biomarker

Rash prediction in lung cancer?

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Maurie Markman, MD Hello. I am Dr. Maurie Markman from Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia. I wanted to briefly discuss with you a very interesting paper[1] that appeared online in The Lancet Oncology on December 20th, 2010, and will be in print soon. The paper was entitled "First-Cycle Rash and Survival in Patients With Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Cetuximab in Combination With First-Line Chemotherapy: A Subgroup Analysis of Data From the FLEX Phase 3 Study." This was a very interesting subgroup analysis -- a retrospective analysis. What the group of investigators attempted to look at was the impact on a patient who received cetuximab and developed a rash compared with individuals who received cetuximab and did not develop a rash. And, of course, the other control group here would be the patients who received chemotherapy without cetuximab. What this retrospective analysis demonstrated was that overall survival in patients who received combination chemotherapy plus cetuximab and who developed a rash was significantly longer in all of the subtypes of non-small cell lung cancer that were looked at (including squamous and adenocarcinoma), compared with chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy plus cetuximab and no development of a rash. These data, which are quite provocative and need to be confirmed by others, suggest that the development of a rash may be a reasonable clinical biomarker of the potential impact of this targeted agent on cancer. That is, the development of a rash suggests that there is going to be [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-01-26T08:09:24-07:00January, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Dental researchers discover Human Beta Defensin-3 ignites in oral cancer growth

Source: www.sciencedaily.com Author: staff with material from Case Western Reserve University Detecting oral cancer in its earliest stages can save the lives of the nearly 40,500 people diagnosed annually. But early detection has been difficult. Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine researchers discovered a biomarker, called human beta defensin-3 (hBD-3), which may serve as an early warning. The defensin is present in all oral cancers and associated with the early stages of oral cancer. "Using the biomarker to detect oral cancer holds potential for saving lives when the cancer is most curable. Annually some 10,000 people die from this cancer," said Ge Jin, assistant professor of biological sciences at the dental school. He led the study, which appears in the online journal PLoS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science. Oral cancer first appears as white or red lesions in the mouth, the same as noncancerous lesions. Often, the lesions are not biopsied, and cancer is not discovered until it becomes apparent in its later stages, when it has metastasized to other organs. Such a late-stage diagnosis is generally fatal and can result in costly surgeries and treatments or disfigurement that may include removing parts of the tongue, jaw and cheek. All this can be avoided with early removal of the lesion. The hBD-3 biomarker is one of many innate immune peptides found in the epithelial lining of the mouth. In a normal, healthy oral cavity, hBD-1, -2 and -3 ward off the hundreds of bacteria that [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-07-31T07:03:36-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Dental researchers discover human beta defensins-3 ignite in oral cancer growth

Source: www.innovations-report.com Author: Kimyette Finley Detecting oral cancer in its earliest stages can save the lives of the nearly 40,500 people diagnosed annually. But early detection has been difficult. Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine researchers discovered a biomarker, called human beta defensin-3 (hBD-3), which may serve as an early warning. The defensin is present in all oral cancers and associated with the early stages of oral cancer. “Using the biomarker to detect oral cancer holds potential for saving lives when the cancer is most curable. Annually some 10,000 people die from this cancer,” said Ge Jin, assistant professor of biological sciences at the dental school. He led the study, “An Antimicrobial Peptide Regulates Tumor-Associated Macrophage Trafficking via the Chemokine Receptor CCR2, a Model for Tumorigenesis.” The Public Library of Science published the research in PLoS ONE. Oral cancer first appears as white or red lesions in the mouth, the same as noncancerous lesions. Often, the lesions are not biopsied, and cancer is not discovered until it becomes apparent in its later stages, when it has metastasized to other organs. Such a late-stage diagnosis is generally fatal and can result in costly surgeries and treatments or disfigurement that may include removing parts of the tongue, jaw and cheek. All this can be avoided with early removal of the lesion. The hBD-3 biomarker is one of many innate immune peptides found in the epithelial lining of the mouth. In a normal, healthy oral cavity, hBD-1, -2 and -3 ward [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-07-20T14:18:41-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Compound discovery may lead to earlier oral cancer detection

Source: www.dentalplans.com Author: staff A biomarker found in the mouth may help dental care specialists diagnose patients with cancer of the mouth and gums at earlier stages, according to a study published in the web-based journal, PLoS ONE. One of the first signs of oral cancer is the development of white or red sores on the inside of the mouth, which commonly go untested because they are typically cancer-free. However, if cancerous lesions go untreated, the disease can progress to later stages. In an effort to improve oral cancer detection, a team of researchers conducted a series of tests, and discovered the hBD-3 biomarker, which improves immune system health in the mouth. The location of the compound is what has made these results important, as they were found in the lining of the mouth where cancerous cells begin to grow. Because they were able to discover where the hBD-3 biomarker develops, the investigators concluded that these findings could lead to the development of diagnostic equipment that could detect oral cancer sooner. "Using the biomarker to detect oral cancer holds potential for saving lives when the cancer is most curable. Annually some 10,000 people die from this cancer," said Ge Jin, assistant professor of biological sciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-07-14T21:09:32-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New biomarker technique could provide early detection for cancer

Source: www.physorg.com Author: press release provided by University of Connecticut Modern genetic testing can predict your risk of contracting particular diseases based on predispositions discovered in your DNA. But what if similar biotechnology could tell you that you’ve got a disease before you notice any symptoms? What if it could even tell you, before any signs of a tumor, that you have cancer? Jim Rusling, professor of chemistry at UConn and professor of cell biology at the UConn Health Center, ponders these questions on a daily basis. Since 2006, he and colleagues at the University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been developing techniques to detect biomarker proteins - the physiological traits that indicate that a person has a specific disease - for prostate and oral cancer. Because these biomarkers are often present in the blood in a disease’s early stages, they can be used for early detection and prevention. “DNA predicts which proteins can be made, but it can’t predict which proteins are actively expressed,” Rusling says. “It only assesses the risk of a disease. There’s a big push now to measure proteins as biomarkers.” In a recent publication in the journal Analytical Chemistry, Rusling and his colleagues describe a system they developed to detect with record sensitivity the bloodstream levels of a protein associated with several types of oral cancer, including head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. The project was funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at NIH. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-05-19T20:29:55-07:00May, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New test genetically fingerprints tumors

Source: online.wsj.com Author: Ron Winslow In a fresh advance for the burgeoning field of personalized medicine, researchers have developed a blood test based on the DNA of tumors that could help tailor treatment for individual cancer patients. The report, announced Thursday, represents one of the most tangible examples yet of how the ability to sequence a person's entire genetic code could have a direct impact on patient care. There have been a flurry of reports on new sequencing technology that is yielding enormous amounts of information about genetics and disease, but that has yet to deliver much in the way of new treatment strategies. "For cancer patients there hasn't been much utility so far. This may prove to be one of the first useful approaches," said Victor Velculescu, co-director of the cancer biology program at Johns Hopkins University's Kimmel Cancer Center and senior author of the new study. Much research involving whole-genome sequencing is aimed at finding differences in the individual letters that make up the genetic code. The belief is that those small alterations will point to molecular pathways that regulate disease, which would be potential targets for drug therapies. The Hopkins researchers, writing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, took a different approach. They scanned the DNA of tumors taken from six patients with breast or colon cancer, looking not for tiny DNA changes, but what they call rearrangements in large sections of the genome of tumor cells. The DNA of tumors varies genetically from that of normal [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-20T22:29:37-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Differential proteomics identifies protein biomarkers that predict local relapse of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas

Source: Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(24):7666–75 Authors: Tieneke B.M. et al. Purpose: The 5-year survival rates of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) remain disappointing. HNSCCs develop in precursor fields of genetically altered cells that are often not completely resected when the tumor is excised, causing local relapse. These precursor fields are mostly recognized as dysplasia, but histologic grading cannot reliably predict malignant transformation. Our aim was to discover and validate protein biomarkers that can detect precursor fields and predict local relapse in HNSCC using immunostaining of surgical margins. Experimental Design: We compared paired and genetically characterized normal, precursor, and tumor tissues of eight patients by proteome analysis to identify differentially expressed proteins. The prognostic value of candidate protein biomarkers was evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis of 222 surgical margins of 46 HNSCC patients who developed local relapse or remained disease free. Significant associations were determined by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox-proportional hazards models. Results: Forty proteins showed significant differential expression (false discovery rate–corrected P

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-15T21:39:09-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Mouth is indicator of overall health, says dental school professor

Source: www.sciencedaily.com Author: staff One day in medical clinics, the big picture of a patient's state of health may be found in little pictures from the mouth, says Li Mao, MD, a new professor at the University of Maryland Dental School. The mouth or oral cavity area is an excellent indicator of the whole body's health, says Mao, who is the chair of the new Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences at the School. Mao recently joined the Dental School to be at the forefront of a movement to retool dental education, he says, to make dentists practice more within the bigger health care community. Future lung cancer prevention trials, for example, could soon be designed so that surface tissues inside the cheek could be checked to detect tobacco-induced damage in the lungs, according to a study led by Mao last year published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. "We hypothesized that tobacco-induced molecular alterations in the oral epithelium are similar to those in the lungs," says Mao. "This might have broader implications for using the mouth as a diagnostic indicator for general health." University of Maryland Dental School Dean Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, a leader in the movement to retool dental education, says, "I feel that dentists should play a major role in prevention of cancer and Dr. Mao is the leading oral cancer researcher in the country. He crosses the bridge between medicine and dentistry. Being a physician helps expand dental health care and he wants to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-13T14:11:41-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|