Trans oral robotic surgery saves public Australian hospital patients from disfiguring procedure

Source: www.smh.com.au Author: Kate Aubusson The cancerous tumour growing at the back of Brian Hodge's tongue was about as hard-to-reach as cancers get. The 73-year-old was told he'd need radical, invasive surgery to remove the 50¢-sized tumour. His surgeon would make an incision almost from ear-to-ear and split his jaw in two for the 10-12 hour surgery. After five days in intensive care, another three weeks in hospital and four to six months recovery, re-learning how to eat and talk Mr Hodge would have been left with disfiguring scars, and a voice that he may not recognise as his own. "My kids didn't want me to have it," Mr Hodge said. "But I'm not one to throw in the towel ... Then the unbelievable happened," he said. Mr Hodge became one of the first public patients to undergo robotic surgery for head, neck and throat cancer at Nepean Hospital, the state's only hospital offering the service to patients who can't afford private healthcare. Mr Hodge's surgeon, Associate Professor Ronald Chin, performed the trans oral robotic surgery (TORS) by guiding the robot's arm into his patient's open mouth to remove the cancerous tumour. "I went in on Monday morning for the surgery and I was discharged Tuesday night," Mr Hodge said of his surgery performed on June 19. "It's just amazing. Two days compared to six months recovering. "What's got me is that before it was only available to people who could pay the big money. I've worked all my life, [...]

2017-07-17T07:29:27-07:00July, 2017|Oral Cancer News|
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The scary reason doctors say kids need HPV vaccinations

Source: www.washingtonpost.com Author: Sarah Vander Schaaff When actor Michael Douglas told a reporter that his throat cancer was caused by HPV contracted through oral sex, two themes emerged that had nothing to do with celebrity gossip. The first was incredulity — since when was oral sex related to throat cancer? Even the reporter thought he had misheard. The second was embarrassment. This was too much information, not only about sexual behavior but also about one’s partners. Douglas apologized, and maybe the world was not ready to hear the greater truth behind what he was suggesting. That was four years ago. Today, there is no doubt in the medical community that the increase in HPV-related cancers such as the one Douglas described — which he later explained was found at the base of his tongue — is caused by sexual practices, in his case cunnilingus. And there is an urgency to better treat and prevent what is becoming the one type of oral cancer whose numbers are climbing, especially among men in the prime of their lives who have decades to live with the consequences of their cancer treatment. The number of people diagnosed with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, tumors found in the middle of the pharynx or throat including the back of the tongue, soft palate, sides of throat and tonsils — is relatively small — about 12,638 men and 3,100 women in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But these numbers are [...]

2017-04-02T11:30:23-07:00April, 2017|Oral Cancer News|
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Curbing oral cancer

Source:.businessmirror.com.ph Author: Henrylito D. Tacio “Cancer is the third leading cause of death in the country today. Most of it can be prevented since its risk factors are lifestyle and environmentally related. Early detection of cancer is a crucial key to the survival and recovery of its victims. The earlier you detect the malignancy the higher the survival rate of the patient.” —Dr. Vic Fileto Chua of Movement for Early Detection of Cancer What's the leading cause of oral cancer? Is it smoking or heavy drinking? Although smoking and drinking may cause oral cancer, the leading cause is oral sex, a sexual act that involves the stimulation of the genitalia using the mouth. Studies have shown that 64 percent of cancers of the oral cavity, head, and neck in the United States are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which is commonly spread via oral sex. The more oral sex you have – and the more oral sex partners you have – the greater the risk of developing these potentially deadly cancers. “An individual who has six or more lifetime partners—on whom they’ve performed oral sex—has an eightfold increase in risk compared to someone who has never performed oral sex,” explained Dr. Maura Gillison, an oncologist at Ohio State University. Gillison headed a team of researchers who examined 271 throat-tumor samples collected over 20 years ending in 2004. They found that the percentage of oral cancer linked to HPV surged to 72 percent from about 16 percent. The study, which was [...]

2016-11-17T12:44:14-07:00November, 2016|Oral Cancer News|
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Oral cancer in the crosshairs at San Antonio Dental School

Source: tpr.org Author: Wendy Rigby San Antonio researchers are working on a new therapy for a stealthy killer: oral cancer. Visits to the dentist are your number one protection against the disease. In a lab at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, dental researcher Cara Gonzales, DDS, Ph.D., shared promising news on a new approach to healing. "It was very exciting," Gonzales said. "These patients have not had any new therapeutic options in 40 years." The discovery of a new gene that’s turned on in oral cancers gave Gonzales and her colleagues a new target at which to aim. It’s a gene that’s also found in lung cancers. So-called nude mice are used in the oral cancer experiments. Wendy Rigby / Texas Public Radio Gonzales works in a sprawling space filled with lab equipment and cell lines used in many molecular biology projects. One of her research assistants brought in a cage of lab animals with some strange lumps on their backs. "These are called nude mice because they don’t have a complete immune system," Gonzales explained. These mice are at the center of a successful experiment. First, scientists used human oral cancer cells to grow large tumors on the animals. They tried one oral cancer drug already on the market. Not much action. Then, they tried a lung cancer drug, also already approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Not that effective on its own. Finally, they used a combination of two drugs. [...]

2016-10-14T11:59:11-07:00October, 2016|Oral Cancer News|
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Alcohol consumption increases risk for seven types of cancer: Study

Source: perfscience.com Author: Diana Bretting An analysis of past health studies that have looked at the association between drinking and cancer has unveiled that having alcoholic beverages can increase the risk for seven types of cancer, including head, neck, esophageal, liver, colorectal and breast cancer. The analysis carried out by Jennie Connor of the University of Otago, in New Zealand included comprehensive reviews conducted by the prestigious organizations, which include the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research among others. The researchers came to know that the risk did not go down even if there were different alcohol types like rum, whiskey, wine or beer. The risk increases with higher consumption, which as per the researchers is known as a dose-response relationship. Connor was of the view that there is little evidence suggesting that the risk lessens for head and neck and liver cancers when consumption declines. Dr. Susan Gapstur, Vice-President of the Epidemiology Research Program at the American Cancer Society, said that the analysis has strengthened what is already known about the link between alcohol and cancer. Dr. Gapstur said, “This is a review of an existing body of literature. Essentially the author has interpreted the literature to help people to understand. But it's not a study of any new data. These seven cancer sites have long been established”. Health officials were of the view that the study might help regular drinkers to cut their drinking habit. Dr. Jana Witt, of Cancer Research UK said [...]

2016-07-27T11:42:47-07:00July, 2016|Oral Cancer News|
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Oral cancer less likely in women who have more sex; but not the same for men

Source: www.parentherald.com Author: Diane Ting Having more sex partners reduces the chance of oral cancer for women. Unfortunately, men are more likely to become infected as the number of oral sex partners increases. A study suggests that women who have more vaginal sex partners appear to have a lower risk of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. The information was released during the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Throat and mouth cancer are linked to HPV, which is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases. HPV is rather common, as most people are treated of the virus within two years. According to the study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), oral sex may increase the risk of head and neck cancer by 22 percent. In the last 20 years, the number of oral cancer patients has risen to 225 percent. Oral cancer is typically linked to lifestyle causes such as heavy drinking and smoking, according to Mirror. Two in three sufferers of oral cancer were men, which made experts question the imbalance. HPV is the same cancer that causes cervical cancer in women. Research states that because women are first exposed to HPV vaginally, they may develop an immune response that prevents them from getting the infection. Unfortunately, research suggests that this may not be the same for men as they are found twice more likely to develop oral cancer. As the number of oral sex partners increase, the risk of [...]

2016-02-18T14:27:17-07:00February, 2016|Oral Cancer News|
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Salivary gland cancers rare, but sometimes deadly

Source: articles.baltimoresun.com Author: Andrea K. Walker Professional baseball great Tony Gwynn Sr., also known as Mr. Padre, died last month of salivary gland cancer, which he believed was caused by years of using smokeless chewing tobacco. The cancer is a rare form that begins in any of the salivary glands in the mouth, neck or throat. Two adults in 100,000 are diagnosed with salivary gland cancer each year. The chances of survival drop if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Dr. Patrick K. Ha, with Johns Hopkins Head and Neck Surgery at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, says new types of treatments and therapies are in the works to treat the disease. What is salivary gland cancer and how common is it? Salivary gland cancers are a diverse group of rare malignancies that can involve any of the major salivary glands (the parotid, submandibular and sublingual) or minor salivary glands, which are found within the lip, palate, tongue base, nasal cavity or sinuses. There are numerous different cancers that may arise from the salivary glands, and these may behave differently based on their cell of origin. What causes it, and who is more likely to get it? Little is known about the causes of salivary gland cancers. Unlike the more common head and neck cancers, which have a clear association with smoking, drinking or even the human papillomavirus (HPV), salivary gland cancers do not have such strong associations. There may be a link between significant radiation exposure (i.e., treatment [...]

2014-07-12T08:55:49-07:00July, 2014|Oral Cancer News|
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Global trends in oral cancers

Source: www.dailyrx.com Author: staff It used to be that smoking and drinking alcohol were the biggest risk factors for cancers that develop in the mouth and throat. Those trends may be changing, according to a new study. That new study uncovered that cancers that appear in the throat right behind the mouth have increased, primarily in developed countries. The trend has been most prevalent in men under the age of 60, the researchers found. These increases, the authors suggested, may be linked to human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that’s associated with a number of cancers, including oral cancers. Anil K. Chaturvedi, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, led this study that examined incidence trends for oropharyngeal (part of the throat behind the mouth) and oral cavity (mouth) cancers in 23 countries across four continents. The researchers examined the countries’ cancer registry data for the years 1983 to 2002. In the study’s introduction, the authors noted that oral cavity cancers (OCC) have declined recently in most parts of the world due to the declines in tobacco use. At the same time, oropharyngeal cancers (OPC) have risen over the past 20 years in some countries. OPC rates were compared to those of OCC and lung cancers to distinguish the potential role of HPV from smoking-related cancer trends. The researchers tracked specific OPC sites, including base of the tongue, tonsils, oropharynx and pharynx (throat). OCC sites included the tongue, gums, floor of the mouth, palate (roof of the mouth) and other [...]

2013-11-19T14:42:18-07:00November, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Dental hygienist, consultant detects own oral cancer

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Shelli Castor Dental hygienist and practice-management consultant Barbara Boland discovered at the young age of 41 that she had oral cancer. Boland is now a 10-year cancer survivor, and she hopes her story and experiences will serve to start a continuing dialogue about oral cancer, especially among dental professionals. Boland graduated from Temple University in Pennsylvania in 1982 and has been working as a practice-management consultant for 24 years. In December 2002, she discovered a peculiar white spot on her tongue that she knew she hadn’t noticed before. She kept an eye on the spot for a month, and because it was changing, she showed her tongue to a head and neck surgeon. The surgeon responded that it couldn’t be cancer for various reasons: she didn’t smoke or drink, she was female, and she was “too young” — there was no way the spot could be cancer. While such an almost flippant response to a patient’s concerns seems wildly out of place and unexpected today, Boland notes that 10 years ago, dental and medical professionals were not well-educated on the signs, symptoms, and risk factors of oral cancer. For dental and medical professionals 10 years ago, the most common risk factors included tobacco and alcohol use, age, and the fact that males had a higher incidence of oral cancer than females. Boland fit none of those categories, and so her concerns were not seen as pressing. Still, the spot on her tongue “didn’t feel right” to her. [...]

2013-10-15T07:37:56-07:00October, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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Cancer waiting times ‘could cost lives’

Source: www.rochdaleonline.co.uk Author: staff Statistics released by the Department of Health reveal costly delays that could jeopardize the lives of suspected head and neck cancer patients. According to the 2012/13 Cancer Waiting Times annual report1, 1,252 suspected head and neck cancer patients had to wait longer than three weeks to be seen by a specialist, a delay that could potentially cost lives. With mouth cancer cases on the increase, campaigners the British Dental Health Foundation are calling for suspected head and neck cancer patients to be seen within the two-week referral target due to the very nature of the disease. Without early detection, the five year survival rate for mouth cancer is only 50 per cent. If it is caught early, survival rates over five years can dramatically improve to up to 90 per cent. Between April 2012 and March 2013 over one million patients were seen by cancer specialists following an urgent referral. A total of 96.1 per cent of suspected head and neck cancer were seen within 14 days of referral, compared to 96.3 per cent in 2010-20112. More than 50,000 patients were not seen within 14 days of referral. Cancer waiting times are monitored carefully by the Foundation, which organises the Mouth Cancer Action Month campaign, sponsored by Denplan also supported by Dentists’ Provident and the Association of Dental Groups (ADG), in November each year to help raise awareness of the disease and its symptoms. Tobacco use, drinking alcohol to excess, smoking, poor diet and the human [...]

2013-09-04T07:03:39-07:00September, 2013|Oral Cancer News|
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