lesions – Page 3 – Oral Cancer News

Oral epithelial dysplasia: What does it really mean?

Source: www.rdhmag.com Author: Nancy W. Burkhart, RDH, EdD Patients are sometimes followed for periods of time for what is called dysplasia, leukoplakia, keratotic lesions, and previous frank carcinoma. With any degree of tissue change, the person should be followed closely and an etiology always needs to be determined. Sometimes, removal of a frictional component is suggested; at other times, the lesion may have a more ominous appearance that will alert the clinician that cancer might be high on the differential list. Obviously, in highly suspicious lesions, a biopsy would occur immediately. Patients will sometimes tell the clinician that they were previously biopsied and the report will note "evidence of dysplasia." Sometimes a diagnosis is made of dysplasia, but the lesion becomes carcinoma over time, even after the initial removal of the lesion. The reverse may be true as well, where the body responds physically and the tissue regains a state of health. Why does one individual develop carcinoma while another person may develop a mild epithelial dysplasia? Perhaps the body is able to stop progression or reverse the state of progression. These are questions that researchers continue to evaluate and study. Frictional keratosis, though, is not in the same category as dysplasia. When the frictional component is removed, the lesion will subside. An example of a common lesion that has a frictional component is cheek chewing or morsicatio buccarum. However, chronic frictional or chemical assault on the tissue over time can also cause dysplastic changes. The body has [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-18T18:12:31-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

American Dental Association encourages public to get screened for oral cancer

Source: www.prnewswire.com Author: press release The American Dental Association (ADA) and the Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF) encourage people to take part in Oral Cancer Awareness Month in April by visiting a dentist for a free oral cancer screening. So far, more than 1,250 sites across the nation have registered their screening events with the OCF. "Although many dentists perform oral cancer screenings as a routine part of dental examinations, the ADA encourages dentists to go out into their communities during the week of April 11-15 to provide free oral cancer screenings to people who might not regularly visit a dentist," said ADA Spokesperson Sol Silverman, D.D.S., a professor of oral medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "Early detection is critical in increasing survival rates for patients who have developed an oral cancer; and recognizing and managing precancerous lesions is extremely important in prevention," he said. Mr. Brian Hill, OCF executive director and an oral cancer survivor, also stressed the importance of early detection and the important role that dentists play. "Early detection is important because it reduces treatment-related morbidity and improves survival rates," he said. In 2010, the National Cancer Institute estimated that approximately 36,540 people were diagnosed with oral cancer and approximately 7,880 people died of oral cancer. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) estimates that the five-year survival rate for people diagnosed early, when the disease has not spread beyond the original location, is approximately 83 percent compared to a 20 percent survival [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-11T20:25:42-07:00April, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Detection of squamous cell carcinoma and corresponding biomarkers using optical spectroscopy

Source: oto.sagepub.com Author: H. Wolfgang Beumer, MD et al. Objectives: Investigate the use of optical reflectance spectroscopy to differentiate malignant and nonmalignant tissues in head and neck lesions and characterize corresponding oxygen tissue biomarkers that are associated with pathologic diagnosis. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Tertiary Veterans Administration Medical Center. Subjects and Methods: All patients undergoing panendoscopy with biopsy for suspected head and neck cancer were eligible. Prior to taking tissue samples, the optical probe was placed at 3 locations to collect diffuse reflectance data. These locations were labeled “tumor,” “immediately adjacent,” and “distant normal tissue.” Biopsies were taken of each of these respective sites. The diffuse reflectance spectra were analyzed, and biomarker-specific absorption data were extracted using an inverse Monte Carlo algorithm for malignant and nonmalignant tissues. Histopathological analysis was performed and used as the gold standard to analyze the optical biomarker data. Results: Twenty-one patients with mucosal squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were identified and selected to participate in the study. Statistically significant differences in oxygen saturation (P = .001) and oxygenated hemoglobin (P = .019) were identified between malignant and nonmalignant tissues. Conclusion: This study established proof of principle that optical spectroscopy can be used in the head and neck areas to detect malignant tissue. Furthermore, tissue biomarkers were correlated with a diagnosis of malignancy. Authors: 1. H. Wolfgang Beumer, MD1 2. Karthik Vishwanath, PhD2 3. Liana Puscas, MD1,3 4. Hamid R. Afshari, DDS5 5. Nimmi Ramanujam, PhD2 6. Walter T. Lee, MD1,3 Authors' [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-01-29T11:07:44-07:00January, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Detection of human papilloma virus (HPV) in oral mucosa of women with cervical lesions and their relation to oral sex practices

Source: 7thspace.com Authors: Luis Sanchez-Vargas et al Previous studies have either investigated the relationship of HPV with oral cancer or the prevalence of HPV on the oral cavity. The purpose of this investigation was to study the prevalence of HPV in oral cavity of women with oral sex practices and cervical lesions. Methods: Forty six (46) non-smokers and non-alcoholic patients attended the "Clinica de Displasias"of "Ciudad Juarez"were sampled. This population had a CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) diagnosis sometime between the previous six months. On previous consent they filled out a questionnaire related to their oral sex practices. Afterwards one swab from cheeks and another from palate/gum were taken; PCR (polymerase chain reaction) was used to determine generic HPV, HPV16 and HPV18. Results: Seventy two percent (72%) of the patients stated to have oral sex practices regularly which all of them were positive to HPV either in oral mucus, palate/gum or both. The total of the given results showed that 35% had HPV16; among those distributed in 26% with regular oral sex practices and 9% stated as never practiced oral sex. An association was found between oral HPV16 positivity and progression to CIN advanced lesions. On the other hand HPV18 was not detected. The frequency of HPV16 was higher in buccal mucosa (23%) versus palate/gum (16%). Conclusions: This study suggests that buccal HPV16 infection is associated with CIN progression. Source: Infectious Agents and Cancer 2010, 5:25 Authors: Luis Sanchez-Vargas, Cecilia Diaz-Hernandez, Alejandro Martinez-Martinez

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-05T17:44:18-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Large Thyroid Nodules Linked to High Malignancy Risk

Elsevier Global Medical News Author - MG Sullivan PARIS (EGMN) - Patients with a non-decisive fine-needle aspiration for large non-diagnostic thyroid nodules or lesions of undetermined significance should be considered for surgery because more than half of these large nodules can be malignant. In a review of 156 patients with non-decisive fine-needle aspirations (FNAs), nodule size was a major determinant in surgical referral, Dr. Susana Mascarell said at the International Thyroid Congress. "Nodules of this size were associated with a malignancy rate of up to 60%," said Dr. Mascarell of the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago. FNA is considered the main diagnostic tool in deciding which patient to refer to surgery. "However," Dr. Mascarell said, "the FNA results may not be helpful when the cytology specimen is non-diagnostic or qualifies as a follicular lesion of undetermined significance - both classifications that are part of the new six-level FNA classification system suggested by the National Cancer Institute." When an FNA comes back as non-decisive on such specimens, the clinician must choose between surgery and clinical follow-up as the next step. Unfortunately, said Dr. Mascarell, there are no hard-and-fast rules about which management path to choose. Molecular markers are becoming more important in the decision, but can't be relied upon in every patient, she said. "When these markers are present in high concentrations, they are up to 99% accurate in identifying malignant nodules and so are a very helpful tool. But only 40% of nodules are positive for [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-10-26T13:38:00-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

PMI Labs lowers price of oral cancer brush biopsy test

Source: www.marketwire.com/ Author: press release PMI Labs is excited to announce that the price of OralAdvance™, the Company's innovative test designed to detect early stage oral cancer, is lowered by 35% as a result of the completion of the next generation quantitative cytology analysis platform, ClearCyte™. The redesigned and reengineered ClearCyte™ platform allows for faster processing time, increased scalability and improved overall performance. The per-slide scanning time of the machine has been reduced by more than 65% delivering a yearly scanning capacity of over 40,000 samples per device. PMI Labs is thrilled to pass on the savings to our customers in our ongoing effort to raise awareness for oral cancer screening. "With the increase of oral cancer cases among young adults, we hope that this initiative will provide more accessibility of OralAdvance™ to all Canadians; thus allowing health professionals to detect oral cancer in its early stages and provide care for a better chance of survival. Oral cancer screening should become a standard practice in dental offices nation-wide to save lives through early detection. We believe that our products, along with our oral cancer awareness campaign, SaveTheFace.org, will help achieve these goals," comments Dr. Bojana Turic, PMI Labs - President and CEO. OralAdvance™ is used by dentists to assess the cancerous potential of suspicious lesions in the oral cavity. Cells are collected from areas that look like they may be pre-cancer using OralAdvance™'s easy-to-use brush. These cells are then assessed at PMI Labs' Vancouver laboratory to determine whether they have [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-24T11:00:10-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Compound discovery may lead to earlier oral cancer detection

Source: www.dentalplans.com Author: staff A biomarker found in the mouth may help dental care specialists diagnose patients with cancer of the mouth and gums at earlier stages, according to a study published in the web-based journal, PLoS ONE. One of the first signs of oral cancer is the development of white or red sores on the inside of the mouth, which commonly go untested because they are typically cancer-free. However, if cancerous lesions go untreated, the disease can progress to later stages. In an effort to improve oral cancer detection, a team of researchers conducted a series of tests, and discovered the hBD-3 biomarker, which improves immune system health in the mouth. The location of the compound is what has made these results important, as they were found in the lining of the mouth where cancerous cells begin to grow. Because they were able to discover where the hBD-3 biomarker develops, the investigators concluded that these findings could lead to the development of diagnostic equipment that could detect oral cancer sooner. "Using the biomarker to detect oral cancer holds potential for saving lives when the cancer is most curable. Annually some 10,000 people die from this cancer," said Ge Jin, assistant professor of biological sciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-07-14T21:09:32-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Betel nut, oral cancer pilot study for Saipan, Guam now underway

Source: www.saipantribune.com Author: Moneth Deposa A betel nut and oral cancer pilot study will be conducted on Saipan and Guam beginning this year. The study hopes to gather baseline date to develop protocols for studying oral precancerous lesions and other health risks among betel nut users in Micronesia. University of Guam epidemiologist Dr. Yvette Paulino, co-leader in the pilot study, will work with Dr. Suzanne Murphy from the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii in the pilot study. In a presentation to members of the Commonwealth Cancer Association last week, Dr. Paulino disclosed that oral cancer is the sixth leading cancer worldwide, but ranks in the Top 3 cancers in countries where there are betel nut/areca nut chewers. Betel nut, she said, is apparently a misnomer. The nut itself is more accurately called “areca nut” and “betel” refers to the leaf that is sometimes used with the nut. “Betel quid” refers to the mixture of nut and leaf. The three-year pilot study aims to collect information on betel nut/areca nut use among 300 study participants in Guam and on Saipan and members of their families. In the course of the study, oral examinations and biopsies will be performed as needed, health risks will be measured, and associations of duration, frequency, and type of betel nut/areca nut use with oral pre-cancers and health risks will be studied. Dr. Paulino said that betel nut/areca nut is considered a human carcinogen. She revealed that betel nut chewing has been shown to be associated with [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-07-05T17:25:11-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Nano-bio-chip checks for oral cancer

Source: www.nanotech-now.com Author: press release The gentle touch of a brush on the tongue or cheek can help detect oral cancer with success rates comparable to more invasive techniques like biopsies, according to preliminary studies by researchers at Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Centers at Houston and San Antonio and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. A new test that uses Rice's diagnostic nano-bio-chip was found to be 97 percent "sensitive" and 93 percent specific in detecting which patients had malignant or premalignant lesions, results that compared well with traditional tests. The results of this study, which was led by John McDevitt, were published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. Oral cancer afflicts more than 300,000 people a year, including 35,000 in the United States alone. The five-year survival rate is 60 percent, but if oral cancer is detected early, that rate rises to 90 percent. "One of the key discoveries in this paper is to show that the miniaturized, noninvasive approach produces about the same result as the pathologists do," said Dr. McDevitt, whose group developed the novel nano-bio-chip technology. Dr. McDevitt and his team are working to create an inexpensive chip that can differentiate premalignant lesions from the 95 percent of lesions that will not become cancerous. The minimally invasive technique would deliver results in 15 minutes instead of several days, as lab-based diagnostics do now. Instead of an invasive, painful biopsy, the new procedure requires just a light brush of the lesion [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-05-23T16:01:08-07:00May, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Clinical significance of phosphatidyl inositol synthase overexpression in oral cancer

Source: 7thspace.co Authors: Jatinder Kaur et al. We reported increased levels of Phosphatidyl Inositol synthase (PI synthase), (enzyme that catalyses phosphatidyl inositol (PI) synthesis-implicated in intracellular signaling and regulation of cell growth) in smokeless tobacco (ST) exposed oral cell cultures by differential display. This study determined the clinical significance of PI synthase overexpression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and premalignant lesions (leukoplakia), and identified the downstream signaling proteins in PI synthase pathway that are perturbed by smokeless tobacco (ST) exposure. Method: Tissue microarray (TMA) Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, Confocal laser scan microscopy, RT-PCR were performed to define the expression of PI synthase in clinical samples and in oral cell culture systems. Results: Significant increase in PI synthase immunoreactivity was observed in premalignant lesions and OSCCs as compared to oral normal tissues (p=0.000). Further, PI synthase expression was significantly associated with de-differentiation of OSCCs, (p=0.005) and tobacco consumption (p=0.03, OR=9.0). Exposure of oral cell systems to smokeless tobacco (ST) in vitro confirmed increase in PI synthase, Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and cyclin D1 levels. Conclusion: Collectively, increased PI synthase expression was found to be an early event in oral cancer and a target for smokeless tobacco. Authors: Jatinder Kaur, Meenakshi Sawhney, Siddartha Datta, GuptaNootan, Shukla, Anurag, Srivastava, Ranju Ralhan Source: BMC Cancer 2010, 10:168

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-04-28T13:38:38-07:00April, 2010|Oral Cancer News|