lymph nodes

New indicator may help Identify patients with increased risk from throat cancer

Source: www.onclive.com Author: staff Patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who had "matted" lymph nodes -- nodes that are connected together -- are more likely to metastasize than those without matted lymph nodes, according to a study published online in the journal Head & Neck. Metastases account for about 45% of the deaths among patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma, wrote Douglas B. Chepeha, MD, MPH, an associate professor of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. "Our findings may help doctors identify patients who are at higher risk for having their cancer metastasize and who would benefit from additional systemic therapy," he said, adding that the opposite was also true -- those without matted nodes might benefit from reducing therapy. The researchers tracked 78 patients who were part of a clinical trial evaluating 2 cancer drugs with intensity-modulated radiation therapy. All of the treatment-naive patients had stage III-IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx. Sixteen of the 78 patients had matted nodes. They found that patients with matted nodes had a 69% survival rate over 3 years, compared with 94% for patients without matted nodes. The risk was independent of other prognostic factors, such as the patient's history of smoking, alcohol use, or human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Matted nodes appear to be an especially strong indicator of increased risk among patients who are HPV-positive. However, HPVpositive patients had better overall outcomes than HPV-negative patients did. The patients with the best outcomes were HPV-positive [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-03-19T07:12:42-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Squamous cell subgroups respond differently to treatment

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Nancy A. Melville A long-term follow-up of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma suggests that only certain high-risk subgroups benefit from radiation plus chemotherapy. This information will spare patients who will not benefit from undergoing the additional treatment. According to the study, presented here at the 2012 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, patients with microscopically involved resection margins and/or extracapsular spread of disease had a lower risk for cancer recurrence with radiation plus chemotherapy 10 years later, whereas those with tumors in multiple lymph nodes did not benefit from combination treatment; they fared better with radiation alone. "The clinical implication of these findings is that the high-risk group of patients is not as homogenous a group as we believed it was before the study started," lead author Jay S. Cooper, MD, director of the Maimonides Cancer Center, in Brooklyn, New York, told Medscape Medical News. Dr. Cooper and his colleagues analyzed 10 years of follow-up data from the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9501/Intergroup phase 3 trial, which examined 410 patients with high-risk resected head and neck cancers. The patients were considered high risk for cancer recurrence because they had microscopically involved resection margins, extracapsular spread of disease, or multiple lymph node involvement. "The allocation was equally divided [according to treatment regimen] at the beginning of the study; the groups were not intended to be balanced for the different [risk] factors," Dr. Cooper said. "We thought they were all equally important." The treatment regimen [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-01-28T08:34:43-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Researchers find protein that could help predict head and neck cancer

Source: www.medindia.net Author: Sheela Philomena Researchers have identified a protein that could pave way to predict the spread of head and neck cancer nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The study by Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers found the protein could also serve as part of a treatment strategy to stop the spread of the disease. Though uncommon in the United States, NPC is one of the most common malignant tumours in southern China and Southeast Asia with incidence rates nearly 25 times that of most of the rest of the world. VARI researchers worked with scientists in Singapore, China, and the United States on the study. "This study does not just report another molecular marker for metastasis of nasopharyngeal cancer, these investigators have revealed an important process related to this molecule," Wei Zhang, Ph.D., Professor at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, explained. "Characterization of this process will open diverse opportunities for effective inhibition of this novel target for cancer metastasis," Zhang said. NPC is the most common cancer originating in the nasopharynx area of the throat and has the highest metastasis rate among head and neck cancers. By the time patients are diagnosed, the disease has usually spread to lymph nodes or distant organs such as the liver. Working together with physicians and scientists at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in China, VARI researchers found that the protein serglycin is a marker of metastasis for NPC. Higher levels of serglycin correlated with an unfavourable prognosis and the increased likelihood that cancer would [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-18T11:30:33-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Baker serves great desserts despite not tasting them

Source: Livingston Daily Author: Frank Konkel The Argentine Township woman loves the way chaotic mountains of ingredients meld together to form a singular creation. In the sugary-sweet science of baking desserts, she is a master, wielding her two chief weapons, chocolate and peanut butter, like a wizard waves a wand. At family functions, people fight over whichever dish she brings to pass. Her nephew, committed to play college football this year for the University of Indiana, isn't worried about taking hits from 300-pound linemen. He's worried about how his aunt is going to ship him care packages full of cupcakes across state lines. Dave Johnson, her husband of six years, recalls thinking, "Oh, my God, can she ever cook," after the couple's first dinner date back in 2002. He's fought a losing battle with his waistline ever since. "I've been told by many people that they're the best thing they've ever eaten," Tami Johnson said, without a hint of boasting in her voice. Thing is, she can't taste the delectable desserts she makes. At least not her cupcakes. Not anymore. Last July, the 43-year-old had her tongue removed by doctors in an effort to rid her of the oral cancer she was diagnosed with June 19, 2009. For the following three months, she underwent two rounds of chemotherapy and 35 rounds of radiation treatment. Doctors were forced to remove 112 lymph nodes from her head and neck, two of which tested positive for cancer. The oral cancer and subsequent treatments taxed [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-08-22T21:01:57-07:00August, 2010|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Herpes virus treats head and neck cancer patients

Source: www.healthcanal.com Author: staff A genetically engineered cold sore virus has been used to treat head and neck cancer patients in a Phase I/II clinical trial run by The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. The herpes simplex virus, known as OncoVEX and owned by BioVex Inc, had been modified so it multiplies inside cancer cells but not healthy cells. It bursts and kills tumour cells and, by expressing a human protein, it also helps stimulate patients’ immune systems. The virus was injected into 17 patients’ cancer-affected lymph nodes in up to four doses, and the patients were also given radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Head and neck tumour shrinkage could be seen on scans for 14 patients (82.3%), while 93 per cent of patients had no trace of residual cancer in their lymph nodes during subsequent surgery to remove them. After an average follow-up time of 29 months (19 to 40 months), 82.4 per cent of patients had not succumbed to the disease. Only two of 13 patients given the virus treatment at a high dose relapsed. “Around 35 to 55 per cent of patients given the standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment typically relapse within two years, so these results compare very favourably,” Principal Investigator Dr Kevin Harrington from the ICR and The Royal Marsden says. “This was a small study so the results should be interpreted with caution; however the very high rates of tumour response have led to the decision to take this [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-07-31T06:55:58-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Metabolic activity of head and neck cancer may help guide treatment

Source: www.oncologystat.com Author: Staff The metabolic activity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma on pretreatment imaging independently predicts outcomes in patients who undergo intensity-modulated radiation therapy, new data show. This imaging information can be used to tailor treatment, especially to reduce the risk of distant metastases, lead investigator Dr. Min Yao said at a head and neck cancer symposium sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology. Higher standardized uptake value (SUV) of the primary tumor and of the lymph nodes predicted worse outcomes in multivariate analyses presented by Dr. Yao, a radiation oncologist at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. "Several papers have shown that the standardized uptake value (SUV) is a prognostic factor in head and neck cancer," Dr. Yao told attendees. Most of these studies were small series, involved patients receiving conventional radiation therapy, and did not evaluate SUV of the primary tumor and lymph nodes separately. Dr. Yao and his colleagues analyzed outcomes in 177 patients treated for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) between 1999 and 2006. The patients had a pretreatment positron emission tomography scan using fluorodeoxyglucose as the tracer (FDG-PET), and the maximal SUV was determined for both the primary tumor and the involved lymph nodes. The patients then underwent IMRT with curative intent. Seventy-seven percent of the patients were male. Twenty-nine percent were receiving IMRT postoperatively, whereas the rest were receiving it as definitive therapy. The cancer was most commonly located in the oropharynx (49%) and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-04-18T10:24:49-07:00April, 2010|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|

microRNA evaluation of unknown primary lesions in the head and neck

Source: 7thspace.com/headlines Authors: Emma BarkerNilva et al. Unknown primary malignancy in the head and neck is not an infrequent diagnosis for patients with metastatic cervical lymph nodes. Although linked with a relatively good prognosis following radiation treatment, widespread radiation is coupled with significant morbidity. Altered microRNA (miRNA) expression has been associated with both cancer progression and metastasis. We sought to determine whether miRNA expression analysis could be used as a diagnostic tool to discover the primary site of malignancy, within the head and neck. We used quantitative real-time PCR to identify miRNA expression profiles of squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil, base of tongue and post-nasal space, as well as their corresponding metastatic lymph nodes, from 6 patients. Our results revealed that each cancer maintained its expression profile between the primary site and the nodal metastasis (r= 0.82, p<0.0001). In addition, each anatomical sub-site maintained a distinct miRNA profile between individual patients (r=0.79, p<0.0001). Finally, between sub-sites, the miRNA profiles were distinct (p<0.0001). As proof of principle, our study provides an indication that miRNA expression analysis may be useful to compare the primary lesion and local metastatic disease. This may be clinically relevant to predict the primary site of origin of metastatic disease, when the primary site remains obscure. Authors: Emma Barker, Nilva Cervigne, Patricia Reis, Rashmi Goswami, Wei XuIlan Weinreb, Jonathan Irish, Suzanne Kamel-Reid Source: Molecular Cancer 2009, 8:127

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-25T11:14:13-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Implant-based cancer vaccine is first to eliminate tumors in mice

Source: news.biocompare.com Authors: David J. Mooney et al. A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, scientists report this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The new approach, pioneered by bioengineers and immunologists at Harvard University, uses plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin to reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors. The new paper describes the use of such implants to eradicate melanoma tumors in mice. "This work shows the power of applying engineering approaches to immunology," says David J. Mooney, the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering in Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. "By marrying engineering and immunology through this collaboration with Glenn Dranoff at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we've taken a major step toward the design of effective cancer vaccines." Most cancer cells easily skirt the immune system, which operates by recognizing and attacking invaders from outside the body. The approach developed by Mooney's group redirects the immune system to target tumors, and appears both more effective and less cumbersome than other cancer vaccines currently in clinical trials. Conventional cancer vaccinations remove immune cells from the body, reprogram them to attack malignant tissues, and return them to the body. However, more than 90 percent of reinjected cells have died before having any effect in experiments. The slender implants developed by Mooney's group are 8.5 millimeters in diameter [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-01T15:36:50-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Neck response to chemoradiotherapy

Source: Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009;135(11):1133-1136 Author: Alexander Langerman, MD et al. Complete Radiographic Response Correlates With Pathologic Complete Response in Locoregionally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Objective: The role of neck dissection following chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer is an area of active debate. Patients who have a complete radiographic response may not need dissection, and the extent of neck dissection necessary for those patients with residual disease is unclear. Design: Retrospective review of data from a prospectively collected database of patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer treated as part of a phase 2 study of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent CRT. The results of post-CRT neck computed tomography (CT) imaging and pathologic analysis of the neck dissection specimens were compared to evaluate correlation between radiographic and pathologic response. Results: Forty-nine patients underwent 61 hemineck dissections. Overall, 209 neck levels were dissected. Radiologic complete response in the neck was achieved in 39 patients, all of whom had pathologic specimens negative for tumor cells. Ten patients (20%) had a total of 14 neck levels with residual disease on CT imaging. Five (50%) of these 10 patients were found to have residual tumor cells on pathologic analysis. Tumor cells were contained only to those levels found positive on CT imaging; they were present in 7 (50%) of the 14 positive levels. Conclusions: Neck levels with residual disease on post-CRT CT imaging warrant removal. However, neck levels without evidence of disease on post-CRT CT imaging [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-17T19:34:20-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|