chemotherapy – Page 24 – Oral Cancer News

Implant survival rate after oral cancer therapy: A review.

Source: HighWire, Stanford University The overall impression regarding the success of dental implants (DI) in patients having undergone oral cancer therapy remains unclear. The aim of the present review study was to assess the implant survival rate after oral cancer therapy. Databases were explored from 1986 up to and including September 2010 using the following keywords in various combinations: "cancer", "chemotherapy", "dental implant", "oral", "osseointegration", "radiotherapy", "surgery" and "treatment". The eligibility criteria were: (1) original research articles; (2) clinical studies; (3) reference list of pertinent original and review studies; (4) intervention: patients having undergone radio- and chemotherapy following oral cancer surgery; and (5) articles published only in English. Twenty-one clinical studies were included. Results from 16 studies reported that DI can osseointegrate and remain functionally stable in patients having undergone radiotherapy following oral cancer surgery; whereas three studies showed irradiation to have negative effects on the survival of DI. Two studies reported that DI can osseointegrate and remain functionally stable in patients having undergone chemotherapy. It is concluded that DI can osseointegrate and remain functionally stable in patients having undergone oral cancer treatment.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-17T17:40:03-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

UC cancer drug trials offer lone hope

Source: news.cincinnati.com Author: Peggy O'Farrell Two years ago this month, Pam Cain learned the bump on her tongue was really cancer. Last year, she learned the "bump" had spread to both lungs. "Last November, I was given two years if I only did chemo," she said. So she underwent radiation therapy. But the lesions on her lungs stayed put, and the cancer spread to one hip. So far, three chemotherapy combinations failed to kill her cancer. Now Cain, 32, of Union is hoping an experimental targeted therapy will knock out her cancer. She was the second patient in the United States to receive the experimental drug, and one of about five patients now enrolled in four clinical trials for new cancer therapies at the University of Cincinnati. The phase 1 trials are part of UC's effort to raise its profile for cancer treatment and research. Phase 1 trials are the earliest stage of testing new medications or medical devices on humans. They're designed to determine if a new treatment is safe, not whether it works. For patients like Cain, who have run out of tried-and-true options, it means being able to get cutting-edge treatments close to home. "This way, I didn't have to leave my kids," she said. "I didn't have to travel. I didn't have to go someplace where I didn't know anybody. And financially, it would have hurt." For the researchers and physicians who conduct the trials, it's an opportunity to help find the next wonder drug. Olivier [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-07T09:41:21-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Diagnosis for Michael Douglas highlights oral cancer risk

Source: www.dental-tribune.com Author: Fred Michmershuizen, DTA After it became known recently that the Academy Award winning actor Michael Douglas has been diagnosed with oral cancer, dental professionals around the world seized on an opportunity to urge members of the public to pay more attention to key risk factors and early warning signs of the disease. The Academy Award winner was diagnosed with a tumor in his throat, and he now faces an eight-week course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This high-profile case has brought oral cancers into the limelight, and oral health experts are keen to make the public more aware of the key risk factors and early warning signs. The British Dental Health Foundation is calling for more attention to be paid to mouth cancers. The foundation is advising the public to regularly check their mouths. Douglas quit smoking in 2006, after a long “half a pack a day” habit. Yet, according to the foundation, the possibility of developing oral cancer remains higher for ex-smokers than non-smokers for 20 years after quitting. Tobacco is considered to be the main cause of mouth cancer, with three in four cases being linked to smoking, according to the foundation. Drinking in excess is also a known factor, with those who both smoke and drink to excess being up 30 times more likely to be at risk. “It is crucial the public know about the risk factors and early symptoms as early detection can save lives,” said Dr. Nigel Carter, chief executive of the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-07T08:29:37-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer diagnosis keeps Fioretti out of mayor’s race

An upbeat Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, announced Tuesday he has cancer and will not run for mayor of Chicago, but will be running for re-election in his ward. "I'm not afraid of the fight, and although I couldn't expect this one, I'm going to give it all I've got," Fioretti said. Fioretti, 57, is a first-term alderman who has differed with Mayor Richard Daley on budget issues. He was the only alderman still expected to get into the race for mayor, at least until Sheriff Tom Dart's surprise announcement last week that he would not run. Because he was expected to run for mayor and not alderman, Fioretti could find himself facing competition in a re-election effort for his booming 2nd Ward, which includes part of the Loop and areas on the Near Southwest and Northwest Sides. Fioretti said he does not know who he will support in the mayoral elections, but that he has been contacted by four candidates in the past few days, some of whom have asked to meet with him. "I will be sitting down in the next couple of weeks with some of the candidates once they qualify or once they submit their petitions to be on the ballot," Fioretti said. Dr. Steven DeAngeles, Fioretti's doctor, said that the alderman has stage III cancer of the tonsils but that the prognosis for his recovery is good. The form of cancer is fairly rare, DeAngeles said, and may have been caused by genetic predisposition or environmental [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-03T10:03:34-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Panitumumab Plus Platinum Chemo Misses Mark in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Source: Internal Medicine News Digital Network By: Patrice Wendling MILAN – Panitumumab plus chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil proved clinically active, but failed to boost overall survival significantly in first-line recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer in the global, phase III SPECTRUM trial. The primary end point of median overall survival showed a statistically insignificant increase from 9.0 months with chemotherapy alone to 11.1 months with the addition of panitumumab (Vectibix) (hazard ratio, 0.87; log-rank P = .14). Subgroup analysis revealed, however, that the effect of panitumumab, an anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody, was not the same for all patients in the international study, lead author Dr. Jan Vermorken said at the annual congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology. Regional differences were observed, suggesting a greater benefit in patients from North/South America (HR, 0.69) and Western Europe (HR, 0.73) than in those in Eastern Europe (HR, 1.11). Asian Pacific patients fell somewhere in the middle (HR, 0.99). About 45% of patients in each arm used some form of subsequent antitumor activity once off the study protocol, but differences cropped up here as well. The use of cytotoxic chemotherapy was imbalanced at 30% in the panitumumab arm vs. 25% in the chemotherapy arm, while twice as many patients in the chemotherapy arm (12% vs. 6%) received subsequent targeted systemic therapy driven largely by the use of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies, observed Dr. Vermorken of the Antwerp University Hospital in Edegem, Belgium. “It’s clear this is the first [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-27T10:27:38-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

The Major Component In Tumeric Enhances The Effect Of Chemotherapy In Suppressing Head And Neck Cancers

Curcumin, the major component in the spice turmeric, when combined with the drug Cisplatin enhances the chemotherapy's suppression of head and neck cancer cell growth, researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have found. A naturally occurring spice widely used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking, Turmeric has long been known to have medicinal properties, attributed to its anti-inflammatory effects. Previous studies have shown it can suppress the growth of certain cancers, said Dr. Marilene Wang, a professor of head and neck surgery, lead author of the study and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. "Head and neck cancers, particularly cases diagnosed in a later stage, are terrible cancers that often require very radical surgeries and chemotherapy and radiation," Wang said. "They often don't present until late, and the structures in the head and neck are so vital that our treatments often cause disfigurement and severe loss of function. So using non-toxic curcumin as a treatment was a very appealing idea." The study, done in cells in Petri dishes and then in mouse models, appears in the October issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. In India, women for years have been using turmeric for medicinal purposes, as an anti-aging agent rubbed into their skin, to treat cramps during menstruation, as a poultice on the skin to promote wound healing and as an additive in cosmetics, said scientist Eri Srivatsan, an adjunct professor of surgery and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher who, along with Wang, has been studying curcumin and its [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-21T15:06:19-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Turmeric makes chemo more effective

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com Author: staff Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have found that curcumin, the major component in the spice turmeric, when combined with the drug Cisplatin enhances the chemotherapy's suppression of head and neck cancer cell growth. In India, women for years have been using turmeric for medicinal purposes, as an anti-aging agent rubbed into their skin, to treat cramps during menstruation, as a poultice on the skin to promote wound healing and as an additive in cosmetics, said scientist Eri Srivatsan, an adjunct professor of surgery and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. Srivatsan, along with Dr. Marilene Wang, a professor of head and neck surgery, lead author of the study and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher, has been studying curcumin and its anti-cancer properties for six years. A 2005 study by Wang and Srivatsan first showed that curcumin suppressed the growth of head and neck cancer cells, first in cells and then in mouse models. In the animal studies, the curcumin was applied directly onto the tumours in paste form because it did not dissolve in saline, which would have allowed it to be injected. In need of a better way to deliver the curcumin, the team collaborated with Dr. Kapil Mehta of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and found that encapsulating the curcumin in a liposome, an artificially prepared vehicle that enclosed the spice component within its membrane, made the treatment injectable. The curcumin was injected into the tail vein of a mouse, where it circulated into the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-20T08:54:24-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

A personalized and integrative approach to cancer care

Source: www.mdnews.com Author: staff With the recent move to a newly renovated office and infusion center at the corner of Tank Farm Road and Broad Street in San Luis Obispo, Tom Spillane, M.D.; Jim Malone, M.D.; and Deborah Villa, M.D., have renamed the practice Coastal Integrative Cancer Care (CICC), in order to reflect their commitment to a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to the treatment of cancer. The group, along with Tim Souchek, PA-C, and a dedicated professional oncology-nursing staff, has been the provider of state-of-the-art medical oncology and hematology care in San Luis Obispo County for more than 10 years. However, the new CICC is now able to maximize patients’ treatment outcomes by integrating the latest scientific and technologic information with complementary therapies. Integrative medicine refers to the fusion of complementary therapies (for which there is evidence of safety and effectiveness) with standard Western medical treatments. The term “integrative oncology” has been developed to describe the integration of mainstream cancer care with nonpharmacologic, evidence-based complementary therapies, examples of which include: dietary changes, exercise, physical therapy, naturopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine, acupuncture, massage therapy, aromatherapy, Reiki, Yoga, meditation, guided imagery/hypnotherapy, expressive arts, Tai Chi, Qigong, resistance training, aerobic training programs and dietary interventions. CICC incorporates these interventions through a host of local providers and resource centers, including the Hearst Cancer Resource Center and The Wellness Community. CICC makes every effort to tailor treatments to individual patients based on science and clinical research. The term “personalized medicine” has also been recently coined to describe [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-13T14:48:00-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

When East meets West, cancer patients win

Source: www.healthzone.ca Author: Nicole Baute An ancient four-herb formula used in China for 1,800 years might one day be available as a prescription pill to treat side effects caused by cancer chemotherapy, thanks to research from Yale University and a growing international consortium focused on the globalization of Chinese medicine. Huang Qin Tang (pronounced Hu-ang Chin Tong) is made with peonies, a purple flower called skullcap, licorice and fruit from a buckthorn tree. The Chinese medicine has long been used for diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and cramps, which happen to be side effects associated with certain chemotherapy drugs. Now research led by Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng, the Henry Bronson Professor of Pharmacology at Yale University, suggests a Western version of this ancient medicine may reduce gut damage caused by chemotherapy in colon and rectal cancer patients. Cheng says a capsule preparation of this formula, called PHY906, inhibits three processes that cause inflammation during chemotherapy and enhances the recovery of damage to tissue. “This is an example of West meeting East for treatment of cancer,” Cheng said, on the phone from Taiwan. Cheng, who has equity interest in the Yale-sponsored company that licenses the technology, is focused on getting PHY906 licensed as a prescription drug in the U.S. — not as a supplement or alternative. A study published in Science Traditional Medicine Wednesday explains how PHY906 restored intestinal damage in mice caused by chemotherapy and also helped trigger the replacement of damaged intestinal stem cells with healthy ones. The drug is now in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-09-30T14:18:21-07:00September, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Michael Douglas talks cancer with Letterman: stage 4, 80% odds

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com Author: staff Michael Douglas says he faces an "eight-week struggle" against throat cancer but is optimistic about his chances for recovery. During an appearance Tuesday on David Letterman's "Late Show," the actor said he had just finished his first week of radiation and chemotherapy. That drew a surprised reaction from Letterman. "You've never looked better to me, and this proves that you're a tough guy, for God's sakes," the talk-show host said, drawing cheers from the studio audience, according to a CBS news release. "Let's just say ... I'm pretty lit up right now," Douglas replied. The disease was diagnosed three weeks ago, he said, although he had complained of a very sore throat earlier this year and had undergone testing that failed to find a cause. Douglas, 65, who has two children with Catherine Zeta-Jones, said he enjoyed the summer traveling with his family before returning to the doctor. A biopsy found he had late, stage-four cancer, "which is intense, and so they've had to go at it," he said. However, Douglas said, the cancer remains above the neck and that means expectations are good, with an 80 percent or better chance of recovery. Asked by Letterman about his personal habits, he said he had smoked and consumed alcohol. According to a National Institutes of Health website, use of tobacco or alcohol are among the factors that put people at risk of developing throat cancer. Combining tobacco and drinking increases the risk. Most throat cancer develops in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-09-01T13:10:43-07:00September, 2010|Oral Cancer News|