chemotherapy – Page 28 – Oral Cancer News

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy reduces xerostomia in head and neck cancer

Source: www.oncologystat.com Author: staff Intensity-modulated radiotherapy significantly reduces the risk of subjective xerostomia by about 50% in patients with pharyngeal tumors, according to the first results of the multicenter, phase III PARSPORT trial. Cancer Research UK's PARSPORT (Parotid-Sparing Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Compared With Conventional Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Oropharyngeal or Hypopharyngeal Cancer Who Are at High Risk of Radiation-Induced Xerostomia) trial evenly randomized 94 patients with pharyngeal tumors to conventional radiotherapy (conventional radiotherapy ) or intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). A three-dimensional technique, IMRT produces highly conformal dose distributions that can reduce the radiation dose to the salivary glands and normal tissue. At 12 months, the incidence of grade 2 or higher xerostomia was 74% in CRT patients vs. 39% in IMRT patients, based on the subjective portion of the LENT/SOM (Late Effects on Normal Tissue-Subjective/Objective Management) questionnaire (P = .004). The benefit of IMRT appeared to continue over time, with an 18-month xerostomia incidence of 71% with conventional therapy vs. 29% with IMRT (P = .003), principal investigator Dr. Christopher Nutting reported in a late-breaking abstract presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. A similar pattern was observed using the RTOG (Radiotherapy Oncology Group) scale. The incidence of at least grade 2 xerostomia was 64% with CRT vs. 41% with IMRT at 12 months (P = .05), and 81% vs. 20% at 18 months (P less than .001). This is the first randomized IMRT trial in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, although phase [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-07T19:02:00-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Taste, odor intervention

Source: speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com Author: staff Cancer and its therapies, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, may directly alter and damage taste and odor perception, possibly leading to patient malnutrition, and in severe cases, significant morbidity, according to a Virginia Tech - Wake Forest University Comprehensive Cancer Center compilation of various existing studies [Journal of Supportive Oncology, 7(2): 58-65]. One of the purposes of the study, said Andrea Dietrich, PhD, professor of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) at Virginia Tech, is to provide researchers and physicians with a better understanding of the types and causes of taste and odor dysfunctions so that they can develop treatments for these conditions and improve the quality of life of their patients. According to Susan Duncan, PhD, RD, professor of food science and technology at Virginia Tech, a bad taste in the mouth can lead to poor nutrition because patients avoid eating. Approximately two thirds of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy report altered sensory perception, such as decreased or lost taste acuity or metallic taste. Altered sensory perception causes psychological anxiety and malnutrition, and thus negatively impacts the chances of survival for cancer patients, as reported in an earlier study conducted by Duke University. Dr. Dietrich, an expert on water quality and treatment, as well as the taste and odor assessment of water, has expanded upon her knowledge of this field to include such assessments in cancer patients. She worked with Jae Hee Hong, Dr. Duncan, and Brian T. Stanek of the Virginia Tech Food Science and Technology [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-03T05:07:36-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Use of Erbitux in head and neck cancer rejected by NICE

Source: Pharmafocus.com Author: Staff Erbitux has failed to win NICE approval for the treatment of head and neck cancer, due to doubts over its cost and clinical effectiveness compared to existing treatments. It was rejected under NICE's new scheme to make more end-of-life drugs available by extending the threshold at which they are considered cost-effective, making it an extra heavy blow for manufacturer Merck Serono. Chief executive Andrew Dillon defended NICE's decision, saying the alternative of approving the medicine for the health service was unviable. He added: "This would mean the NHS making significant funds available for a very expensive treatment which may or may not benefit individual patients. Those funds would not then be available for treating other conditions with greater and more certain benefits for other patients." Erbitux is a monoclonal antibody and one of a new class of cancer drugs which target genetic mutations that allow cancer cells to multiply, and are designed to bypass many of the unpleasant side-effects associated with traditional chemotherapy. Licensed also in colorectal cancer, in 2008 the drug made global sales of nearly $1.6 million in 2008, and is expected to reach sales of $3.4 million by 2014. In the latest appraisal, Erbitux was rejected as a treatment of recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell cancer of the head and neck and NICE recommended against its use in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with this cancer. The appraisal committee were uncertain over the clinical effectiveness of the drug and the cost of [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-06-25T16:43:53-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

New radiotherapy technique proven safe, less toxic for cancer patients, University Of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute study finds

Source: Medicalnewstoday.com Author: Staff A new technique known as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is safe for patients with recurrent head and neck cancers and may improve their quality of life, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). Results of the phase I study were reported today in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. Each year approximately 500,000 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck are diagnosed worldwide. While treatment has improved with advances in surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, more than half of patients will die from recurrent disease. Treatment options for patients with recurrent disease are limited, and for many, surgery may not be an option, according to principal investigator Dwight E. Heron, M.D., director, Radiation Oncology Services, UPMC Cancer Centers. "Chemotherapy alone can provide this patient population some palliation and pain relief, but it doesn't prolong survival," said Dr. Heron. "A few patients may be able to receive additional radiation treatments, but head and neck cancers, by their very nature, develop in very delicate areas of the body, which provide significant retreatment challenges." SBRT may offer these patients an alternative, noted Dr. Heron. "At the completion of our study, we found this treatment was tolerated very well. No maximum tolerated dose was reached, and no toxicities occurred that caused us to limit the dosing." SBRT is a relatively new technique using CyberKnife® technology, which delivers high doses of radiation with more precision than conventional techniques. The vast majority of patients complete [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-06-21T06:01:15-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

New treatment combination proves safe for head and neck cancer patients

Source: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases Author: press release Patients undergoing treatment for advanced head and neck cancers may respond well to the addition of gefinitib to chemotherapy, according to a study sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and chaired by Ethan Argiris, M.D., associate professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and co-leader of the Head and Neck Cancer Program of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). The results will be disclosed at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on May 30 in Orlando, Fla. "We found that adding gefinitib to standard chemotherapy was well-tolerated by patients who had already received chemotherapy or were frail," said Dr. Argiris. "We had hoped this study would improve the survival rate of patients, but while gefinitib did postpone spread of the disease, it did not increase survival rates. The finding that the addition of gefinitib to chemotherapy can delay the growth of head and neck cancer suggests a potential beneficial effect from combination therapy." One group of 136 patients in the placebo-controlled study received docetaxel alone, a standard treatment for head and neck cancer. A second group of 134 patients received gefinitib in addition to docetaxel. This was the first phase III randomized trial to examine the addition of gefinitib to chemotherapy for patients with head and neck cancer. Gefinitib, which also is known by the trade name Iressa, is a targeted therapy against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with fewer side effects than traditional [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-31T17:41:24-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Studies find two new methods for curbing nausea of chemotherapy

Source: www.latimes.com Author: Shari Roan Chemotherapy could soon become less grueling. Simply adding about half a teaspoon of ginger to food in the days before, during and after chemotherapy can reduce the often-debilitating side effects of nausea and vomiting, a large, randomized clinical trial has found. And a newer type of anti-nausea drug, when added to standard medications, can help prevent such side effects as well. The ginger results will be presented this month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting; the drug study was published this week in the Lancet Oncology journal. The findings are significant, cancer experts say, because about 70% of chemotherapy patients experience nausea and vomiting -- often severe -- during treatment. "Chemotherapy has come to be the thing cancer patients fear the most," said Dr. Steven Grunberg, a professor of medicine at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study in the Lancet Oncology. "We've made a huge amount of progress, but we haven't completely solved the problem." In the ginger study, 644 patients, most of them female, from 23 oncology practices nationwide received two standard anti-emetic medications at the time of chemotherapy. They also were given a capsule containing either 0.5 gram, 1 gram or 1.5 grams of ginger, or a placebo capsule. The patients took the capsules containing the placebo or ginger for three days before chemotherapy and three days after the treatment. All of the patients receiving ginger experienced less nausea for four days after chemotherapy, said lead [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-16T21:02:06-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Perioperative chemotherapy in patients with oral cancer

Source: Medline Authors: Rao RS, Parikh DM, Parikh HK, Bhansali MB, Deshmane VH, Fakih AR In the final report of a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial, we report the results of using adjuvant perioperative chemotherapy in patients with oral cancer. Our study is based on the hypothesis of Goldie and Coldman. A total of 135 patients with alveolobuccal carcinoma, classified as clinically stage III and IV, were entered on the protocol. After a curative resection, they were randomized. The patients in the test arm of the study received methotrexate 50 mg/m2 on the 3rd, 10th, and 17th postoperative days. The patients in the control arm underwent observation. This analysis at 24 months showed a disease-free survival rate of 61% in the test arm versus 37% in the control arm, which is statistically highly significant (P < 0.01). Analysis of the recurrence pattern showed that recurrence at the primary site was dramatically reduced during the first 6 postoperative months (P = 0.002). Our study provided further clinical evidence in support of the concepts of Goldie and Coldman that the timing of chemotherapeutic drugs is critical for a successful end result.

Charlotte Parker2009-04-23T12:47:16-07:00April, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Combination of chemo and common virus continues to show remarkable results in advanced cancer patients

Source: www.newswise.com Author: press release Chemotherapy—as any cancer patient will tell you—is not for the faint of heart, but it can kill many forms of cancer. Some form of chemotherapy, originally discovered as a cancer treatment almost seventy years ago, is still routinely prescribed for most types of the disease. The treatment works by targeting fast-growing cells, like those typically found in rapidly growing tumors. But while chemotherapy can shrink tumors, they often grow back and become resistant, or refractory to chemotherapy. To combat this resistance, chemotherapy is now often used in combination with other treatments that have different mechanisms for attacking and killing cancer cells. But doctors must be cautious when combining treatments to ensure that the regimen does not become too toxic for patients to tolerate. The goal is to introduce drugs that can be used synergistically with chemotherapy to not only extend life, but to provide cancer patients with good quality of life while undergoing treatment. One such complimentary drug may be Reolysin®, now being developed from the naturally occurring reovirus, by Oncolytics Biotech Inc. The reovirus preferentially replicates in cancer cells with an activated RAS pathway, while sparing normal cells. Approximately two thirds of all cancers have an activated RAS pathway, including most metastatic disease. Viral replication within cancer cells causes them to burst open, releasing more virus to infect other cells. Reolysin is demonstrating impressive results in clinical trials on its own, but particularly in combination with certain chemotherapeutics. Recently, Oncolytics announced positive results from [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-04T05:44:15-07:00April, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Avastin, Erbitux combo proves dangerous

Source: www.newsinferno.com Author: staff Combining Avastin and Erbitux with chemotherapy to treat colon cancer may actually make patients sicker, and cause their tumors to grow faster. According to a new Dutch study, using Avastin and Erbitux to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy is a complete failure, and could actually cut the survival time of patients by as much as a month. Avastin was approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004 to treat colon cancer, and in 2006, the agency approved it as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Last year, the FDA also approved Avastin as a breast cancer treatment. Avastin was the first approved therapy designed to inhibit angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels develop and carry vital nutrients to a tumor. Erbitux is indicated for the treatment of patients who have colorectal cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and whose tumor expresses a protein called an Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor. Erbitux was approved by the FDA to treat advanced colon cancer in 2004, and again in 2006 for treating squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck It was theorized that adding Erbitux and Avastin to chemotherapy could boost benefits, but unfortunately, the Dutch study has proven the opposite to be true. The study looked at 732 patients; 378 patients where treated with chemo plus Avastin. The remaining patients received chemo along with Avastin and Erbitux. Median progression-free survival was 10.7 months among those receiving only Avastin with [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-07T13:44:11-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Robotic tongue cancer surgery

Source: kaaltv.com Author: staff Fighting cancer is not easy. Chemotherapy, radiation and surgery can be very hard on your body. Take head and neck cancers, for example. These tumors are often hard to reach. Doctors have to cut through bones such as your jaw to reach them. Now, doctors at Mayo Clinic are using robots to access these cancers leaving face bones intact. Roger Combs may be having a tough time beating his wife Gloria at a game of gin rummy. But he's winning a much tougher battle; a fight against cancer that formed at the base of his tongue. "I really didn't feel badly. I had some difficulty swallowing," he says. Roger's doctors told him the cancer had to be removed. "But the tongue and tonsillar area is a very hard area to get to," says Dr. Eric Moore. Dr. Moore says traditional surgery often involves splitting the jawbone open to access the tumor. "And obviously that's disfiguring, interferes with speech and swallowing and it takes a lot of time to recover, " he says. So instead, Dr. Moore used a robot to remove Roger's cancer. The operation involves lowering the robotic equipment through Roger's mouth to the site of the tumor. While seated at a control panel Dr. Moore then guides the robot as it removes the cancer without damaging surrounding structures. After Roger healed from the operation, he went through radiation and chemotherapy - both of which were not easy. "We've had some ups and downs as [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-12-11T13:29:12-07:00December, 2008|Oral Cancer News|