lymph node – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Lymphoseek designated fast track status in head and neck cancer

Source: www.empr.com Author: press release Navidea announced that the FDA has granted Fast Track designation to Lymphoseek (technetium 99m tilmanocept) Injection for sentinel lymph node detection in patients with head and neck cancer. Lymphoseek Injection is a novel, receptor-targeted, small-molecule radiopharmaceutical designed to identify the lymph nodes that drain from a primary tumor, which have the highest probability of harboring cancer. Lymposeek Injection was evaluated in a prospective, open-label, multicenter, within-patient study (NEO3-06). It was designed to identify sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and determine the false negative rate (FNR) associated with Lymphoseek-identified SLNs relative to the pathological status of non-SLNs in head and neck and intraoral squamous cell carcinoma. The primary endpoint for the NEO3-06 trial was based on the number of subjects with pathology-positive lymph nodes following a multiple level lymph node dissection. A minimum of 38 subjects whose lymph nodes contained pathology-confirmed disease was required. Thirty nine subjects out of over 80 subjects enrolled were determined to have pathology-positive lymph nodes. Navidea intends to file the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Lymphoseek before the end of 2013. Lymphoseek is already approved for use in lymphatic mapping to assist in the localization of lymph nodes draining a primary tumor in patients with breast cancer or melanoma.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-12-11T04:54:14-07:00December, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

PET/MRI detects head/neck lymph node metastases

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff PET/MRI outperformed diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI-MRI) for detecting lymph node metastases in the staging of head and neck cancer patients, according to a study presented November 25 at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago. Researchers from the University of Düsseldorf found that PET/MRI achieved accuracy of 93%, compared with 88% for DWI-MRI. PET/MRI also reached sensitivity of 72%, compared with 36% for DWI-MRI. Lymph node status has prognostic value in head and neck cancer because patients with metastases need neck dissection and adjuvant treatment. Therefore, precise lymph node staging is a necessity, noted lead author Christian Buchbender, MD. "Currently available imaging modalities are restricted in their diagnostic performance for lymph node metastases detection," he added. "For example, CT and MRI fall short in sensitivity when compared to FDG-PET or FDG-PET/CT. On the other hand, FDG-PET/CT suffers from a large amount of false-positive results." Thus, new modalities or a combination of modalities are needed to improve lymph node metastases detection in these cancer patients, he said. The prospective study included 14 head and neck cancer patients with a mean age of 67 years. Prior to surgery, the patients received both FDG-PET/CT and 3-tesla MRI, including diffusion-weighted imaging. The patients then underwent bilateral neck dissection. Using image fusion software, the researchers created two sets of images. One set consisted of PET/MR images, which were created by fusing FDG-PET results with contrast-enhanced, T1-weighted, fat-saturated MR images. The second set consisted of DWI-MR images, created [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-28T10:25:22-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Facing the facts: HPV-associated head and neck cancers get a second look

Source: www.curetoday.com Author: Charlotte Huff Kevin Pruyne knew he didn’t fit the stereotype of a hard drinker or heavy smoker who one day develops an oral cancer. The 52-year-old mechanic had been working a three-week stint in a remote section of northern Alaska, repairing trucks on an oil field, when he noticed a hard lump beneath his jaw while shaving. For nearly three months, as Pruyne was prescribed antibiotics for a possible infection and then later shuttled between physician specialists, he kept hearing the same thing: the lump could not be cancer. Pruyne only occasionally consumed alcohol and had never smoked. His wife, Kathy, began researching her husband’s symptoms, which included repetitive throat clearing, a nagging sensation that something was lodged in his throat and ringing in his ears. And the lump, which looked like the top half of an egg, felt solid to the touch. This wasn’t some inflamed lymph node from a lingering head cold, Kathy Pruyne says. “He had every symptom [of cancer], but nobody would listen to me.” Pruyne received a diagnosis of stage 4 oral cancer, which started with a tumor at the base of his tongue. He had already begun chemotherapy when he learned that researchers had discovered an association between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and increasing rates of oropharyngeal cancers. He asked that his tissue be tested; the results came back positive. Pruyne says he wanted to know whether his cancer was caused by HPV because “the prognosis is considerably better with HPV-positive cancer.” [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-07-03T17:34:09-07:00July, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Radiotherapy technique significantly reduces irradiation of healthy tissue

Source: www.sciencecodex.com/ Author: staff Researchers at the University of Granada and the university hospital Virgen de las Nieves in Granada have developed a new radiotherapy technique that is much less toxic than that traditionally used and only targets cancerous tissue. This new protocol provides a less invasive but equally efficient cancer postoperative treatment for cases of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx. The study -conducted between 2005 and 2008- included 80 patients diagnosed with epidermoid cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, who had undergone lymph node removal. The affected nodes were located by the surgeon during the intervention and classified into different risk levels. Classification allowed physicians to target the areas at a higher risk of recurrence. This way, neck areas at a lower risk of containing residual cancer cells were not irradiated. Researchers achieved both to minimize the side effects of radiotherapy, and to reduce treatment discontinuation, thus achieving the therapy to be more effective. A Highly Toxic Treatment Over 70% of oral and pharynx cancer treated with surgery require supplementary treatment with radiotherapy occasionally associated to chemotherapy, because of the high risk for recurrence and spread through the lymph nodes. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are highly toxic, mainly due to the ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the oral cavity; toxicity leads may patients to stop the treatment, which significantly reduces the chances of cure. By using the risk map obtained with the collaboration of the surgeon and the pathologist, an individualized treatment was designed and adapted [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-02-26T09:44:04-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

To see or not to see

Source: http://www.rdhmag.com/ Author: JoAnn R. Gurenlian From the National Journal fro Dental Hygiene Professionals: Allow me to relay the experience of a patient who has been through trying times lately. The patient is a middle-age female who noticed a small, firm swelling in the right submandibular region. She had never experienced this type of problem before, but since she had an upcoming visit with her family physician, she thought she would mention it. Her family provider told her it appeared to be a swollen lymph node and recommended she schedule an appointment with her dentist in the event that she had an oral infection. Being conscientious about health issues, this patient did have an examination with her dentist. He advised her that it was a swollen lymph node, but that there were no apparent oral health infections. He reviewed causes of swollen lymph nodes and felt that since she was asymptomatic; the node simply represented residual effects from a cold or allergy condition. Over the course of the next year, this patient presented on several occasions to both her family physician and dentist with concerns that the lymph node was getting larger. Both health care providers told her to “forget about it,” or “it was nothing.” She felt uncertain about both individuals at this point, but since they seemed to be in agreement that her condition “was nothing,” she heeded their advice. After several more months and with ever growing concern, the patient presented to her dentist again for further [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-02-19T11:00:56-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Small atypical cervical nodes detected on sonography in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Source: Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine Author: Staff Probability of Metastasis Heung Cheol Kim, MD, Dae Young Yoon, MD, Suk Ki Chang, MD, Heon Han, MD, So Jung Oh, MD,Jin Hwan Kim, MD, Young-Soo Rho, MD, Hwoe Young Ahn, MD, Keon Ha Kim, MD andYoon Cheol Shin, MD Department of Radiology, Kangwon National University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea (H.C.K., H.H.); Department of Radiology, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea (H.C.K.); Departments of Radiology (D.Y.Y., S.K.C.) and Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (S.J.O., J.H.K., Y.-S.R., H.Y.A.), Ilsong Memorial Institute of Head and Neck Cancer, and Department of Thoracic Surgery (Y.C.S.), Kangdong Seong-Sim Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (K.H.K.). Address correspondence to Dae Young Yoon, MD, Department of Radiology, Ilsong Memorial Institute of Head and Neck Cancer, Kangdong Seong-Sim Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, 445 Gil-dong, Kangdong-gu, Seoul 134-701, Korea. E-mail: [email protected] Objective. The purpose of this study was to assess the probability of metastasis of small atypical cervical lymph nodes detected on sonography in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck. Methods. We reviewed, retrospectively and blindly, sonographic findings of 148 patients (118 men and30 women; mean age, 58.2 years) who underwent curative neck dissection. Each lymph node was classified by using a 4-point scale: 1, definitely benign; 2, indeterminate (small [short-axis diameter <10 mm for levels I and II and <7 mm for levels III–VI] atypical node); 3, definitely metastatic; and [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-04-10T10:22:24-07:00April, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Incidental detection of an occult oral malignancy with autofluorescence imaging: a case report

Source: Head Neck Oncol, October 28, 2009; 1(1): 37 Author: Nadarajah Vigneswaran, Sheila Koh, and Ann Gillenwater Background: Autofluorescence imaging is used widely for diagnostic evaluation of malignances of various epithelial malignancies. Cancerous lesions display loss of autofluorescence due to malignant changes in epithelium and subepithelial stroma. Carcinoma of unknown primary site presents with lymph node or distant metastasis, for which the site of primary tumor is not detectable. We describe here the use of autofluorescence imaging for detecting a clinically innocuous appearing occult malignancy of the palate which upon pathological examination was consistent with a metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Case Description: A submucosal nodule was noted on the right posterior hard palate of a 59-year-old white female during clinical examination. Examination of this lesion using a multispectral oral cancer screening device revealed loss of autofluorescence at 405 nm illumination. An excisional biopsy of this nodule, confirmed the presence of a metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Four years ago, this patient was diagnosed with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the right mid-jugular lymph node of unknown primary. She was treated with external beam irradiation and remained disease free until current presentation. Conclusion: This case illustrates the important role played by autofluorescence tissue imaging in diagnosing a metastatic palatal tumor that appeared clinically innocuous and otherwise would not have been biopsied.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-04T15:23:35-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Does the negative node count affect disease-free survival in early-stage oral cavity cancer?

Source: J Oral Maxillofac Surg, November 1, 2009; 67(11): 2473-5 Authors: FL Ampil, G Caldito, GE Ghali, and RG Baluna Purpose: We performed a retrospective study to determine whether there is a relationship between disease-free survival and negative lymph node count in patients with resected early-stage oral cavity cancers. Materials and Methods: Of the 526 individuals diagnosed with carcinoma of the oral cavity between 1998 and 2005, 52 had undergone primary tumor resection and lymph node dissection of the neck for stage I or II disease. With a mean count of 27 examined negative nodes, these 52 patients were separated into groups with fewer than 27 or > or = 27 uninvolved lymph nodes and compared for disease-free survival. Results: The tumor recurred or progressed in 10 patients (19%) during a median follow-up of 27 months. The 2-year disease-free survival rates were 75% and 78% in individuals with fewer than 27 and > or = 27 uninvolved node counts, respectively (P > .78). Conclusion: The removal of a greater number of regional, uninvolved cervical lymph nodes does not correlate with disease-free survival in this particular cohort of patients. Authors' affiliation: Division of Therapeutic Radiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA 71130, USA

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-10-27T05:15:46-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Modestan who survived mouth cancer looks forward to Thanksgiving with family — and food

Source: www.modbee.com Author: Sue Nowicki This Thanksgiving, when Wenona "Wendy" Campbell sits down to a turkey dinner with all the fixin's, she will relish every bite. Last year, she couldn't eat a thing. A feeding tube prevented that. Campbell, 65, had been diagnosed with lymph node mouth cancer in September 2007. Doctors gave her only a 50-50 chance to live. Between October and the end of December, the Modesto resident had the most aggressive kind of chemotherapy combined with radiation treatments from her mouth down to her upper chest. Last Thanksgiving, she was in the midst of all of that. "Most people, 99 percent, who get mouth cancer have used some type of tobacco," Campbell said. "I'm the 1 percent. I never smoked, never chewed, never lived with a smoker. My doctor couldn't believe that I had mouth cancer." The first sign that something was wrong was a small lump on the side of her neck. "My family said it was probably just a swollen lymph node and that I'd be OK. Normally, I'd go to the doctor, but I was taking care of two parents with Alzheimer's. I hadn't placed them in (care) facilities at the time. My brother and I were trying to keep these sweet people in their home. "I was very foolish. After about a month, it had swollen to about the size of a pingpong ball. I did go to the doctor about halfway through that time. He said, 'This could be just an infection,' [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-23T09:31:33-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|