National Cancer Institute

The Oral Cancer Foundation Helps Sponsor HPV/Oral Cancer Study

Source: Jada.org An increase in the incidence and survival of oropharyngeal cancer in the United States since 1984 can be attributed to the human papilloma-virus (HPV) infection, say researchers in an article published online Oct. 3 in Journal of Clinical Oncology. The results of previous studies have shown that oropharyngeal cancers can be divided into two separate diseases with distinct causes: HPV-negative cancers, which are associated with tobacco and alcohol use; and HPV-positive cancers, which are linked to certain types of HPV, a sexually transmitted virus. Patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer tend to be younger than and to have better survival rates than patients with HPV-negative cancer. To determine HPV infection’s role, researchers led by Anil K. Chaturvedi, PhD, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., tested for HPV infection 271 archived samples of cancerous oropharyngeal tissue collected between 1984 and 2004 at three population-based cancer registries located in Hawaii, Iowa and Los Angeles in the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Residual Tissue Repositories Program. By using a variety of molecular assays, researchers found that the proportion of oropharyngeal cancers that were HPV-positive—particularly among men—increased over time, from 16.3 percent for cancers diagnosed from 1984 to 1989 to 72.7 percent for cancers diagnosed from 2000 to 2004. They also found that the incidence of HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers declined by 50 percent between 1988 and 2004, likely due to declines in smoking and tobacco use. According to senior author Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, a professor of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-01T09:48:55-07:00November, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Systems Strategies To Support Cancer Screening in U.S. Primary Care Practice

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Oct 5 Yabroff R, Zapka JM, Klabunde C, Yuan G, Buckman D, Haggstrom D, Clauser S, Miller JW, Taplin S. Source Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute. Abstract BACKGROUND: Although systems strategies are effective in improving health care delivery, little is known about their use for cancer screening in U.S. primary care practice. METHODS: We assessed primary care physicians' (n=2475) use of systems strategies for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in a national survey conducted in 2007. Systems strategies included patient and physician screening reminders, performance reports of screening rates, electronic medical records, implementation of in-practice guidelines, and use of nurse practitioners/physician assistants. We evaluated use of both patient and physician screening reminders with other strategies in separate models by screening type, adjusted for the effects of physician and practice characteristics with multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Fewer than 10% of physicians used a comprehensive set of systems strategies to support cancer screening; use was greater for mammography and Pap testing than for CRC screening. In adjusted analyses, performance reports of cancer screening rates, medical record type, and in-practice guidelines were associated with use of both patient and physician screening reminders for mammography, Pap testing, and CRC screening (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Despite evidence supporting use of systems strategies in primary care, few physicians report using a comprehensive set of strategies to support cancer screening. Impact: Current health policy initiatives underscore the importance of increased implementation of systems strategies in primary care to improve the use and quality [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-11T10:42:41-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

New Study on Tonsillar Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Source: SAGE Journals Online Objective. To analyze outcomes in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA) of the tonsil from the years 1998 to 2006. To assess factors that may affect disease-specific survival, such as patient characteristics and/or treatment modality. Study Design and Setting. National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. Subjects and Methods. The SEER database was used to perform a population-based cohort analysis for patients diagnosed with SCCA of the tonsil from 1998 to 2006. Disease-specific survival was correlated with sex, age, ethnicity, year of diagnosis, and treatment modality in a univariate Cox proportional hazards analysis and a multiple Cox-regression model with and without interaction effect. Results. Applied inclusion criteria resulted in 8378 patients. Of this patient cohort, 80% were male and 85% were white. The mean patient age at diagnosis was 58.1 years. On univariate and multivariate analyses, ethnicities other than white carried a significantly higher rate of disease-specific death (hazard ratio = 1.71, P

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-02T10:29:43-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV Vaccine- Should it be Available for Boys?

Source: Dr.Bicuspid.com July 14, 2011 -- With the alarming rise in the rate of oropharyngeal cancer among men being linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is considering whether to also recommend the HPV vaccine for boys. Two vaccines (Cervarix and Gardasil) are currently available to protect females against the HPV types that cause most cervical cancers. The CDC currently recommends both for 11- and 12-year-old girls and for females 13 through 26 years old who did not get the three recommended doses when they were younger. The number of HPV-related oral cancers cases among men in the U.S. is increasing so quickly they could surpass the number of cases of cervical cancers in women by 2020, according to research presented last month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. Between 1984 and 1989, only 16% of oropharyngeal cancers were linked to HPV. But by 2000-2004, HPV was related to 75% of oropharyngeal cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In 2010, the institute estimated that there were 12,660 cases of oropharyngeal cancer, resulting in 2,410 deaths. About half of those cases were among males and at least 75% were caused by HPV, according to NCI researchers. Several studies and oral cancer specialists have attributed the sharp rise in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers to an increasing prevalence of oral sex among young people. For the past few years, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-07-14T09:53:49-07:00July, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Can HPV Vaccine Prevent Oral Cancer?

Source: WebMD.com June 23, 2011 -- Can HPV vaccines stop the explosive rise of HPV-related head and neck cancer? HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines protect against the sexually transmitted strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer. The same HPV strains -- spread by kissing and by oral sex -- cause oropharyngeal (OP) cancer, the form of head and neck cancer that affects the back and sides of the throat, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils. There's strong evidence that HPV vaccines prevent cervical cancer. There's no direct proof that these vaccines prevent throat cancer, but the rapid rise in cases among young people has some experts wanting to vaccinate first and get proof later. "We don't need to wait until all these molecular events are understood," Dong Moon Shin, MD, of Emory University's Winship Cancer Center, tells WebMD. "The time is now. For the HPV vaccine, cost is the only issue as side effects are minimal. Routine HPV vaccination has to be implemented very soon, for both boys and girls." In the U.S., that recommendation is made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The ACIP now recommends routine HPV vaccination only for girls and young women in order to prevent cervical cancer. It permits vaccination of boys who want protection against HPV-caused genital warts. For two years, the ACIP has been mulling whether to recommend the HPV vaccine for boys. This would help prevent cervical cancer in unvaccinated women. It also would prevent HPV-related anal cancer and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-24T08:50:47-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV related oral cancers continue to increase in the US

Source: International Medicine News CHICAGO – Human papillomavirus infection was firmly linked to the recent rise in oropharyngeal cancers in the United States, based on data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. If current trends continue, the incidence of HPV-related oral cancers will soon surpass that of cervical cancers, senior author Dr. Maura Gillison reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The incidence of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers increased 225% – from 0.8 per 100,000 to 2.8 per 100,000 – between 1988 and 2004, the researchers found. At the same time, the incidence rate for HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers, which are strongly related to tobacco and alcohol use, declined by 50% – from 2.0 per 100,000 to 1.0 per 100,000. Consequently, the overall incidence of oropharyngeal cancers increased 28%. Even by the conservative estimate that 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in 2020 will be HPV positive, the annual number of HPV-positive oral squamous cell carcinomas (8,653 cases) is expected to surpass cervical cancers (7,726 cases). Further, the majority will occur among men (7,426 cases), said Dr. Gillison, a medical oncologist and the Jeg Coughlin Chair in Cancer Research at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus. Changes in sexual behavior among recent birth cohorts and increased oral HPV exposure probably influenced the increases in incidence and prevalence, Dr. Gillison speculated. Having a high lifetime number of sexual partners is a known risk factor for HPV infection. Although the rise in oral cancers [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-06T10:23:24-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Low-Dose Sorafenib may Boost Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer

Source: Darrell E. Ward Ohio State University Medical Center Adding low doses of the targeted agent sorafenib to the chemotherapy and radiation now often used to treat head and neck cancer might significantly improve patient care and quality of life, according to a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James). The findings suggest that adding sorafenib would maintain treatment efficacy while permitting the use of lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation and decreasing the treatment's harsh side effects. The triple combination was well-tolerated in an animal model. About 49,200 new cases of head and neck cancer are expected in the U.S. this year, and 11,500 people are expected to die of the disease. Treatment is often unsuccessful because the tumors become resistant to both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. "This pre-clinical study suggests that using low-dose sorafenib along with chemotherapy and radiation could have significantly milder side effects while maintaining effectiveness," says researcher and principal investigator Dr. Pawan Kumar, assistant professor of otolaryngology and a neck surgeon at the OSUCCC - James. "Our findings provide a scientific rationale to evaluate this combination strategy through a clinical trial," Kumar added. The results of the laboratory and animal study are published online in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, and they include the following: Sorafenib sensitized tumor cells to chemotherapy and radiation treatment by down-regulating DNA repair proteins (ERCC-1 and XRCC-1), and it decreased tumor angiogenesis [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-18T13:14:39-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Spouses of Head/Neck Cancer Patients More Inclined to PTSD

Source: MedScape Today Partners of patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer are significantly more likely to meet research criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than patients themselves, according to a study presented here at the Society of Behavioral Medicine 32nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions. Donna Posluszny, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues from there and from the University of Texas, Arlington, Texas, found that 8 of 20 partners of patients with head and neck cancer (20%) had a mean score on the PTSD Checklist (also known as the PCL) of 50 or higher, compared with only 2 of 40 patients (5%). Patients who score at least 50 on the PCL meet the criteria for PTSD. "This is not a formal diagnosis of PTSD but for research purposes, a score of 50 or higher is meaningful," Dr. Posluszny told delegates. "And we were very surprised to find that partners of patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer experience greater amounts of traumatic stress than patients themselves do." For the study, investigators recruited 40 dyads (2 individuals regarded as a pair) where the partner was considered to be a "romantic" partner. Some 78% of the patients were male, while most partners were female; all but a small minority were married. Almost all were white, and, as a cohort, they were somewhat better educated and made more money than the majority of patients with head and neck cancer. Sixty-five percent of them also had [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-09T09:49:39-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Cancer…what does sex have to do with it?

Source: DentistryIQ.com The answer is … plenty! This issue will focus on oral cancer awareness. While there are many topics we can delve into regarding this dreadful disease, we will focus on a few topics. We will share two personal and very poignant stories. Kim Anzalotti, Bill Wislon, and Eva Grayzel impart information that will move you and make you think about your daily in-office procedures. JoAnn Gurenlian, RDH, PhD, will share insights on the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted virus, and its relationship to oral cancer. And last, but certainly not least, Jamie O'Day, Treatment Facilities Coordinator, The Oral Cancer Foundation Inc., The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, will share her insight on oral cancer screening and the need for a thorough examination. One personal story is shared by Eva Grazel, an international motivational speaker, author, performer, and cancer survivor. I had the pleasure of meeting Eva a number of years ago. In 1998 at age 33, Eva, a non-smoker, saw a number of dentists and physicians for over two years for an “ulcer” on her tongue that became larger and more painful, without any resolution. She was finally diagnosed with advanced oral cancer, Stage IV squamous cell carcinoma, on the lateral border of her tongue. After the many missed opportunities for diagnosis, Eva was given a 15% chance of survival. While her late stage diagnosis is not uncommon, her recovery was unique, as she beat the odds. After diagnosis, Eva underwent a partial tongue reconstruction, a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-05T10:04:44-07:00May, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Oral sex is a major risk factor for oral cancer in men

Source: AOL News Rates of oral cancer are on the rise among men, and researchers say the culprit isn't the devil you might think. The rising rates of oral cancer aren't being caused by tobacco, experts say, but by HPV, the same sexually transmitted virus responsible for the vast majority of cases of cervical cancer in women. Millions of women and girls have been vaccinated against HPV, or human papillomavirus, but doctors now say men exposed to the STD during oral sex are at risk as well and may have higher chances of developing oral cancer. John Moore, Getty Images About 65 percent of oral cancer tumors were linked to HPV in 2007, according to the National Cancer Institute. And the uptick isn't occurring among tobacco smokers. "We're looking at non-smokers who are predominantly white, upper middle class, college-educated men," Brian Hill, the executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation, told AOL News by phone. Tobacco use has declined over the past decade, but rates of HPV infections have risen and affect at least 50 percent of the sexually active American population, according to the Centers for Disease Control. HPV-16, the strain of the virus that causes cervical cancer in women, has become the leading cause of oral cancer in non-smoking men, Hill said, citing research in the New England Journal of Medicine. "When the No. 1 cause of your disease goes down [tobacco use], you would expect that the incidence of disease would go down, but that hasn't happened," he said. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-21T13:48:09-07:00April, 2011|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|