oral cancer – Page 12 – Oral Cancer News

CDC reveals no drop in smokeless tobacco use among U.S. workers

Source: philly.comAuthor: Margaret Steele, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, June 5, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Cigarette smoking continues to decline among Americans who work, but use of smokeless tobacco -- a known cause of cancer -- has held steady since 2005, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. Certain types of jobs -- construction and mining, especially -- are hotbeds of smokeless tobacco use, according to a study conducted by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Looking at tobacco use over five years, the researchers found a decline in cigarette smoking among working adults -- from about 22 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2010. But use of smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco and snuff inched up slightly -- from 2.7 percent in 2005 to 3 percent in 2010."These findings can help health professionals direct assistance to working men and women to stop using smokeless tobacco, a known cause of oral, esophageal and pancreatic cancer," the researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The CDC called on employers to try to snuff out all forms of tobacco use. New smokeless tobacco products such as snus (finely ground moist snuff) and candy-flavored dissolvable tobacco, combined with increased marketing, might explain smokeless tobacco's steady use, the CDC authors said. However, snus and some other products weren't included in the questionnaire so it's possible smokeless tobacco use is underestimated, study author Dr. Jacek Mazurek, of the division of respiratory disease studies, and colleagues noted. Chewing tobacco and snuff aren't safe, research has shown. [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-06-06T10:47:15-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Aspen Dental and The Oral Cancer Foundation join together and conducted over 2,400 oral cancer screenings in April

Source: sacbee.comAuthor: Aspen Dental SYRACUSE, N.Y., May 29, 2014 -- Aspen Dental, one of the largest and fastest-growing networks of dental care providers in the U.S., conducted 2,420 oral cancer screenings at Aspen Dental locations during the month of April, resulting in a $12,100 donation to The Oral Cancer Foundation. The program, which included a $5 donation for each screening conducted, was run throughout the Aspen Dental network, which includes more than 450 practices across 27 states. Since 2010, Aspen Dental has donated more than $63,000 to The Oral Cancer Foundation. "Each year, oral cancer kills more people in the U.S. than other more widely known forms of cancer, including skin, lymphatic, thyroid, and cervical cancers," said Jamie O'Day, Director of Operations for The Oral Cancer Foundation. "The funds raised through Aspen Dental's oral cancer screening campaign in April are imperative to help OCF continue to sponsor research, provide patient support, education, and early detection initiatives which are all related to our mission. We are proud to be associated with an organization that makes oral cancer screenings a priority in their practices." According to The Oral Cancer Foundation, approximately 43,250 people in the US will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2014. This is the eighth year in a row in which there has been an increase in the rate of occurrence of oral cancers, in 2007 there was a major jump of over 11% in that single year. "Unfortunately many patients are not familiar with the risk factors or symptoms that serve as warning signs of [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-06-05T11:35:53-07:00June, 2014|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

After-effects of oral cancer surgery forces patients into unemployment and depression

Source: economicvoice.comAuthor: Economic Voice Staff Cancer Patients are being forced into unemployment due to the after-effects of surgery and higher levels of depression. Research into head and neck cancer patients discovered the rate of those employed fell by more than 40 per cent five years after diagnosis, where only one in three managed to secure work. They also reported unemployed cancer survivors had lower social well-being and higher depression scores For those cancer sufferers out of work prior to diagnosis, their reasons for not returning to work also included the knock-on effect of surgery as well as dangerous levels of alcohol consumption. Figures from Cancer Research UK reveal more than 331,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2011 – around 910 every day. According to mouth cancer campaigners, the problems are exacerbated for mouth cancer patients. Previous research identified mouth cancer survivors face a diminished quality of life. Survivors reported poor oral function, resulting in persistent eating problems and long term depression. More than half of respondents (51.6 per cent) reported problems with eating, while on average one in four survivors who lived for five or more years still experienced speech problems. It was a similar story when it came to a patient’s physical and mental health, with more than a third (36.7 per cent and 39.3 per cent respectively) recording low functionality after the five year analysis. According to Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, the study highlights the problems mouth cancer sufferers face on a daily basis. Dr [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-03-31T15:05:13-07:00March, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Impact of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement on Head and neck cancer patients

Source: Sage Journals Authors: Scott Kramer, Matthew Newcomb, Joshua Hessler, Farzan Siddiqui MD, PhDAbstract Objective: To understand the impact of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement timing on tube duration, weight loss, and disease control in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Setting: A tertiary academic center. Study: Design Historical cohort study. Subjects and Methods: Seventy-four patients with HNC were reviewed. Patients underwent cisplatinum-based chemoradiation therapy with or without surgical resection. They received a PEG tube either before radiation therapy began (prophylactic) or after (reactive). Patients were matched on the basis of age, gender, TNM stage, tumor subsite, human papillomavirus (HPV) status, and chemoradiation dose. Results: Patients receiving reactive PEG tubes had them in place for fewer days than those placed prophylactically (227 vs 139 days, P < .01). There was no difference in percentage weight loss at 2, 6, or 12 months. There was no difference in survival or disease control between the groups. Conclusions: Reactive PEG tube placement may afford patients a shorter duration of usage without incurring greater weight loss or poorer oncologic outcomes. *This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Charlotte Parker2014-03-18T11:08:33-07:00March, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Gland-sparing technique safe in tonsillar, tongue cancers

Source: oncologypractice.com/The Oncology ReportPublished: February 24, 2014By: Neil Osterweil SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Although radiation oncologists have typically worried that, in patients with oral cancers, leaving contralateral submandibular glands untreated could lead to tumor involvement of nearby lymph nodes, those worries may soon be put to rest, suggest results of a small retrospective study. Among 71 patients with locally advanced cancers of the tongue base or tonsils who underwent radiation therapy that avoided targeting the contralateral submandibular glands, there were no cancer recurrences in contralateral level 1B nodes after a median 27.3 months of follow-up, reported Dr. Tyler Robin of the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora. "We’re interested in sparing the contralateral submandibular gland because we’re interested in minimizing xerostomia. Xerostomia is a significant morbidity of head and neck cancer radiotherapy, and it has substantial impact on patient quality of life," Dr. Robin said at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) allows treatment beams to be shaped to avoid the parotid glands with no subsequent increase in regional lymph node failures and preservation of parotid salivary flow. But patient-reported xerostomia and quality-of-life outcomes with parotid-sparing techniques have been mixed, Dr. Robin said. "Interestingly, an earlier study looking at predictors of xerostomia found that dose to the submandibular gland was a stronger predictor of xerostomia than dose to the parotids, and this may be because of the role of the submandibular gland in unstimulated salivary flow," he said. The submandibular gland is located near level IB [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-02-25T17:53:10-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

An HPV Vaccination campaign to save boys’ lives

Source: The IndependentPublished: Sunday, February 2, 2014By: Charlie Cooper Immunisation used against cervical cancer in girls can also prevent diseases in young men The Government could save thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of pounds for the NHS by vaccinating boys against a cancer-causing virus at a cost of around £20m a year, a coalition of health experts and campaigners says. HPV Action, which has attracted the high-profile backing of leading charities and a medical royal college, wants the national vaccination programme against the human papilloma virus (HPV), currently only available to girls aged 12 to 13, to be extended to boys, amid growing evidence of the virus's role in causing cancers of the mouth and throat. Girls have been given the vaccine since 2008 to protect them against cervical cancer, which is known to be caused by HPV infection in most cases. But it is now well established that the sexually transmitted virus is also responsible for a significant proportion of cancers in other parts of the body, including the throat, anus and penis. Many scientists suspect it may be the root cause of rising rates of oral and throat cancers in both women and men. The campaign group will this week present new evidence from Denmark which counters the UK Government's assessment that vaccinating boys is unnecessary – and will argue that the human rights of British boys are being infringed by denying them the vaccine. Government experts last month began an investigation into the cost-effectiveness [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-02-03T17:49:23-07:00February, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Influence of fluorescence on screening decisions for oral lesions in community dental practices

Source: Cancer Prevention Research - American Association for Cancer ResearchBy: Denise M. Laronde, P Michele Williams, T Greg Hislop, Catherine Poh, Samson Ng, Chris Badjik, Lewei Zhang, Calum MacAuley, and Miriam Rosin Abstract Oral cancer is a global issue, with almost 300,000 new cases reported annually. While the oral cavity is cancer site that is easily examined, >40% of oral cancers are diagnosed at a late stage when prognosis is poor and treatment can be devastating. Opportunistic screening within the dental office could lead to earlier diagnosis and intervention with improved survival. Tools to aid screening are available but it is vital to validate them within the general dental office amongst clinicians with less experience than specialists in high-risk clinics. Fluorescence visualization (FV) is a tool used to assess alterations to tissue fluorescence. The goal of this study was to determine how clinicians made decisions about referral based on the risk classification of the lesion, how FV was integrated and how it affected the decision to refer. Information on FV rates in private practice and how FV affects decision making is vital to determine the feasibility of using this tool in a general practice setting. Methods: 15 dental offices participated in a 1-day workshop on oral cancer screening, including an introduction to and use of FV. Participants then screened patients (medical history, convention oral exam, fluorescent visualization exam) in-office for 11 months. Participants were asked to triage lesions by apparent risk: low, intermediate and high. Low-risk (LR) lesions were common and [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-01-24T17:40:44-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Number of cancer stem cells might not predict outcome in HPV-related oral cancers

Source: Medical XpressPublished: January 22, 2014By: Amanda J. Harper (Medical Xpress)—New research from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) suggests that it may be the quality of cancer stem cells rather than their quantity that leads to better survival in certain patients with oral cancer. The researchers investigated cancer stem cell numbers in oral cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and in oral cancers not associated with the virus. Typically, patients with HPV-positive oral cancer respond better to therapy and have a more promising prognosis than patients with HPV-negative tumors. The latter are usually associated with tobacco and alcohol use. The OSUCCC – James team's findings, published in the journal Cancer, suggest that relying on the number of cancer stem cells in a tumor might inaccurately estimate the potential for the tumor's recurrence or progression. "We show that high levels of cancer stem cells are not necessarily associated with a worse prognosis in head and neck cancer, a finding that could have far-reaching implications for patient care," says principal investigator Quintin Pan, PhD, associate professor of otolaryngology and scientist with the OSUCCC – James Experimental Therapeutics Program. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, with an estimated 600,000 cases diagnosed annually. Although the disease is often linked to alcohol and tobacco use, cancer-causing types of HPV are a major risk factor for the malignancy, and cases of HPV-associated oral cancers have [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-01-22T16:03:37-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

LED Medical develops risk assessment test for oral cancer

Source: Dr. BicuspidPublished: January 16, 2014By: Donna Domino LED Medical Diagnostics has signed an agreement with the BC Cancer Agency to form a collaborative relationship with Genome British Columbia (Genome BC) to create and commercialize a progression risk assessment test for oral cancer. The test, which is the first genetic test for oral cancer, is based on a quantifiable genetic phenomenon known as "loss of heterozygosity" (LOH), the most common molecular genetic alteration observed in human cancers. LOH refers to genetic information that shows if a cell has developed into an abnormal state (dysplasia) and predicts what the outcome of the dysplasia will be, LED Medical Diagnostics' founder and director, Peter Whitehead, explained in an interview with DrBicuspid.com. "The test will show whether or not the dysplasia is going to turn into something you need to remove immediately or something you need to be concerned about and just watch," he said. The test will use the same technology that screened and diagnosed actress Angelina Jolie's breast cancer risk, Whitehead noted. "She had a hereditary high-risk gene, and the lump in her breast had lots of heterozygosity. They removed her breast based on the fact that the LOH in that tumor was high-risk," Whitehead said. "LOH has been around for a while, but no one has translated it from lab bench to a clinical test." When a patient is diagnosed with moderate dysplasia, they usually must see a specialist every six months for five years because there's a chance the dysplasia [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-01-17T12:57:42-07:00January, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer Prevention Research

Clinical and biochemical studies support smokeless tobacco's carcinogenic potential in the human oral cavity Source: American Association of Cancer ResearchPublished: November 9, 2013By: Susan R. Mallery, Meng Tong, Gregory C. Michaels, Amber R. Kiyani, and Stephen S. Hecht Abstract In 2007, International Agency for Cancer Research presented compelling evidence that linked smokeless tobacco use to the development of human oral cancer. While these findings imply vigorous local carcinogen metabolism, little is known regarding levels and distribution of Phase I, II and drug egress enzymes in human oral mucosa. In the study presented here, we integrated clinical data, imaging and histopathologic analyses of an oral squamous cell carcinoma that arose at the site of smokeless tobacco quid placement in a patient. Immunoblot and immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses were employed to identify tumor and normal human oral mucosal smokeless tobacco-associated metabolic activation and detoxification enzymes. Human oral epithelium contains every known Phase I enzyme associated with nitrosamine oxidative bioactivation with ~2 fold inter-donor differences in protein levels. Previous studies have confirmed ~3.5 fold inter-donor variations in intraepithelial Phase II enzymes. Unlike the superficially located enzymes in non-replicating esophageal surface epithelium, IHC studies confirmed oral mucosal nitrosamine metabolizing enzymes reside in the basilar and suprabasilar region which notably is the site of ongoing keratinocyte DNA replication. Clearly, variations in product composition, nitrosamine metabolism and exposure duration will modulate clinical outcomes. The data presented here form a coherent picture consistent with the abundant experimental data that links tobacco-specific nitrosamines to human oral cancer. [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-11-25T17:22:35-07:00November, 2013|Oral Cancer News|