alcohol – Page 18 – Oral Cancer News

Fruit and vegetables only modestly linked to reduced cancer risk, large study questions conventional wisdom

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: Catharine Paddock, PhD A large study of over 400,000 people living in ten western European countries found only a modest link between high intake of fruit and vegetables and reduction in overall cancer risk: thus failing to confirm the widely held belief enshrined in the World Health Organization's recommendation that people should eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day to prevent cancer and other diseases. Dr Paolo Boffetta, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and colleagues, wrote about their findings in a study published in the 6 April online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In 1990 the World Health Organization recommended people eat five helpings of fruit and vegetables a day to reduce their risk of cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases. But since then, many studies have either produced inconsistent results or failed to find a significant link between fruit and vegetable intake and cancer risk, wrote the authors. For their prospective study, Boffetta and colleagues analyzed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), which recruited 142,605 men and 335,873 women in Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, between 1992 and 2000. The data were mostly self-reported by the participants and detailed their dietary and lifestyle habits. The participants were followed for a median of 8.7 years, during which time deaths and incidents of cancer diagnoses were noted. The researchers then analysed the data using [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-04-19T22:20:54-07:00April, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Another call to extend HPV vaccine to boys. Is anyone listening?

Source: www.abc.net.au Author: Lindy Kerin Australian researchers say the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer in women, is now a leading cause of oral cancer in men in the Western world. The news has reignited debate over whether the HPV vaccine, which is free for young women, should also be offered to men. A University of Sydney study shows that 60 per cent of throat and tonsil cancers are caused by the virus. "We've tested just over 300 cancers of the oropharynx, and the oropharynx includes the tonsil and the base of tongue and part of the pharangyl wall," said Barbara Rose, an Associate Professor in research at the University of Sydney. "We've tested those for the human papillomavirus type-16 and type-18, which are the major cause of cervical cancer in women. "And we found a sizeable proportion are associated with those types. In fact, probably in excess of 50 per cent now." Those figures from 2001 to 2005 increased to almost 60 per cent in 2006 and 2007. Associate Professor Rose says head and neck cancers have traditionally been associated with older men and related to alcohol and smoking. She says these findings show that has now changed and most are due to the increasing practise of oral sex. "We now know that there's another subset, which is quite distinct biologically, which tends to affect younger people who don't smoke and don't drink, caused by human papillomavirus probably by sexual transmission," she said. "And the types of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-04-19T22:26:55-07:00April, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco usage affects risk of metastases of HPV-related oropharynx cancer

Source: professional.cancerconsultants.com Author: staff Researchers from the University of Michigan have reported that current tobacco users with advanced, human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer are at increased risk of disease recurrence. The details of this study were published in the February 15, 2010 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.[1] Human papillomaviruses are probably the sole cause of cancers of the cervix and have been associated with cancers of the vulva, vagina, penis, and rectum. Epidemiologic and molecular biology studies have also suggested that HPV infection may be associated with cancers of the head and neck. The overall frequency of HPV in benign and precancerous lesions ranges from 18.5% to 35.9%, depending upon the detection methodology. Researchers affiliated with an international study have also that reported that oral infection with HPV is associated with the development of head and neck cancers. These authors concluded that HPV infection increased the risk of oropharyngeal cancer in both users and non-users of alcohol and tobacco. These authors also suggested that the more prevalent practice of oral sex may explain the increased incidence of tonsillar and base-of-the-tongue cancers since 1973. Researchers from the University of Maryland and Harvard University have also reported that the better survival among White patients compared with African-American patients with oropharyngeal cancer appears to be due, at least in part, to the higher prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers in White patients. The current study evaluated the effect of tobacco usage on the outcomes of patients with HPV-related advanced oropharyngeal cancer. These authors [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-22T08:55:40-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

HPV-related cancer not confined to cervix

Source: www.businesswire.com Author: press release The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the causative agent responsible for most cases of cervical cancer, but is also associated with several other types of cancer. Expert physicians from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Member Institutions presented an update on HPV and its link to various cancers including cervical cancer, anal carcinoma, and head and neck cancers discussing prevention strategies and the latest recommended treatment options according to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines™). “It is important to counsel against any tobacco use as well as excessive alcohol consumption, and also to inform patients about the role of HPV and its mechanism of spread” Robert J. Morgan, MD, FACP of City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center and a member of the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Cervical Cancer began the session speaking about the link between HPV and cervical cancer as well as methods of prevention. “Cervical cancer screening with the pap smear is one of the greatest success stories in medicine,” said Dr. Morgan pointing to data that shows a steadily decreasing death rate from cervical cancer since the 1980s. The link between HPV and cervical cancer first started to emerge in the 1970’s when researchers found evidence linking cervical cancer to a wart virus coupled with the fact that cervical cancer was associated with sexual activity. In 1983, HPV DNA was identified in cervical cancer tissue. There are 120 known HPV serotypes with 19 being considered high risk, although as Dr. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-11T19:12:43-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Why men’s health is a feminist issue

Source: www.msmagazine.com Author: Adina Nack Jorge (not his real name) feared his girlfriend would dump him. He’d been diagnosed with genital warts before meeting her, and hadn’t yet told her about his infection. Jorge was being careful—no skin-to-skin sexual contact—but the disclosure was looming. So he’d done some research and learned what caused genital warts. Armed with that knowledge, he hoped that his girlfriend wouldn’t reject him, especially since he knew she could be protected from contracting warts “because of the Gardasil vaccine.” It never occurred to Jorge that Gardasil, made by the pharmaceutical company Merck, could also have protected him. But that’s probably because it was only last October that the Food and Drug Administration approved a “male” Gardasil for preventing genital warts. And the FDA has yet to put its stamp on another promising usage of the vaccine for men: preventing cancer, especially highly prevalent oral cancers. Since Gardasil was FDA-approved in 2006, it has received a huge marketing push for preventing cervical cancer in women. It has come into frequent—if sometimes controversial—use for females 9 to 26 years old because it’s designed to guard them, before they ever have sex, against contracting a virus that has been linked to cervical cancer. That virus is HPV, human papillomavirus, which causes one-third of all sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. Gardasil offers protection against four of the 30 to 40 types of sexually transmissible HPV. While it’s fear of cervical cancer that have motivated young women to get [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-09T21:48:41-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Instant screening device is the best defense for detecting deadly oral cancer

Source: worldental.org Author: staff Every year, over 34,000 Americans develop oral cancer. Many die, and many others must undergo surgery that leaves them permanently disfigured. In the March 2010 issue of Esquire magazine, film critic Roger Ebert shared his story about his battle with the oral cancer disease. After multiple surgeries, he lost his lower jaw, along with his ability to speak and eat solid food. Ebert brings publicity to a disease that hasn’t received much. Oral cancer can be a serious diagnosis, mainly because it usually goes undetected until it has reached an advanced stage and has spread throughout the body. People in their 60s who use tobacco and/or alcohol were once thought to be most at risk of getting oral cancer, but new evidence suggests a more disturbing cause. Oral cancer is now linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV), the same virus that causes cervical cancer. This means that oral cancer can be spread via oral sex, which puts sexually active younger adults in a higher-risk category. Dentists are usually the first to diagnose oral cancer, but 75 percent do not check their patients for signs of the disease. What’s more, the early signs of oral cancer are invisible to the naked eye, so even those who look for it may not spot it. Luckily, there is a technology to detect the earliest signs of oral cancer. It’s called the VELscope, and it’s being used in approximately 500 dental practices throughout the United States. Dr. Michael Koczarski of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-05T07:22:53-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

OralDNA Labs introduces OraRisk HPV salivary diagnostic test

Source: www.rdhmag.com Author: press release OralDNA Labs , a leader in advancing wellness in dentistry through salivary diagnostics and a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics, recently introduced a OraRisk HPV test. The test is a noninvasive, screening tool to identify the type(s) of oral human papillomavirus (also called HPV). Oral HPV is a mucosal viral infection that is a known risk factor for oral, head, and neck cancers. High-risk types of HPV that persist present an increased risk for cancers in these regions. This test will provide the dental clinician with the ability to establish risk for HPV-related cancers of the oral, head, and neck regions, and determine appropriate referral and monitoring conditions. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, which can be found in the oral cavity, tongue, tonsils, oropharynx, and larynx, affects approximately 40,000 individuals in the United States each year. The most common symptoms of SCCHN include sore throat, earache, hoarseness--and often--enlarged lymph nodes in the neck. Early detection of oral HPV presents an important opportunity to detect those at risk for these types of cancers before symptoms appear. According to OralDNA Labs' Medical Director Ronald C. McGlennen, MD, "The availability of the OraRisksm HPV test marks an important and timely advance in oral diagnostics, because the at-risk profile for oral cancer is rapidly changing." The use of tobacco and heavy alcohol consumption has traditionally been considered to be the primary risk factor for SCCHN, but an alarming number of new cases are being diagnosed each year [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-02T13:31:45-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Alcohol’s hidden effects revealed in new National Health Service campaign

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff A new 6 million pound NHS campaign to reveal alcohol's hidden effects warns people of the unseen damage caused by regularly drinking more than the advised limits and highlights drinkers' affected organs while they sup their drink in the pub or at home. The campaign was launched recently by Public Health Minister, Gillian Merron. It forms part of a government-wide strategy to tackle the harmful effects of alcohol and is backed by major health charities. Merron said in a press statement that: "Many of us enjoy a drink - drinking sensibly isn't a problem." But, she warned that: "If you're regularly drinking more than the NHS recommended limits, you're more likely to get cancer, have a stroke or have a heart attack." The Department of Health developed the campaign with Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association. Part of it entails showing a series of strong messages on TV, in the press and outdoor posters, showing how much harm drinking more than the NHS advised daily limit can do to your body. In the TV campaign, one advert of three men drinking in a pub, shows one of them with a semi-transparent body, and as he sups his beer, different organs are highlighted to show which parts the narrator, who is explaining the risks of drinking alcohol, is talking about (for example, when high blood pressure is mentioned, the heart becomes more visible). The NHS advises that women should drink no more [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-01T18:58:24-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

SIBLING proteins may predict oral cancer

Source: www.scienceblog.com Author: staff The presence of certain proteins in premalignant oral lesions may predict oral cancer development, Medical College of Georgia researchers said. SIBLINGs, or Small Integrin-Binding Ligand N-linked Glycoproteins, are a family of five proteins that help mineralize bone but can also spread cancer. SIBLINGs have been found in cancers including breast, lung, colon and prostate. "Several years ago we discovered that three SIBLINGs -- osteopontin, bone sialoprotein and dentin sialophosphoprotein -- were expressed at significantly high levels in oral cancers," said Dr. Kalu Ogbureke, an oral and maxillofacial pathologist in the MCG School of Dentistry. "Following that discovery, we began to research the potential role of SIBLINGs in oral lesions before they become invasive cancers." The study, published online this week in the journal Cancer, examined 60 archived surgical biopsies of precancerous lesions sent to MCG for diagnosis and the patients' subsequent health information. Eighty-seven percent of the biopsies were positive for at least one SIBLING protein -- which the researchers discovered can be good or bad, depending on the protein. For instance, they found that the protein, dentin sialophosphoprotein, increases oral cancer risk fourfold, while bone sialoprotein significantly decreases the risk. "The proteins could be used as biomarkers to predict [the potential of a lesion to become cancerous]," said Dr. Ogbureke, the study's lead author. "That is very significant, because we would then be in a position to modify treatment for the individual patient's need in the near future." Precancerous oral lesions, which can develop in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-23T12:59:57-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Cancer Foundation donates screening devices to West Virginia Free Clinics

Source: www.prnewswire.com Author: press release In 2009 the Oral Cancer Foundation initiated a program of donating VELscope® Oral Cancer Screening Systems to free clinics. The most recent recipients of this program are two West Virginia clinics: WV Health Right in Charleston, and the Susan Dew Hoff Memorial Clinic in West Milford. "Our intent is to identify free clinics in areas that have a high concentration of people who are both at risk for oral cancer and without the financial means to pay for comprehensive oral exams," said Oral Cancer Foundation founder and executive director Brian Hill. "It is difficult to think of an area that better fits those criteria than West Virginia." The state ranks highest in the country in tobacco usage, and next-to-last in per capita income. In identifying free clinics to be potential recipients of the device which identifies loss of tissue auto-fluorescence, an indicator of abnormal tissues, the Oral Cancer Foundation is careful to ensure that each candidate clinic has at least one dentist on staff who can be trained to use the device and can train other staff members. Oral cancer belongs to the head and neck cancer group, and is often referred to by other names such as; tongue cancer, mouth cancer, tonsil cancer, lip cancer, and throat cancer. While some people think this is a rare cancer, it is not. Approximately 100 people in the U.S. will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer each day, and it takes a life in the U.S. every [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-23T12:46:22-07:00February, 2010|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|