HPV – Page 17 – Oral Cancer News

Biotech exec facing death urges: Get the vaccine that prevents his cancer

Source: www.philly.com Author: Michael D. Becker Like most people who pen a new book, Michael D. Becker is eager for publicity. But he has an unusual sense of urgency. A former oncology biotech CEO, Becker has neck cancer. He expects his 49th birthday in November to be his last, if he makes it. What also drives him to get his message out, however, is this: Children today can get a vaccine that prevents the kind of oropharyngeal cancer that is killing him. As he collides with his mortality, Becker wants to share his story and raise awareness about the vaccine, which protects against dangerous strains of human papillomavirus, or HPV, the extremely common, sexually transmitted virus that caused his disease. His book, A Walk With Purpose: Memoir of a Bioentrepreneur (available on Amazon.com), was produced and self-published in a creative sprint between December, when his cancer recurred just a year after initial diagnosis and treatment, and April. He also has a blog, My Cancer Journey, and has been conducting media interviews. “I had a lot of motivation to write the book quickly,” he said wryly at his home in Yardley. In the final pages, he urges parents “to talk to their doctor about the HPV vaccine,” which “simply didn’t exist when I was a teenager, or it could have prevented my cancer.” The leading vaccine brand, Gardasil, was hailed as a breakthrough when it was introduced in 2006. It is approved to prevent cervical cancer and less common genital malignancies, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-07-06T09:33:47-07:00July, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Mayo Clinic Q and A: Throat cancer symptoms

Source: newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Author: Dr. Eric Moore, Otorhinolaryngology, Mayo Clinic DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Are there early signs of throat cancer, or is it typically not found until its late stages? How is it treated? ANSWER: The throat includes several important structures that are relied on every minute of the day and night to breathe, swallow and speak. Unfortunately, cancer can involve any, and sometimes all, of these structures. The symptoms of cancer, how early these symptoms are recognized and how the cancer is treated depend on which structures are involved. All of the passageway between your tongue and your esophagus can be considered the throat. It includes three main areas. The first is the base of your tongue and tonsils. These, along with the soft palate and upper side walls of the pharynx, are called the oropharynx. Second is the voice box, or larynx. It consists of the epiglottis — a cartilage flap that helps to close your windpipe, or trachea, when you swallow — and the vocal cords. Third is the hypopharynx. That includes the bottom sidewalls and the back of the throat before the opening of the esophagus. Tumors that occur in these three areas have different symptoms, behave differently and often are treated differently. That’s why the areas of the throat are subdivided into separate sections by the head and neck surgeons who diagnose and treat them. For example, in the oropharynx, most tumors are squamous cell carcinoma. Most are caused by HPV, although smoking and alcohol can [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-06-22T08:04:29-07:00June, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

HPV Vaccination Linked to Decreased Oral HPV Infections

Author: NCI Staff Date: June 5th, 2017 Source: www.cancer.org New study results suggest that vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) may sharply reduce oral HPV infections that are a major risk factor for oropharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer. The study of more than 2,600 young adults in the United States found that the prevalence of oral infection with four HPV types, including two high-risk, or cancer-causing, types, was 88% lower in those who reported receiving at least one dose of an HPV vaccine than in those who said they were not vaccinated. About 70% of oropharyngeal cancers are caused by high-risk HPV infection, and the incidence of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer has been increasing in the United States in recent decades. In the United States, more than half of oropharyngeal cancers are linked to a single high-risk HPV type, HPV 16, which is one of the types covered by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved HPV vaccines. “In an unvaccinated population, we would estimate that about a million young adults would have an oral HPV infection by one of these vaccine HPV types. If they had all been vaccinated, we could have prevented almost 900,000 of those infections,” said senior study author Maura Gillison, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Gillison presented the new findings at a May 17 press briefing ahead of the 2017 annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, held June 2–6 in Chicago. A Rapidly Rising Cancer Oropharyngeal [...]

Charlotte Parker2017-06-05T14:39:41-07:00June, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Novel vaccine therapy can generate immune responses in patients with HPV-related head and neck cancer

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: staff A novel vaccine therapy can generate immune responses in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCCa), according to researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The treatment specifically targets human papillomavirus (HPV), which is frequently associated with HNSCCa, to trigger the immune response. Researchers will present the results of their pilot study during the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago (Abstract #6073). HNSCCa is a cancer that develops in the mucous membranes of the mouth, and throat. While smoking and tobacco use are known causes, the number of cases related to HPV infection - a sexually transmitted infection that is so common, the Centers for Disease Control says almost all sexually active adults will contract it at some point in their lifetimes - is on the rise. The CDC now estimates 70 percent of all throat cancers in the United States are HPV-related. Sixty percent are caused by the subtype known as HPV 16/18. "This is the subtype we target with this new therapy, and we're the only site in the country to demonstrate immune activation with this DNA based immunotherapeutic vaccine for HPV 16/18 associated head and neck cancer," said the study's lead author Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of Hematology Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The vaccine is delivered as an injection of antigens - which leads the immune system to start producing antibodies and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-06-01T13:08:47-07:00June, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

More patients presenting with HPV-associated oral cancers in Lubbock, TX

Source: lubbockonline.com Author: Ellysa Harris Detecting oral cancers in patients in their 50s and 60s has never been uncommon. But local dentists and doctors say finding it in younger patient populations has become a new norm. Oral cancers driven by Human Papillomavirus are now the fastest growing oral and oropharyngeal cancers, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation website. And local health officials say they’ve seen a few more cases than usual. Dr. Joehassin Cordero, FACS, professor, chairman and program director ofTexas Tech’s Health Sciences Center Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, said less people are smoking and that has contributed to the decrease in the number of cases of oral cancers in the past two decades. “In that same period, we have seen an increase in the HPV oropharyngeal cancer,” he said. “And oropharyngeal cancer — what it means it’s affecting the base of your tongue and tonsils.” Dr. Brian Herring, a Lubbock dentist, chalks the increase up to increased awareness. “I’m assuming probably for years and years and years it has affected the mouth but we didn’t know that,” he said. “As we get better at cellular diagnostics and molecular diagnostics, things like that, we’re finding that there is a large portion of cancers that do have an HPV component.” What’s more alarming, said Dr. Ryan Higley, oral surgeon with West Texas Oral Facial Surgery, is it’s being diagnosed in younger people. Higley said oral cancers are generally diagnosed between the ages of 55 and 65, mostly in women. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-05-28T11:56:52-07:00May, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Symptoms of throat cancer depend on which throat structures are affected

Source: tribunecontentagency.com Author: Eric Moore, M.D. Dear Mayo Clinic: Are there early signs of throat cancer, or is it typically not found until its late stages? How is it treated? Answer: The throat includes several important structures that are relied on every minute of the day and night to breathe, swallow and speak. Unfortunately, cancer can involve any, and sometimes all, of these structures. The symptoms of cancer, how early these symptoms are recognized and how the cancer is treated depend on which structures are involved. All of the passageway between your tongue and your esophagus can be considered the throat. It includes three main areas. The first is the base of your tongue and tonsils. These, along with the soft palate and upper side walls of the pharynx, are called the oropharynx. Second is the voice box, or larynx. It consists of the epiglottis — a cartilage flap that helps to close your windpipe, or trachea, when you swallow — and the vocal cords. Third is the hypopharynx. That includes the bottom sidewalls and the back of the throat before the opening of the esophagus. Tumors that occur in these three areas have different symptoms, behave differently and often are treated differently. That’s why the areas of the throat are subdivided into separate sections by the head and neck surgeons who diagnose and treat them. For example, in the oropharynx, most tumors are squamous cell carcinoma. Most are caused by HPV, although smoking and alcohol can play a role [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-05-26T08:35:35-07:00May, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

First long-term study on HPV claims the vaccine is 100% effective at protecting men from cancer caused by the STI

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk Author: Cheyenne Roundtree The first long-term study conducted into the HPV vaccine confirm it is almost 100 percent effective at protecting men from developing oral cancer. The treatment was approved to the market in 2006 to prevent women from getting cervical cancer but experts haven't been able to fully examine its effect over time. Now, the results are in from a three-year study on the effects - the longest investigation ever on HPV. It confirmed that there was no trace of cancer-linked strains of HPV among men who received the vaccine - whereas two percent of untreated men had a potentially cancerous strain. Another study, also released today, found the jab makes it next to impossible for vaccinated children to develop genital warts from the STI in their late teens and 20s. Despite a multitude of interest and research, these are the first substantial studies to confirm the vaccine's ability to protect people from the STI and diseases that can stem from it. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted disease in the US, with approximately 80 million people currently infected. Although most infections disappear on their own, without even displaying symptoms, some strains can lead to genital warts and even cancers, including prostate, throat, head and neck, rectum and cervical cancer. Approximately 28,000 cases of cancer caused by HPV are diagnosed annually - most of which would have preventable with the vaccine, the CDC says. The vaccine was first introduced with the main goal to prevent [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-05-22T07:38:53-07:00May, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

European Commission approves Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo (nivolumab) for squamous cell cancer of the head and neck in adults progressing on or after platinum-based therapy

Source: pipelinereview.com Author: Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved Opdivo (nivolumab) as monotherapy for the treatment of squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN) in adults progressing on or after platinum-based therapy. Opdivo is the first and only Immuno-Oncology (I-O) treatment that demonstrated in a Phase 3 trial a significant improvement in overall survival (OS) for these patients. “Adult patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck that progresses on or after platinum-based therapy are fighting a debilitating and hard-to-treat disease that is associated with a very poor prognosis,” said Kevin Harrington, M.D., Ph.D., professor in Biological Cancer Therapies at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and a consultant clinical oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London. “As an oncologist who helps patients deal with this terrible disease, I hope that nivolumab will now be made available as widely as possible, offering this group of patients a new treatment option that can potentially improve their overall survival." The approval was based on results from CheckMate -141, a global Phase 3, open-label, randomized trial, first published in The New England Journal of Medicine last October, which evaluated Opdivo versus investigator’s choice of therapy in patients aged 18 years and above with recurrent or metastatic, platinum-refractory SCCHN who had tumor progression during or within six months of receiving platinum-based therapy administered in the adjuvant, neo-adjuvant, primary or metastatic setting. Investigator’s choice of therapy included methotrexate, docetaxel, or [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-04-30T12:46:16-07:00April, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

Overwhelming support from GPs & dentists for boys to receive the HPV vaccination

Date: 4/24/2017 Source: http://www.hpvaction.org 97% of dentists and 94% of GPs would have their own sons vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), in a new survey published ahead of World Immunisation Week 24th-28th April. 97% of dentists and 94% of GPs believe that the national HPV vaccination programme should cover both boys and girls. 95% of GPs and dentists together said if they had a son they would want him to receive the HPV vaccination. The findings come as the Government’s vaccination advisory committee (JCVI) moves towards a decision on whether boys should be given the HPV vaccination. BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Dr Andrew Green, a member of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee (GPC), said: “If we want to see an end to some of the most aggressive and hard to treat cancers such as throat, head, neck and anal cancer, boys as well as girls must be given the HPV vaccination. It is ridiculous that people are still dying from these cancers when their life could have easily been saved by a simple injection.” BRITISH DENTAL ASSOCIATION Mick Armstrong, Chair of the BDA's Principal Executive Committee, said: “HPV is the leading cause of oro-pharyngeal cancers and men are just as likely to develop it as women so where is the logic – or fairness – in targeting protection to one section of the population? It is morally indefensible to allow people to contract cancer when prevention – the new NHS mantra – could be so cheap and easy. Cancers affecting [...]

Charlotte Parker2017-04-24T10:03:19-07:00April, 2017|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine; cancer prevention

Source: www.nujournal.com Author: staff Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection, of several strains, most associated with cervical cancers. The virus is so common that nearly all males and females have been infected at some time in their life. One in four is currently infected in the nation. Signs and symptoms of HPV are variable. Most will recover from the virus within two years without ever knowing they were infected, making HPV easy to spread. Occasionally, the virus lasts much longer in the body which can cause cells to change and lead to cancer. Fortunately, we have a vaccine to prevent cancer caused by HPV. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three vaccines for HPV; Cervarix, Gardasil, and Gardasil 9. These vaccines are tested and proven to be safe and effective. Prevention is important with HPV. The vaccine should be administered before exposure to the virus for stronger protection against cervical, vaginal, vulvar, penile, and some mouth or throat cancers. (Gardasil and Gardasil 9 also prevent genital warts and anal cancer.) The best age to obtain maximum potential of the vaccine is at 11 or 12 years old. At this age, the body’s immune system is the most receptive to the vaccination’s virus-like particles and the body produces higher amounts of antibodies in defense, protecting the adolescent for his or her future. Both girls and boys should get the HPV vaccine. For ages 9-14, two doses – six to twelve months apart, are recommended. For 15-26 year [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2017-04-17T13:13:58-07:00April, 2017|Oral Cancer News|