oral cancer

Study: Immunotherapy better than chemotherapy for subtype of head and neck cancer

Date: November 30th, 2018 Source: Scienmag A randomized clinical trial involving 97 medical centers in 20 countries, including Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, found that treating patients who have chemotherapy-resistant head and neck cancer with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab is more effective and less toxic than standard chemotherapy, reports an international team of researchers in the November 30 online issue of The Lancet. Previous research had shown that pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was safe and effective for treating patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose disease had progressed while on or after receiving standard chemotherapy. Data from this clinical trial called KEYNOTE-040, a phase III study sponsored by Merck & Co., the manufacturer of the drug, takes the research a step further by comparing the immunotherapy drug head-to-head to three go-to chemotherapy drugs currently used as standard treatment: methotrexate, docetaxel and cetuximab. "We compared pembrolizumab against standard of care to see if it fulfilled the promise of early data for patients who are unlikely to do well on standard therapy," said Ezra Cohen, MD, professor of medicine at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and corresponding author on the study. "In this trial, patients who received pembrolizumab alone had a higher response rate compared to those receiving standard chemotherapy while those responses lasted, on average, one-and-a-half years. Furthermore, the median survival at one year was markedly better. I feel it is safe to say that these types of therapies should be the [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-12-03T11:14:28-07:00December, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine gains support of ADA

Source: Multi Briefs Date: October 24th, 2018 Author: Tammy Adams The American Cancer Society estimates there will be more than 50,000 new cases of oral cancer in 2018. And between 70 to 80 percent of these cases will be attributed to the human papillomavirus virus (HPV), a virus that has types associated with oropharyngeal cancer. These staggering numbers call for action; action the American Dental Society is willing to take. Why? Because the HPV vaccine could prevent the vast majority of these new cases, but compared to other vaccines in the U.S., it is underutilized. According to a resolution passed recently by the ADA House of Delegates, the ADA urges dentists to support the use and administration of the human papillomavirus virus vaccine, recognizing it as a way to help prevent infection of the types of HPV associated with oropharyngeal cancer. Resolution 53H-2018 cites recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. It states that the vaccination is a "safe and effective intervention to decrease the burden of oral and oropharyngeal HPV infection." The policy is the result of a multifaceted ADA council proposal that includes input from the Council on Scientific Affairs, the Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention and the Council on Dental Practice. A workgroup committed to the HPV issue and led by ADA volunteer members developed an evidence-based background report to help write the policy. Dr. Paul Eleazer, past chair of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs, said that [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-10-25T15:38:39-07:00October, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Long-term implant failure in patients treated for oral cancer by external radiotherapy: a retrospective monocentric study

Source: Journal of Oral Medicine and oral Surgery, JOMOS Date: October 10th, 2018 Authors: Aline Desoutter, Sophie Deneuve, Sophie-Charlotte Condamin and Anne-Gaëlle Chaux-Bodard Abstract Introduction: The placement of dental implants in irradiated bone has allowed functional rehabilitation for many oral cancer patients. Nonetheless, there is only few data about implant failure in irradiated tissues and their consequences. This retrospective study aims to highlight the rate and circumstances of implant failure. Material and method: Patients treated with external radiotherapy for oral carcinoma and who received dental implants were included. Patients reconstructed with free bone flaps were excluded. Results: Eighteen patients were included. Forty implants were placed between 2004 and 2007, 8 failed, of whom one osteoradionecrosis was observed. Time interval between radiotherapy and implantation was 44.6 (6–182) months. Mean dose was 51.8 (50–66) Gy. Discussion: In the series, the implant failure rate is 20%, which corroborates the literature's data. Failures occur more often for doses over 50 Gy. The placement of dental implant in irradiated bone leads to soft tissue complications but also increases the risk of osteoradionecrosis. The recent reimbursement of dental implants in oral cancer patients by the National Social Health system will probably increase the indications. Multidisciplinary staffs should be aware of benefit/risk ratio for each patient. Introduction Dental implants in patients treated for upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancers have facilitated the functional and aesthetic rehabilitation of patients whose postoperative anatomy did not allow for the placement of conventional prostheses. Several studies have been conducted and the success rates have varied [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-10-16T13:03:44-07:00October, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

OCF’s Tobacco Cessation Spokesperson and Bradley Cooper’s Stunt Double Rides in Pendleton

You won’t find Cody Kiser at this year’s NFR, but you will find him working as a stuntman in the 2014 blockerbuster hit “American Sniper” starring Bradley Cooper. The biographical war drama was directed by Clint Eastwood, and told the story of U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle. Kiser, who rode Saturn Rocket for a 75.5-point score Friday at the Pendleton Round-Up, stepped in for Bradley during the scene that shows Kyle riding broncs during his rodeo days before he joined the Navy. “That was the coolest thing I have ever done,” Kiser said. “I got to hang out for a day with Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper. Clint told me I looked a lot like Bradley. They said they wished they had me for the whole movie.” A friend of Kiser’s who does stunt work in California put Kiser in touch with the people from the movie. “They needed a bareback rider who had a certain look,” he said. “They had me and a saddle bronc rider, but he couldn’t ride bareback very well, so the job was mine.” Kiser, 27, said he was living in Texas near where Kyle was shot in 2013, and that he had a friend working at the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge in Erath County, Texas, where Kyle was shot. “It’s such a small world,” he said. Kiser earned a nice paycheck for his work, but said playing Kyle, even in a stunt role, was an honor. “To be a part of that was unreal,” he [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-09-28T09:37:18-07:00September, 2018|OCF In The News|

Penn-led study raises hopes for vaccine to treat head and neck cancer

Date: 09/21/18 Source: The Inquire, philly.com Author: Marie McCullough The patient's head and neck cancer came roaring back, spreading to his lymph nodes and skin, which developed bleeding tumors. Yet despite a grim prognosis, that man is alive and cancer-free more than two years later. In a study led by the University of Pennsylvania and published Friday, researchers hypothesize that his remarkable remission is due to a promising combination: an experimental cancer vaccine that activated his disease-fighting T cells, plus Opdivo, one of the revolutionary "checkpoint inhibitor" drugs that cut a brake on the immune system. "Of course, I'm biased," said Charu Aggarwal, the Penn oncologist who led the study. "In my career, I haven't seen a vaccine as impactful as this." However, the remission may have been due to Opdivo alone; the study lacks data to rule out that possibility. Robert Ferris, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Hillman Cancer Center and head of the pivotal study leading to approval of Opdivo, called the Penn-led study "an important intermediate step exploring a strategy that we hope will work." Conventional vaccines prevent diseases by priming the immune system to recognize the distinctive "antigens" on invading microbes. Therapeutic cancer vaccines, like the one in this study, are intended to work after cancer develops by provoking a heightened immune response. Despite decades of research, this approach remains experimental. The only approved product, the prostate cancer vaccine Provenge, was barely effective; the maker filed for bankruptcy in 2015. A major obstacle to treatment vaccines [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-09-24T09:42:13-07:00September, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Study: Cetuximab, radiation inferior to standard HPV throat cancer treatment

Source: upi.com Author: Allen Cone Treating HPV-positive throat cancer with cetuximab and radiation had worse overall and progression-free survival results compared with the current method of treatment with radiation and cisplatin, the National Institutes of Health revealed Tuesday. The trial, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute, was intended to test whether the combination would be less toxic than cisplatin but be just as effective for human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal cancer. The trial, which began in 2011, enrolled 849 patients at least 18 years old with the cancer to receive cetuximab or cisplatin with radiation. The trial is expected to finish in 2020. Cetuximab, which is manufactured under the brand name Erbitux by Eli Lilly, and cisplatin, which as sold as Platinol by Pfizer, are used in chemotherapy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved cetuximab with radiation for patients with head and neck cancer, including oropharyngeal cancer. HPV, which is transmitted through intimate skin-to-skin contact, is the leading cause of oropharynx cancers, which are the throat at the back of the mouth, including the soft palate, the base of the tongue and the tonsils. Most people at risk are white, non-smoking males age 35 to 55 -- including a 4-to-1 male ratio over females -- according to The Oral Cancer Foundation. The NIH released the trial results after an interim analysis showed that cetuximab with radiation wasn't as effective. In a median follow-up of 4.5 years, the test combination was found to be "significantly inferior" to the cisplatin [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-08-15T15:48:59-07:00August, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

HPV: The gender-neutral killer in need of prevention among men

Source: CNN Author: Dominic Rech In July 2014, Phil Rech, then 59, was diagnosed with tonsil cancer. "I had got a lump in my neck. I had the tonsils out, and within the next few days, I was having radical neck dissection," he said. "Then I had six weeks of intensive, targeted radiotherapy. The burning effect towards the end of the treatment became very painful." The therapy involved a radiotherapy mask, molded to the shape of his face, that went over his head as radiotherapy was beamed in, targeting the cancer. The discovery of his cancer not only startled him, it startled everyone who knew him. Phil is my dad, and to our family, he had always been healthy: He doesn't smoke, he rarely drinks alcohol, and he generally stays fairly fit. But that's not how cancer works. At the time of the diagnosis, Phil didn't question how or what could have caused his cancer, as he focused on getting better. Like many men in the UK and around the world, he wasn't aware of a group of viruses that were a threat, human papillomavirus or HPV, which were eventually connected to his cancer. "To discover it was linked to HPV was a massive shock," he said. "There was a lot of speculation over what could have caused it. To discover it was that, was certainly a surprise. I didn't really know it was a threat to me." A cancerous virus HPV is a group of 150 related viruses that [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-07-28T15:15:04-07:00July, 2018|OCF In The News|

Smoking hits new low; about 14 percent of US adults light up

Source: https://flipboard.com Author: Mike Strobbe, AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Smoking in the U.S. has hit another all-time low. About 14 percent of U.S adults were smokers last year, down from about 16 percent the year before, government figures show. There hadn't been much change the previous two years, but it's been clear there's been a general decline and the new figures show it's continuing, said K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina. "Everything is pointed in the right direction," including falling cigarette sales and other indicators, Cummings said. The new figures released Tuesday mean there are still more than 30 million adult smokers in the U.S., he added. Teens are also shunning cigarettes. Survey results out last week showed smoking among high school students was down to 9 percent, also a new low. In the early 1960s, roughly 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked. It was common nearly everywhere — in office buildings, restaurants, airplanes and even hospitals. The decline has coincided with a greater understanding that smoking is a cause of cancer, heart disease and other health problems. Anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans are combining to bring down adult smoking rates, experts say. The launch of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity has also likely played a role. E-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine into a vapor without the harmful by-products generated from burning tobacco. That makes them a potentially useful tool to help smokers quit, but some public health experts [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-06-20T10:10:36-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Nivolumab Plus Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Fails To Improve Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer

June 02, 2018 By: James Nam, PharmD Source: https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com CHICAGO—Although the addition of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to nivolumab did not increase toxicity, it did not lead to any improvement in response rates or survival outcomes among patients with metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), according to an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2018 Annual Meeting on Friday, June 1. Researchers sought to determine whether or not SBRT to a single lesion plus nivolumab would improve abscopal responses (tumor regression in non-irradiated lesions) and other outcomes among this patient population. In this phase 2 interventional study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02684253), researchers randomly assigned 53 patients with metastatic HNSCC to receive nivolumab alone every 2 weeks or with SBRT between the first and second doses of nivolumab. The 2 study arms did not have any significant differences in terms of age, EBV/HPV viral status, primary site, or median lines of previous chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 12.8 months. Results showed that the overall response rate (ORR) was 26.9% (95% CI, 13.7-46.1) compared with 22.2% (95% CI, 10.6-40.8) in the nivolumab alone arm and nivolumab plus SBRT arm, respectively (P = .94). Patients receiving nivolumab alone did not have an evaluable median duration of response (DOR) compared with 9.3 months (95% CI, 55.2-not reached [NR]) among patients in the SBRT arm. The 1-year overall survival rate was 64% (95% CI, 47-88) in the nivolumab alone arm compared with 53% (95% CI, 36-79) in the nivolumab plus SBRT arm [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-06-04T10:12:12-07:00June, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

History of the Anti-Vaccine Movement – When Did the Anti-Vaccine Movement Really Start?

February 8th, 2018 By: Vincent Iannelli, MD Source: https://www.verywellfamily.com It is likely a surprise to many people that there has always been an anti-vaccine movement. It isn't something new that was created by Jenny McCarthy and Bob Sears. 18th Century Anti-Vaccine Movement In fact, the anti-vaccine movement essentially predates the first vaccine. Edward Jenner's first experiments with a smallpox vaccine began in 1796. Even before that, variolation as a technique to prevent smallpox was practiced for centuries in many parts of the world, including Africa, China, India, and the Ottoman Empire. In fact, Onesimus, his African slave, taught Cotton Mather about the technique in 1706. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduced inoculation to England, having learned about the practice in Turkey. As she encouraged others to inoculate and protect their children against smallpox, including the Royal Family, there was much debate. It is said that "Pro-inoculators tended to write in the cool and factual tones encouraged by the Royal Society, with frequent appeals to reason, the modern progress of science and the courtesy subsisting among gentlemen. Anti-inoculators purposely wrote like demagogues, using heated tones and lurid scare stories to promote paranoia." Were those the first vaccine debates? 19th Century Anti-Vaccine Movement Eventually, Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine replaced variolation. Even though this was much safer than the previous practice and smallpox was still a big killer, there were still those who objected. Much of the resistance may have come because getting the smallpox vaccine in the UK in the 19th century was compulsory—you [...]

Charlotte Parker2018-06-04T10:08:53-07:00May, 2018|Oral Cancer News|