human papillomavirus – Page 28

HPV infection drives disparity in head and neck cancer survival

Source: www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin Author: Carmen Phillips A new study provides what researchers are calling a “missing link” that helps to explain why black patients with head and neck cancer live significantly shorter after treatment than white patients. Unlike several other cancers, where racial disparities in outcomes have been attributed in large part to socioeconomic factors, this new study points directly at a biological difference: infection rates of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV 16). The study, published July 29 in Cancer Prevention Research, is the latest to show that head and neck cancer patients, particularly those with cancer of the oropharynx, who are HPV 16-positive have superior outcomes with standard treatment (concurrent chemotherapy and radiation) compared with those who are HPV 16-negative. But this study is the first to show that black patients with head and neck cancer have dramatically lower rates of HPV infection than white patients and that HPV status directly correlates with the significant survival disparities between the two patient groups. The finding that so few black patients are HPV positive “in a completely statistical sense explains why historically we have seen that black patients [with head and neck cancer] do poorly,” said Dr. Kevin J. Cullen, the study’s senior author and director of the University of Maryland (UMD) Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center. Digging Deeper The researchers performed a retrospective analysis of data from 95 black and 106 white patients with similar stages of head and neck cancer who received similar treatments at the Greenebaum Cancer Center, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-08-12T05:22:03-07:00August, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Viral infection may explain racial differences in oral cancer death rates

Source: nytimes.com Author: Roni Caryn Rabin African-American patients with head and neck cancers die earlier than whites, and researchers say they have made a breakthrough in understanding the underlying reasons for the racial gap. After scientists at the University of Maryland noticed that whites treated at their hospital for squamous cell head and neck cancers lived more than twice as long as black patients who received the same care at their hospital, they took a closer look. Further analysis revealed that the gap was almost entirely due to differences in survival among patients with cancer of the throat and tonsils, or oropharyngeal cancer. The scientists were also involved in analyzing specimens of head and neck tumors taken from participants in a treatment trial called the TAX 324 study, to see how many tumors were linked to the human papillomavirus, the same HPV-16 virus that has been linked to cervical cancer. The results were striking: they found that patients whose tumors were HPV-positive did much better after treatment than patients who were negative for the virus. Yet while half of the throat cancer patients had HPV-positive tumors, 98 percent of the positive tumors were from white patients, while a vast majority of black patients had HPV-negative tumors. “There was no difference in the survival between black and white patients in the TAX 324 trials, if you subtracted out the HPV-positive patients,” said Dr. Kevin Cullen, the senior author of a paper published online by the journal Cancer Prevention Research. White patients [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-08-01T14:24:03-07:00August, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Low prevalence of HPV infection may be tied to poor prognosis for blacks with head and neck cancer

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: public release Groundbreaking study seeks to explain major disparity in survival between blacks and whites Researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer have found that head and neck cancer patients who test positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) have much better survival rates than patients who don't have the virus, according to a new study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. The researchers also discovered that blacks in the study had a very low rate of HPV infection, and consequently worse survival, which may explain why African-American patients traditionally have had a poor prognosis for head and neck cancer. "For the first time, we have evidence that the major difference in survival between black and white patients with head and neck cancer appears to be the rate of HPV infection. We found an astounding difference in prognosis between patients who are HPV-positive and those who are HPV-negative," says the study's senior author, Kevin J. Cullen, M.D., director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center and professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Scott Lippman, M.D., chairman of the Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, called the study, "practice-changing." "Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is one of the fastest growing cancers, and this study gives us a new way to assess prognosis for our patients," says Dr. Lippman, who is editor-in-chief of Cancer Prevention Research, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-29T19:36:35-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine debate shifts to boys

Source: Buffalo News Author: Henry L. Davis New questions arise as cancer tied to HPV is rising in men Parents who face the dilemma of whether to protect their young daughters with a vaccine aimed at a sexually transmitted infection that causes cervical cancer now face a new question: Should they do the same for their sons? As evidence mounts of a rising number of other cancers linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a debate has intensified over whether to give the vaccine to males. Advocates say vaccinating boys and men can prevent them from passing on the virus to their sexual partners. Critics still question the long-term safety and effectiveness of Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, despite studies indicating that its risks and lasting power are within the range of other vaccines. But a newer wrinkle in the debate is the discovery in recent years that oral HPV infections — most likely acquired from oral sex with multiple partners—significantly increase the risk of head and neck cancers. The rate of oral cancers is rising so steadily, especially in men, that, if the trend continues, there may be more oral cancers in the United States caused by HPV in 10 years than by tobacco or alcohol, a major study concluded last year. “We should be investing our care and dollars in preventing HPV infection instead of treating the cancers,” said Dr. Thom Loree of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Physicians at the cancer center have begun publicly touting the benefits of [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-07-15T13:04:17-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Vaccine debate shifts to boys

Source: www.buffalonews.com Author: Henry L. Davis Parents who face the dilemma of whether to protect their young daughters with a vaccine aimed at a sexually transmitted infection that causes cervical cancer now face a new question: Should they do the same for their sons? As evidence mounts of a rising number of other cancers linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a debate has intensified over whether to give the vaccine to males. Advocates say vaccinating boys and men can prevent them from passing on the virus to their sexual partners. Critics still question the long-term safety and effectiveness of Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, despite studies indicating that its risks and lasting power are within the range of other vaccines. But a newer wrinkle in the debate is the discovery in recent years that oral HPV infections — most likely acquired from oral sex with multiple partners—significantly increase the risk of head and neck cancers. The rate of oral cancers is rising so steadily, especially in men, that, if the trend continues, there may be more oral cancers in the United States caused by HPV in 10 years than by tobacco or alcohol, a major study concluded last year. “We should be investing our care and dollars in preventing HPV infection instead of treating the cancers,” said Dr. Thom Loree of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Physicians at the cancer center have begun publicly touting the benefits of the vaccine on males after seeing an increase in the number of throat [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-12T09:00:58-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of quadrivalent human papillomavirus (types 6, 11, 16, 18) recombinant vaccine in women aged 24-45 years: a randomised, double-blind trial

Source: The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9679, Pages 1949 - 1957, 6 June 2009 Author: Prof Nubia Muñoz MD et al. Background Although the peak incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection occurs in most populations within 5—10 years of first sexual experience, all women remain at risk for acquisition of HPV infections. We tested the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the quadrivalent HPV (types 6, 11, 16, 18) L1 virus-like-particle vaccine in women aged 24—45 years. Methods Women aged 24—45 years with no history of genital warts or cervical disease were enrolled from community health centres, academic health centres, and primary health-care providers into an ongoing multicentre, parallel, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Participants were allocated by computer-generated schedule to receive quadrivalent HPV vaccine (n=1911) or placebo (n=1908) at day 1, and months 2 and 6. All study site investigators and personnel, study participants, monitors, and central laboratory personnel were blinded to treatment allocation. Coprimary efficacy endpoints were 6 months' or more duration of infection and cervical and external genital disease due to HPV 6, 11, 16, 18; and due to HPV 16 and 18 alone. Primary efficacy analyses were done in a per-protocol population, but intention-to-treat analyses were also undertaken. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00090220. Findings 1910 women received at least one dose of vaccine and 1907 at least one dose of placebo. In the per-protocol population, efficacy against the first coprimary endpoint (disease or infection related to HPV 6, 11, 16, and 18) was 90·5% (95% [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-06-15T20:04:19-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cancers with virus less lethal, study says

Source: Columbus Dispatch (dispatch.com) Author: Misti Crane Oral-cancer patients with tumors that contain human papillomavirus are more likely to survive than those whose cancer does not involve HPV, a study found. The Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center doctor who led the new study said future research should focus on the differences between the groups. Dr. Maura Gillison, a medical oncologist and head and neck cancer specialist, shared her findings as part of a preview of studies to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Fla., this month. Details of her work were released with a handful of other studies, several of which highlighted an increasing focus on individualized cancer care. Chemotherapy patients are likely to cheer the findings from one of the studies shared yesterday: It found that ginger significantly reduces nausea. A study of patients at 23 private oncology practices compared nausea in those who took a placebo with those who took 0.5-gram, 1-gram and 1.5-gram doses of ginger in capsule form. All of the patients received standard anti-nausea medications. Those who took 0.5-gram or 1-gram doses of ginger reported about a 40 percent reduction in nausea, said lead researcher Julie Ryan of the University of Rochester. The study didn't look at foods or drinks that contain ginger, but Ryan said she suspects ginger in other forms also would be beneficial. She cautioned that some products contain ginger flavoring, not actual dried or fresh ginger. A gram of ground ginger is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-05-16T21:08:28-07:00May, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

The oral cancer battle

Source: www.ladowntownnews.com Author: Beth Dunham As people look for ways to cut corners and save money in this time of economic uncertainty, healthcare sometimes takes a back seat to other expenses — putting lives at risk. A visit to the dentist is crucial and could mean the difference between life and death; someone in the United States dies of oral cancer nearly every hour, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation. Early detection is crucial in the fight against oral cancer, an aggressive, deadly disease that hasn’t seen the same improvements in survival rates as other cancers, said Parish Sedghizadeh of the USC School of Dentistry. “Oral cancer has one of the highest mortality rates among cancers,” said Sedghizadeh, assistant professor of clinical dentistry at USC. “It’s usually not noticed until the later stages, when a recovery is less likely. People have heard of oral cancer, but they don’t know what it looks like.” The disease rarely causes pain or other noticeable symptoms until it reaches a very advanced stage, he said. And while many people stay vigilant for the symptoms of more common cancers, dental care access challenges and a lack of oral cancer education means that most patients don’t know the early signs of oral cancer. “Oral cancer will often start as a small red or white plaque or sore that doesn’t go away with time, unlike other normal mouth, tongue, or lip sores that usually heal within a week or so,” Sedghizadeh said. Even if the disease is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-27T05:43:46-07:00April, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Effect of HPV-associated p16INK4A expression on response to radiotherapy and survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 27, No 12 (April 20), 2009: pp. 1992-1998 Authors: Pernille Lassen et al. Purpose: A subset of head and neck cancers is associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Viral infection is closely correlated with expression of p16INK4A in these tumors. We evaluated p16INK4A as a prognostic marker of treatment response and survival in a well-defined and prospectively collected cohort of patients treated solely with conventional radiotherapy in the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group (DAHANCA) 5 trial. Patients and Methods: Immunohistochemical expression of p16INK4A was analyzed in pretreatment paraffin-embedded tumor blocks from 156 patients treated with conventional primary radiotherapy alone. The influence of p16INK4A status on locoregional tumor control, disease-specific survival, and overall survival after radiotherapy was evaluated. Results: p16INK4A positivity was found in 35 tumors (22%). Tumor-positivity for p16INK4A was significantly correlated with improved locoregional tumor control (5-year actuarial values 58% v 28%; P = .0005), improved disease-specific survival (72% v 34%; P = .0006), and improved overall survival (62% v 26%; P = .0003). In multivariate analysis, p16INK4A remained a strong independent prognostic factor for locoregional failure (hazard ratio [HR], 0.35; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.64), disease-specific death (HR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.64), and overall death (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.68). Conclusion: Expression of p16INK4A has a major impact on treatment response and survival in patients with head and neck cancer treated with conventional radiotherapy. Authors: Pernille Lassen, Jesper G. Eriksen, Stephen Hamilton-Dutoit, Trine Tramm, Jan Alsner, Jens [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-17T12:04:53-07:00April, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

HPV data may aid vaccine’s effectiveness

Source: health.usnews.com Author: staff The majority of invasive cervical cancers in New Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s contained DNA from human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) and HPV type 18 (HPV18), says a new study. It also found that women diagnosed with HPV16- or HPV18-positive cancers were an average of five years younger than those diagnosed with cancers associated with other HPV types. The HPV vaccine (Gardasil) protects against infections caused by HPV16 and HPV18, so the new findings may have implications for future cancer screening programs, the researchers said. The researchers analyzed U.S. data in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry and identified 1,213 cases of in situ cervical cancer diagnosed between 1980 and 1999, as well as 808 cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed between 1980 and 1999 in New Mexico. HPV16 DNA was found in 53.2 percent of invasive cervical cancers, HPV18 DNA was found in 13.1 percent, and HPV45 DNA in 6.1 percent. HPV16 DNA was found in 56.3 percent of in situ cervical cancers, HPV31 DNA in 12.6 percent, and HPV33 DNA in 8 percent. Patients' median age at diagnosis of invasive cancer with HPV16 and HPV18 was 48.1 years, and 45.9 years, respectively. Median age at diagnosis of invasive cancer with other HPV genotypes was 52.3 years. The study is in the March 24 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "To our knowledge, this is the largest study of its kind conducted in a U.S. population," wrote a team [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-13T09:08:21-07:00April, 2009|Oral Cancer News|