American Cancer Society – Page 2

Michael Douglas Continues to Put Oral Cancer in the Spotlight

Source: Dr.Biscupid.com Actor Michael Douglas' recent revelation that he had stage IV oropharyngeal cancer has highlighted the growing incidence of oral cancer, and experts say dentists can help stem the alarming increase of the disease by checking for it during routine examinations. The actor's cancer included a walnut-sized tumor at the base of his tongue, requiring radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Douglas says his doctors told him he had an 80% survival rate if it hadn't spread to his lymph nodes. While tobacco was the prime cause of oral cancer in the past, recent studies have attributed the steady increase of the disease to the human papillomavirus (HPV16). There are approximately 130 versions of HPV but only nine cause cancers, and the HPV16 version causes almost half of the oral cancers in the U.S., said Brian Hill, executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation. "Tobacco is no longer the only bad guy," he told DrBicuspid.com. “HPV16 is increasing in incidence as the causative etiology, and if it continues on this trend line, it will replace tobacco as the primary cause of oral cancers." Dentists can play a key role in catching the disease in its early stages if they check for it during examinations, Hill pointed out. "But many dentists think it's such a rare disease that they don't bother to screen for it," he said. "Most Americans have never even heard of oral cancer, but it's not as rare or uncommon as people would like to think it is. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-23T20:17:05-07:00June, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Oral, Head and Neck Cancers Continue to Increase While Most U.S. Cancer Death Rates are on the Decline

Source: SHOTS (NPR's Health Blog) The rate at which Americans die from cancer continues to fall, according to the latest estimates from the American Cancer Society. As a result, nearly 900,000 cancer deaths were avoided between 1990 and 2007, the group figures. Survival gains have come as mortality rates have declined for some of the most common malignancies, including colorectal cancer, breast cancer in women and prostate cancer. Still, the ACS estimates there will nearly 1.6 million new cancers diagnosed this year, and about 572,000 deaths from the disease. The incidence of cancers hasn't budged much for men in recent years, after falling quite a bit during the first half of the last decade. Cancer incidence for women has been falling since 1998. The report was just published online by CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Lung cancer remains the biggest killer for both men and women. All told, about 160,000 people in the U.S. are expected to die from it this year. Starting in 1987, more women have died from lung cancer each year than breast cancer. One section of the report focuses on a persistent and, in some cases, widening gap in cancer death rates between people with the least education and those with the most. Educational attainment is often used in research as a proxy for socioeconomic status. American Cancer Society epidemiologist Elizabeth Ward, one of the report's authors, tells Shots, "People of a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to smoke and less likely to get [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-22T10:26:11-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco is Estimated to Kill a Billion People in this Century

Source: San Francisco Chronicle For all the debate and pain and money expended on our ongoing "drug war' - which is too much a failing, endless one - the worst drug of all is too often unmentioned, but kills and maims more than the rest of them put together. And it's legal. Tobacco abuse is projected to cause a billion premature deaths in this century; To put it another way, until and unless we have a nuclear war, the tobacco industry will continue killing more people than any other man-made cause. This true in just about any region, but here in California, there are nearly four million smokers, and as the American Lung Association reminds us, "Tobacco-related illness remains the number one preventable cause of death in the state, responsible for more than 36,000 deaths each year - that's more people lost to tobacco than alcohol, HIV/AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined." The national toll is about 438,000 deaths per year. One of them was my dad, but I hated tobacco long before it claimed him. In any event, the annual UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education symposium again keyed off on the "billion lives" estimate and showcased ongoing efforts to apply research to decreasing that daunting figure. This year, American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin. PhD said that the 12 million cigarettes smoked each minute meant an ever-increasing morbidity and mortality, despite whatever progress, with a tripling of disease and death in the developing [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-13T10:36:59-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Popularity surges for e-cigarettes, but health questions unanswered

Source: ArgusLeader.com Misti Stewart of Gregor's Eastside Liquor demonstrates an electronic cigarette. They have gained popularity since the smoking ban. / Elisha Page / Argus Leader Jeff Mann has found a way to get his nicotine fix with no ash, no flame, no odor and no bad breath. And he can do it legally inside businesses that are smoke free. Mann, 40, smokes an electronic cigarette. It's a battery-powered device that looks like a cigarette and emits cigarette-like smoke, but delivers nicotine in vapor form. "You can get a nicotine level that you're used to getting from a regular cigarette," Mann said. E-cigarettes have been available in the United States since 2006 and have grown in popularity in Sioux Falls since the smoking ban went into effect Nov. 10. They're sold in bars, casinos and various retail shops. At least one local distributor has seen a 50 percent increase in sales. But the federal Food and Drug Administration has not approved e-cigarettes. That raises red flags for some health professionals and has them questioning what risks might be associated with e-cigarettes. Smoker says device helped him cut back The FDA lost a court case last year after trying to treat e-cigarettes as drug-delivery devices instead of tobacco products because e-cigarettes heat nicotine extracted from tobacco. But Mann, who owns Vishnu Bunny Tattoo and Piercing, views e-cigarettes as a healthier alternative to the traditional cigarettes he has smoked for 25 years. He said it has helped him cut down on smoking. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-02-22T11:36:28-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer incidence, deaths expected to double by 2030 without preventive measures

Source: HemOnc Today In a report released for World Cancer Day, the American Cancer Society said worldwide cancer incidence will increase to 21.4 million diagnoses per year, with 13.2 million cancer deaths, by 2030 unless preventive measures are adopted worldwide. ACS attributes the predicted increase in diagnoses and death to an aging world population and a rise in lifestyle- and behavior-related cancers such as lung, breast and colorectal disease caused by improved economic development. The findings come from the second edition of “Global Cancer Facts & Figures” and its academic publication, “Global Cancer Statistics,” published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Both publications were released Feb. 4, World Cancer Day. The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates that there were approximately 12.7 million new cancer diagnoses and 7.6 million cancer deaths worldwide in 2008. OCF More than half of those diagnoses, 7.1 million, occurred in developing countries, and those countries accounted for 4.8 million cancer deaths. The agency took a specific look at cancer in Africa. The continent accounted for approximately 681,000 new cancers and 512,400 deaths in 2008. In keeping with worldwide trends, those numbers are projected to double by 2030 because of population growth and the aging of the population. Writing in an accompanying editorial, Otis W. Brawley, MD, ACS chief medical officer, said roughly one-third of cancer deaths in 2008 could be attributed to known risk factors, including tobacco use, physical inactivity, diet, infection and alcohol use. “The worldwide application of existing cancer control knowledge [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-02-09T11:41:43-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Stephen Strasburg attempts to quit smokeless tobacco

Source: www.washingtonpost.com Author: Adam Kilgore Like any other high school kid, Stephen Strasburg wanted to emulate the major league baseball players he watched on television. He mimicked their actions down to the last detail. He rolled his pants up to reveal high socks, wore wristbands at the plate and, during downtime, opened tins of chewing tobacco and pinched some in his lower lip. Years later, having developed a powerful addiction, Strasburg regrets ever trying smokeless tobacco. Last fall, Tony Gwynn - his college coach at San Diego State and one of those players he grew up idolizing - began radiation treatments for parotid cancer, a diagnosis Gwynn blamed on using smokeless tobacco. In the wake of Gwynn's cancer diagnosis, Strasburg has resolved to quit smokeless tobacco while he recuperates from Tommy John surgery. He doesn't want to face the myriad health risks borne from tobacco use, and he doesn't want kids who want to be like him to see him with a packed lower lip. Strasburg conflates many activities with dipping, and he has yet to eradicate the habit. But he is determined he will. "I'm still in the process of quitting," Strasburg, 22, said. "I've made a lot of strides, stopped being so compulsive with it. I'm hoping I'm going to be clean for spring training. It's going to be hard, because it's something that's embedded in the game." Smokeless tobacco has long been entrenched in baseball. In the 1980s, wads of it bulged in batters' cheeks. More recently, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-01-31T19:50:01-07:00January, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Hospital Performs Area’s First Robotic Surgeries on Oral Cancers HEALTH CARE: Technique Could Reduce the Length Of Patients Hospital Stay

Source: San Diego Business Journal By: Steve Sinovic The first transoral robotic surgeries in San Diego have been performed at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center and all three patients who underwent those procedures are recovering well, said the surgeon who is leading up the effort to help patients beat early-stage oral cancer. Advances in robotic surgery prompted the hospital to look for ways to apply that technology to treat tumors of the mouth and throat. And thanks to a local benefactor, the institution hopes to be performing more procedures on local patients. The hospital is one of fewer than a dozen in the U.S. to offer the procedure, which was launched thanks to a $1.2 million anonymous donation to Sharp Chula Vista. The donation helped fund the acquisition of Intuitive Surgical Inc.’s da Vinci Surgical System, said Dan Dredla, vice president of business development for the 343-bed hospital in south San Diego County. “We were fortunate that a donor helped us purchase the da Vinci,” said Dredla. “It’s a costly system, and it was challenging to find the capital to acquire it on our own.” The da Vinci robot, which combines enhanced 3-D views with precise incision capabilities, is already being used for various surgeries at hundreds of hospitals throughout the country and around the world. However, it was just recently that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved using the da Vinci for the transoral surgeries, or TORS, procedures on head and neck cancers. While Dredla didn’t have exact [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-17T11:39:08-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Gene may hold key to reducing spread of oral cancers

Source: University of Illinois Author: Sam Hostettler The spread of cancer cells in the tongue may be reduced if a gene that regulates cancer cell migration can be controlled, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Oral cancer is an under-treated and poorly understood disease, says Xiaofeng "Charles" Zhou, assistant professor in the UIC Center for Molecular Biology of Oral Diseases and lead researcher of the study. More than 90 percent of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas that normally start on the gums, floor of the mouth, or tongue. About 30,000 Americans are affected each year, Zhou said. While new cancers of all types have risen 8 percent in the last five years, oral cancer increased 21 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Tongue squamous cell carcinoma, one of the most frequent oral cancers, rose more than 37 percent in this period. And although overall cancer deaths decreased during this period, those due to oral cancer increased by 4 percent -- and those due to tongue squamous cell carcinoma by 10 percent. Improvements in patient survival require better understanding of tumor invasion and how cancer spreads, Zhou said, so that aggressive tumors can be detected early and targeted therapies can be developed. While researchers have tried to identify altered genes that contribute to the aggressive nature of tongue squamous cell carcinoma, most previous studies have focused on protein-encoding genes, Zhou said. The new study examines a noncoding gene called microRNA-138. MicroRNAs are small, noncoding [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-07-25T20:13:36-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Environmental cancer risks may be more dangerous than you think

Source: LA Times Author: Jill U Adams Pollutants and other chemicals in your environment — your home, your frontyard, your workplace — may be more toxic to your health than you know, according to a report released earlier this month. The President's Cancer Panel, an advisory group charged with monitoring the war on cancer, proposed in its May 5 report that environmental chemicals might contribute to a larger share of deaths from cancer than the 1% to 5% figure cited by the National Cancer Institute. Skeptical reactions to the report, most notably from the American Cancer Society, say that the report's focus on potential environmental risks may distract from known risks with much larger effects, such as smoking, sun exposure, diet and exercise. But others, such as David Kriebel, an epidemiologist at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell who testified before the panel in 2008, say the risks associated with environmental exposures are unclear and could easily be larger than assumed. "Isn't it disappointing that we don't know how much larger?" he asks. "It is always worth making the point that tobacco is the most important exposure to try to eliminate," but that message shouldn't preclude investigation of other exposures, says Shelia Hoar Zahm, deputy director of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute. The report, with its focus on the admittedly incomplete science on environmental cancer risks, helps the U.S. government to keep the broad picture in mind as it continues its war on cancer, she says. [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-05-25T15:17:24-07:00May, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

What’s in a cigarette? FDA will study the ingredients

Source: Yahoo Author: MICHAEL FELBERBAUM RICHMOND, Va. – The Food and Drug Administration is working to lift the smokescreen clouding the ingredients used in cigarettes and other tobacco products. In June, tobacco companies must tell the FDA their formulas for the first time, just as drugmakers have for decades. Manufacturers also will have to turn over any studies they've done on the effects of the ingredients. It's an early step for an agency just starting to flex muscles granted by a new law that took effect last June that gives it broad power to regulate tobacco far beyond the warnings now on packs, short of banning it outright. Companies have long acknowledged using cocoa, coffee, menthol and other additives to make tobacco taste better. The new information will help the FDA determine which ingredients might also make tobacco more harmful or addictive. It will also use the data to develop standards for tobacco products and could ban some ingredients or combinations. "Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don't know what's in them," Lawrence R. Deyton, the director of the Food and Drug Administration's new Center for Tobacco Products and a physician, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. While the FDA must keep much of the data confidential under trade-secret laws, it will publish a list of harmful and potentially harmful ingredients by June 2011. Under the law, it must be listed by quantity in each brand. Some tobacco companies have voluntarily listed product ingredients online [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-01-19T18:12:08-07:00January, 2010|Oral Cancer News|