biopsies

Rise in mouth cancer linked to STI’s, primarily HPV16

Source: www.nhs.uk Author: staff The Daily Telegraph reported that a “rise in mouth cancer may be due to sexually transmitted infection”. The newspaper said that there has been a 50% increase in the number of mouth cancers in the last 20 years, and the increase appears to be in those cases related to the human papilloma virus (HPV). The story is based on an editorial in the British Medical Journal by cancer specialists, which highlighted an increase in the numbers of a specific type of throat cancer in the UK. The specialists also discussed studies from other countries that show an increase in the proportion of HPV-related throat cancers. The editorial reported on a very small number of studies, but it shows that there may be a need to investigate the incidence of HPV-related throat cancers in the UK, to track these cases and to see if HPV-related cancers should be treated differently to non-HPV-related throat cancers. There is insufficient evidence at the moment to suggest that the HPV vaccination, currently available for teenage girls, should also be given to boys. Where did the story come from? This editorial was written by Hisham Mehanna, director of the Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at University Hospital, Coventry, and colleagues at the University of Liverpool, Université Catholique de Louvain and the University of Texas. The editorial was commissioned and published by the British Medical Journal and was not externally peer reviewed. What was the editorial about? This editorial was [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-04-19T22:27:55-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

HPV-related cancer leap to have big impact on health services

Source: www.dentistry.co.uk Author: staff The rapid rise in cases of squamous cell carcinoma related to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has serious implications for health services around the world, warn researchers. They suggest that sexual transmission of HPV might be the reason for the rise. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer, with about 640,000 new cases each year worldwide. Despite an overall marginal decline in most head and neck cancers in recent years, the level of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has increased greatly, especially in the developed world. In the US, cases increased by 22% between 1999 and 2006, after showing no change between 1975 and 1999, while the UK has seen a 51% increase in oral and oropharyngeal cancer in men between 1989 and 2006. This increase seems to be accounted for by a rise in HPV-related tumours, say the authors, led by Hisham Mehanna at the Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education, University Hospital, Coventry. A recent study showed a 70% increase in the detection of HPV in biopsies taken to diagnose oropharyngeal carcinoma in Stockholm since the 1970s. HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma has also been reported in 60-80% of recent biopsy samples in studies conducted in the US, compared with 40% in the previous decade. HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma seems to be a new and distinct disease entity, explain the authors. It has a better prognosis than non-HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma, particularly in non-smokers, but the reason for this improved survival is not [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-03-24T14:33:53-07:00March, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

A dynamic oral cancer field: unraveling the underlying biology and its clinical implication

Source: Am J Surg Pathol, November 1, 2009; 33(11): 1732-8 Authors: IF Tsui, C Garnis, and CF Poh Oral cancer is a complex disease that is characterized by histologic and genetic heterogeneity. The evolution and progression of this disease is thought to result from the accumulation of alterations in molecular pathways. Although the oral cavity is accessible for routine screening of suspicious lesions, gene alterations are known to accrue in histologically normal tissues. Therefore, some cancer forerunners may remain undetected clinically or histologically. Recently emerging optical and molecular technologies have provided a powerful means for redefining the extent of the field of alteration. Often this means expanding upon regions detectable with standard white light approaches. In this report, we used a newly developed optical technique, direct fluorescence visualization, to define a contiguous field that extended beyond the margins of a clinically visible oral squamous cell carcinoma. Multiple biopsies were taken within this contiguous optically altered field. Genome alterations detected for each specimen were compared to define whether each lesion arose independently or as a consequence of a shared progenitor cell. Our results indicate that the field effect of oral cancer is extremely dynamic, with different genetic alterations present in different biopsies within a field. This case study also demonstrated that 2 genetically unrelated squamous cell carcinoma could be developed within 10 mm at the right lateral tongue of this patient. These findings provide evidence for the importance to implement optical technologies in defining surgical margins and support the use of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-03T09:07:52-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Surgical scalpel sniffs out cancer

Source: www.technologyreview.com Author: Katherine Bourzac In the hope of helping oncologists remove every piece of tumor tissue during surgery, researchers are developing new imaging tools that work in real time in the operating room. European researchers have now demonstrated that a chemical analysis instrument called a mass spectrometer can be coupled with an electroscalpel to create a molecular profile of tissue during surgery. The researchers have shown that the method can be used to map out different tissue types and distinguish cancerous tissue. The device will begin clinical trials next month. "When a surgeon is performing cancer surgery, he doesn't have any direct information on where the tumor is," says Zoltán Takáts, a professor at Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. Instead, surgeons rely on preoperative imaging scans and on feedback from pathologists examining tissue biopsies under a microscope. "We want to provide a tool that's right in their hands, so that if they think a structure looks suspicious, they can just test it," says Takáts. Takáts realized that some surgical cutting tools, including electroscalpels, produce gaseous ions as a kind of waste product that are suitable for analysis with mass spectrometry. And these fumes, often called "surgical smoke," are already collected during surgery because they're harmful to the lungs. Takáts and his collaborators found that mass spectrometry of surgical smoke can be used to make a molecular map of a tumor. After the fumes are sucked into the mass spectrometer, the chemicals in the sample are identified and checked against [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-10-13T03:49:46-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|