HPV vaccine clears viral infection and may reduce cancerous lesions

Source: www.newswise.com Author: staff Breakthrough study reports complete and partial remissions following vaccination A new vaccine designed to stimulate an immune response against a cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV-16) can eliminate chronic infection by the virus and may cause regression of precancerous genital lesions in women who receive the vaccine. According to a report published in the November 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (2009;361:1838-47), the vaccine successfully induced HPV-specific immune responses in 100% of patients with advanced vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN3), a life-threatening disease that in the majority of cases results from HPV infection and for which there is as yet no satisfactory standard therapy. Among the women who participated in the study, the majority (79%) experienced measurable regression of their VIN3 lesions within 1 year of vaccination. Nine of the women (47%) experienced complete disappearance of lesions and were still symptom-free two years following vaccination. The virus was undetectable in four of five women whose disease had regressed completely after the first year. According to researchers who conducted the phase II study at the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands, spontaneous regression of HPV-16 positive VIN3 lesions is very rare, occurring in less than 1.5% of patients. The induction of HPV-specific T-cell immune responses following vaccination, and the researchers’ observation that stronger vaccine-induced immune responses correlated with better clinical outcome indicate that the vaccine is the most likely cause of the high response rate among the patients treated in the study. Unlike recently approved [...]

2009-11-10T20:37:37-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Human papillomavirus infection and cancers of the oropharynx

Source: www.ajho.com Author: Robert Haddad, MD Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA The author was invited to contribute his thoughts on the topic of human papillomavirus and cancers of the oropharynx. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is a major public health problem, affecting nearly half a million individuals worldwide each year. These cancers can arise from the oral cavity, oropharynx, nasopharynx, hypopharynx and larynx.1 Treatment of head and neck cancer is often multidisciplinary, involving chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Patient symptoms can include a sore throat, ear pain, odynophagia, or hoarseness. Most patients will present with stage III or IV disease. The major risk factors are smoking tobacco and alcohol abuse. A large number of patients diagnosed with oropharynx cancer, however, have no history of smoking or drinking, and increasing epidemiological, molecular, and clinical evidence suggests that high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), especially HPV-16, account for the development of these cancers.2-5 Most individuals are unaware of their infection and have no symptoms. HPV is one of the more common virus groups in the world, and more than 80 types of HPV have been identified. Some types (eg, HPV 6 and 11) are known to cause benign conditions such as genital warts, while other types (eg, HPV 16 and 18) are known to be associated with malignant, cancerous transformation. Although different types of HPV are known to infect different parts of the body, HPV usually infects the epithelial cells of skin and mucosa. The epithelial surfaces include all [...]

DNA test could be key to targeting treatments for head and neck cancer

Source: news.biocompare.com Author: staff It is estimated that more than 7,000 people are diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year in the UK and approximately 3,500 cases result in death. These cancers include tumours of the mouth, lips, throat and voice-box, and some have been linked to the sexually transmitted infection, HPV-16. Scientists at Liverpool analysed the DNA of more than 90 cancerous tissue samples to look for genes that indicated infection. The team found that nearly two thirds of tonsil tumour samples showed evidence of the HPV-16 gene. It is thought that chemical alterations in the virus's DNA trigger the production of proteins that can alter the rate at which cells grow and repair. This strongly increases the possibility of subsequent cancer development. Recent studies have found, however, that patients who have the HPV infection when they are diagnosed with cancer, respond better to chemotherapy or radiation therapy than those that do not have the infection. The work will be presented at the National Cancer Research Institute's (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Birmingham today. Mr Richard Shaw, from the School of Cancer Studies, explains: "Recent evidence demonstrates the possible involvement of HPV in the development of tonsil cancer, particularly in non-smokers. Interestingly, the treatment efficiency of chemotherapy and radiation, seems to differ between HPV positive and negative cases. We also need to find out why only a small percentage of people with this common infection develop this cancer. Our study, however, gives us a new lead towards a risk [...]

Scientists identify common HPV genotypes In Northern India, encourage vaccination

Source: www.sciencedaily.com Author: press release Although a wide spectrum of human papillomavirus is seen across the population of India, HPV-16 and HPV-18 are the most common types and a vaccination targeting these types could eliminate 75 percent of the cervical cancers in the region, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research Meeting. Cervical cancer caused by HPV is the most common cancer among Indian women, with an estimated 132,000 new cases and 74,000 deaths annually. "In terms of cancer death, India has one fourth of the global burden and when you standardize for age it is the highest in the world," said A. Raj Kumar Patro, a doctoral student in the Department of Microbiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. "Most women present with an advanced state of the disease and compliance with treatment is very poor." To effectively vaccinate against HPV, scientists need a greater understanding of the genotype. More than 100 HPV genotypes have been identified in humans and at least 40 are found in the anogenital tract, which makes HPV a moving target. Patro and colleagues examined 106 women with invasive cervical cancer, 524 women with an unhealthy cervix and a community-based population of women who underwent HPV testing. Among the women with invasive cervical cancer, 83 percent were linked with HPV-16 or HPV-18. Of those who presented with an unhealthy cervix, 15.5 percent had HPV. HPV-16 and HPV-18 were associated with 34.3 [...]

Understanding the link between HPV and oropharyngeal cancers

Source: www.jaapa.com (Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, October, 2009) Authors: Denise Rizzolo, PA-C, PhD, Mona Sedrak, PA-C, PhD Head and neck cancer is diagnosed in approximately 650,000 patients each year worldwide.1 The term head and neck cancer refers to a group of biologically similar cancers originating from the upper aerodigestive tract, including the lip, oral cavity (mouth), nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. Oropharyngeal refers to all the structures of the mouth and pharynx, including the tonsils and tongue. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common form of head and neck cancer.2 Seventy-five percent of all OSCCs are attributable to tobacco and alcohol use.3 People who smoke cigarettes are 4 times more likely to develop oral cancer than nonsmokers. Furthermore, individuals who consume alcohol are 3 times more likely than nondrinkers to develop oral cancer.3 According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the prevalence of cigarette smoking has decreased among Americans, and alcohol use has also declined since the 1970s.4,5 However despite this, the incidence of oropharyngeal cancers, including cancer of the base of the tongue and tonsils, has increased, especially in younger patients. These trends have led researchers to investigate other potential risk factors.6-8 New studies suggest that there may be an alternative pathway for the development of oropharyngeal cancers. The high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), especially type 16 (HPV-16), are now thought to be potential etiologic agents.2,3 The concept that HPV plays a role in head and neck [...]

New evidence supports HPV vaccine

MONDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is highly effective at preventing precancerous cervical lesions that can lead to cervical cancer, a new study shows. The researchers also found that the HPV-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine also appears to protect against other cancer-causing HPV types closely related to HPV-16/18, most notably HPV-31 and HPV-45. The study of women aged 15 to 25, who received three vaccine doses over six months, found that it was as much as 98 percent effective against HPV-16/18, and between 37 percent and 54 percent effective against 12 other cancer-causing HPV types. HPV-16/18 causes about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, while the remaining 30 percent of cases are caused by other cancer-causing HPV types. The cross-protective effect of the HPV-16/18 vaccine could provide an additional 11 percent to 16 percent protection against cervical cancer. "Although the importance of continued tests for Pap or HPV in vaccinated and unvaccinated women must be emphasized, HPV vaccination has the potential to substantially reduce the incidence of cervical cancer and precancer, and the numbers of colposcopy referrals and cervical excision procedures," concluded Dr. Jorma Paavonen, of the University of Helsinki in Finland, and colleagues. The study, which was funded by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, maker of the HPV-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine Cervarix, appears online July 7 and in an upcoming print issue of The Lancet. In an accompanying editorial, two experts wrote that men must also be included in efforts to halt the spread of HPV. "Currently, the targets for [...]

2009-07-10T15:34:24-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Researchers confirm link between HPV and head and neck cancer but survey shows public ignorance on role of oral sex

Source: Medicalnewstoday.com Author: Olwen Glynn Owen Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an important causative agent in squamous cell cancers of head and neck (HNSCC) a new meta-analysis presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) confirms; but a separate European survey at the same meeting reveals the public is woefully ignorant about it and possible ways to avoid it. Lack of public awareness about the possible link between HPV-related head and neck cancer and oral sex with multiple partners presents a case for making vaccinations against HPV more widely available to boys as well as girls before they become sexually active, commented leading expert Professor Jean-Louis Lefebvre of Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille, France. Researchers led by Farshid Dayyani at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, looked at a total of almost 7000 patients who developed head and neck cancer over the past 20 years to gauge the prevalence of HPV - a possible causative agent. They included studies which had tested for the virus in serum or in tumour tissue by PCR and found almost a quarter of patients (24.2%) had HPV positive tumours. Of these the vast majority (86.8%) were positive for HPV 16, the virus also associated with cervical cancer. Overall, the researchers concluded that being HPV positive increased the risk of developing head and neck cancer by 40 per cent. But being HPV16 positive increased the risk more than fourfold (4.47 times higher) compared to HPV16 negative patients. However, people with HPV-associated head and neck cancer lived [...]

2009-06-19T07:40:26-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

New broad-spectrum vaccine to prevent cervical cancer induces strong responses in animals

Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute Author: Staff Wednesday, May 27, 2009   Mice and rabbits immunized with a multimeric-L2 protein vaccine had robust antibody responses and were protected from infection when exposed to human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 four months after vaccination, according to a new study published in the May 26 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Current HPV L1-based vaccines are almost 100% protective against infection by the two HPV types that are responsible for 70% of all cervical cancer cases world wide. However, the existing vaccines provide limited protection against the other HPV types that cause cancer. With that limitation in mind, Richard Roden, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues have been working on an alternate vaccine that is based on the HPV minor capsid protein L2, which is highly conserved between HPV types. Previous experiments showed that the L2 protein induced only a weak antibody response in animals. In the current study, Roden and colleagues linked together a short segment of the L2 protein from several HPV types to generate a single multimeric L2 fusion protein. They tested the ability of this multimeric-L2 protein to induce antibody responses in animals and its ability to protect them from subsequent infection with HPV type 16. Mice immunized with the multimeric L2 vaccine developed robust antibody responses against all of the HPV types tested, although the antibody titer was still lower than the type-restricted responses following vaccination with an existing [...]

2009-06-02T20:49:51-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

What Farrah Fawcett can teach us about anal cancer

Source: health.usnews.com/blogs Author: Deborah Kotz As much as I think celebrities should be afforded their privacy—like the rest of us—when they're battling life-threatening diseases, I sometimes blog about their conditions because I see them as teaching moments. Farrah Fawcett is in the news today with reports that she's been hospitalized for complications of anal cancer. She was first diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. Speculation was running wild that she was "close to dying," but the latest reports say she's suffering from a blood clot that resulted from an "alternative" cancer treatment she had in Germany to fight the cancer's recurrence. Anal cancer is one of those cancers no one likes to talk about because it's, well, anal cancer. But we really should discuss it as much as, say, cervical cancer. Both are predominately caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. In fact, a 2004 study of 6,000 anal cancer patients (the majority of whom were women) found that 73 percent of the patients tested positive for the strain HPV-16, one of the strains that the Gardasil vaccine protects against. What's worrisome is that unlike cervical cancer, which has dropped dramatically since the advent of the Pap smear, anal cancer is on the rise. Incidence rates over the past 30 years have jumped by 78 percent in women and 160 percent in men, probably because more people now have more sexual partners and more people have anal sex (both among heterosexuals and gay men), says Lisa Johnson, a cancer epidemiologist [...]

A fighting partner

Source: RDH Magazine Author: Donna Marie Grzegorek Dentists and hygienists should be teaming up to be the first line of defense against oral cancer. In the United States this year, more than 35,310 new cases of oral and pharyngeal cancer will be diagnosed, with an estimated 7,590 people who will die. Sadly, survival rates for oral cancer have not changed significantly in 40 years, and embarrassingly, dental professionals are alone among health professionals who screen for cancer with their hands and eyes. Under the watchful eye of the dental practitioner, 70% of the lesions found during visual and palpation exams are detected in Stage III and Stage IV, and one–half of those patients (58%) will survive less than five years. It gets worse ... a survey conducted by the American Dental Association revealed that only 15% of patients reported having an oral cancer examination during a routine dental appointment. And noteworthy, failure to diagnose oral cancer is the number two cause of dental malpractice in the United States. Oral cancer claims constitute the most expensive malpractice suits and the most difficult to defend, with awards typically exceeding $1 million. If these statistics are not compelling enough, take note that the face of oral cancer is changing. No longer should we look at the older male patient with a chronic history of tobacco and alcohol abuse as the only high–risk patient. Twenty–seven percent of all new oral cancers are occurring in young adults with no associated risk factors. So I ask [...]

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