studio album, Rebellion Rises, on May 18th through Tuff Gong Worldwide. Fully written, recorded and produced by Marley, this passionate and indelible new collection of music encourages people to stand together in activism through love. Ziggy Marley has released many albums to much critical acclaim. His early immersion in music came at [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-05-21T06:08:39-07:00May, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

An AI oncologist to help cancer patients worldwide

Source: www.sciencedaily.com Author: staff, University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center Comparison between predicted ground-truth clinical target volume (CTV1) (blue) and physician manual contours (red) for four oropharyngeal cancer patients. The primary and nodal gross tumor volume is included (green). From left to right, we illustrate a case from each site and nodal status (base of tongue node-negative, tonsil node-negative, base of tongue node-positive, and tonsil node-positive).Credit: Carlos E. Cardenas, MD Anderson Cancer Center Before performing radiation therapy, radiation oncologists first carefully review medical images of a patient to identify the gross tumor volume -- the observable portion of the disease. They then design patient-specific clinical target volumes that include surrounding tissues, since these regions can hide cancerous cells and provide pathways for metastasis. Known as contouring, this process establishes how much radiation a patient will receive and how it will be delivered. In the case of head and neck cancer, this is a particularly sensitive task due to the presence of vulnerable tissues in the vicinity. Though it may sound straightforward, contouring clinical target volumes is quite subjective. A recent study from Utrecht University found wide variability in how trained physicians contoured the same patient's computed tomography (CT) scan, leading some doctors to suggest high-risk clinical target volumes eight times larger than their colleagues. This inter-physician variability is a problem for patients, who may be over- or under-dosed based on the doctor they work with. It is also a problem for determining best practices, so [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-05-09T12:51:41-07:00May, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Supportive care for patients with head and neck cancer

Source: www.oncnursingnews.com Author: Melissa A. Grier, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC Supporting a patient during cancer treatment is a challenge. From symptom management to psychosocial considerations, each patient’s needs vary and must be reevaluated frequently. This is especially true for patients with head and neck cancer. Head and neck cancers often result in serious quality of life issues. Surgical resection of the affected area can cause disfigurement that not only affects function (eating, drinking, speaking, etc) but also leads to self-image concerns and depression. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy may cause a variety of unpleasant adverse effects, including burns, xerostomia, dental caries, and mucositis. Below are some considerations to help guide nursing care for this patient population. CALL FOR REINFORCEMENTS National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines recommend early involvement of a dentist, a dietitian, and a speech therapist to help address pre- and posttreatment concerns and preserve quality of life for people with head and neck cancer. The benefits of multidisciplinary collaboration for these complex cases are many but may also result in confusion and information overload for your patient. As the healthcare team provides care, you can help explain the rationale for interventions and assist them with keeping track of recommendations. Additionally, you have a team of experts you can call on when specific issues present themselves during treatment. KEEP AN EYE OUT A lot goes on in the life of a patient with head and neck cancer, which means everyday activities like oral and skin care may fall a little lower on [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-05-08T08:16:44-07:00May, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Restaging raises hope against HPV oral cancer

Source: atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com Author: Cady Schulman Jason Mendelsohn was diagnosed with Stage 4 tonsil cancer from HPV in 2014 after finding just one bump on his neck. He survived thanks to a variety of treatments, including a radical tonsillectomy and neck dissection to remove 42 lymph nodes, seven weeks of chemotherapy, radiation and a feeding tube. But if Mendelsohn’s cancer had been discovered today, just four years later, it would have been classified as Stage 1. That’s because HPV-related oral cancers now have a high survival rate through a better response to treatment, said Meryl Kaufman, a speech pathologist specializing in head and neck cancer management who worked for Emory University’s department of head and neck surgery for 10 years. “Cancer staging is taking into account the HPV-related cancers,” said Kaufman, who now owns her own practice. “It was kind of all lumped together. The survival rates for people who have HPV-related cancers are much higher than the typical head and neck cancers associated with smoking and drinking.” For Mendelsohn, finding out that patients with HPV-related cancers likely face easier treatments and higher success rates made him extremely happy. “If I was diagnosed and I heard Stage 1 instead of Stage 4, while it’s still cancer, it would make me feel like I could beat it,” said Mendelsohn, who made a video for his children a month after his diagnosis with advice for their lives after he was gone. “When I hear Stage 4 to Stage 1, I think people have [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-05-07T13:07:45-07:00May, 2018|Oral Cancer News|