radiation – Page 18 – Oral Cancer News

Consider dental issues before beginning cancer treatment

Soure: www.curetoday.com/ Author: Lacey Meyer Dentists advise resolving tooth and gum issues before starting cancer treatment. Bettye Davis admits she has never had very good teeth. But when she received a diagnosis of salivary gland cancer, she was surprised that her oncologist recommended she visit a dentist before beginning radiation treatments to her jaw. “When we first saw her, she still had quite a few teeth, but she had severe periodontal disease and severe bone loss,” says Dennis Abbott, DDS, Davis’ dentist. Knowing radiation would do more damage, he recommended removing the remainder of her teeth and allowing time to heal before she began 33 radiation treatments. “We knew that if we took the teeth out after radiation, we risked the bone not healing well, which would have meant osteonecrosis, dead bone in her mouth, and lots of systemic problems.” According to the National Cancer Institute, eliminating pre-existing dental and mucosal infections and instituting a comprehensive oral hygiene protocol before and throughout therapy can reduce the severity and frequency of oral complications from cancer therapy. Abbott says the NCI recommendations, as well as an increasing number of studies, are bringing more recognition to the importance of dental issues before, during and after cancer treatment. A Proactive Approach Abbott’s goal is to help patients maintain healthy teeth and reduce the risk of future infection with an oral care plan that eliminates or stabilizes disease that could produce complications during or following therapy. These complications can range from irradiated bone and gums [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-22T15:08:57-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Harvard doctor’s startup trains hospitals to rehab cancer survivors

Source: www.bloomberg.com/ Author: John Tozzi Sandra Wade, a Florida social worker, was diagnosed with an incurable form of breast cancer a decade ago. Two surgeries and years of chemotherapy left Wade, 61, with a damaged heart, chronic swelling in her left arm, spinal arthritis, nerve damage and fatigue, among other problems. “They didn’t send me home well,” she says. “They sent me home sicker than I began.” Survivors of strokes, heart attacks and traumatic injuries routinely get rehabilitation to improve their strength, energy and functioning. For cancer patients, it’s a rarity. It wasn’t always this way. “We used to have better cancer rehabilitation than we do now,” says Dr. Catherine Alfano, a program director at the Office of Cancer Survivorship at the National Cancer Institute. Before the 1980s, when most cancer treatment involved long hospital stays, survivors would get rehab before being discharged. As treatments improved and outpatient care became more common, Alfano says, “those programs kind of disappeared to a large extent.” Now the medical world is recognizing that the 12 million cancer survivors in the U.S. can benefit from more comprehensive rehab. Six years ago the Institute of Medicine called for giving every survivor a “care plan” to manage the lasting consequences of treatment, and this year the American College of Surgeons made such post-treatment attention to quality of life a requirement for its 1,500 accredited hospitals. Dr. Julie Silver, a Harvard Medical School rehab physician who survived breast cancer herself, is one of the pioneers trying to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-18T12:35:12-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

UI professors: HPV editorial misses the mark

Source: The Daily Iowan The Nov. 29 editorial "Recommend Pap smears, not vaccines, to prevent cervical cancer" completely missed the mark with regard to HPV vaccines. We are researchers and clinicians at the University of Iowa who study and treat HPV and other infectious diseases. It is disturbing to think that the article might dissuade individuals from getting a safe and effective vaccine that can prevent cancer. First of all, it has been conclusively demonstrated that the vaccines are effective at preventing HPV infection. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV. Additionally, cancers of the head and neck are linked to HPV, including cancers in males. It has been clearly shown that the vaccines prevent the development of precursors to cervical cancer. In the editorial, Dr. Diane Harper was quoted as saying, "If doctors tell patients that this vaccination will prevent cancer, they're telling them a lie." This statement from Dr. Harper is simply misleading. In the vaccine studies, non-treatment of precursor lesions in the placebo group in the context of a clinical trial was considered unethical, and therefore, any precursor lesions were treated. Subsequent development of cancer in the placebo group was prevented by the required ethical treatment. Thus, the trials could not evaluate prevention of advanced cancer, per se. Because it takes cervical cancer a long time to develop, it will take about 15 more years to have data on incidence rates of cervical cancer from a large vaccinated general population. Because the vaccines prevent HPV infection and HPV-associated [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-08T10:31:17-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Acupuncture can prevent radiation-induced chronic dry mouth

Source: http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com Author: staff When given alongside radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, acupuncture has shown for the first time to reduce the debilitating side effect of xerostomia, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. The study, published in the journal Cancer, reported findings from the first randomised controlled trial of acupuncture for the prevention of xerostomia. Xerostomia, or severe dry mouth, is characterised by reduced salivary flow, which commonly affects patients receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. Most current treatments are palliative and offer limited benefit, according to Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor in MD Anderson's Departments of General Oncology and Behavioral Science and director of the Integrative Medicine Program. The condition impairs quality of life for patients, as it creates difficulties eating, speaking and sleeping, while also increasing the risk for oral infections. "There have been a number of small studies examining the benefits of acupuncture after xerostomia develops, but no one previously examined if it could prevent xerostomia," said Cohen, who is also the study's principal investigator. "We found incorporating acupuncture alongside radiotherapy diminished the incidence and severity of this side effect." Cohen and his colleagues examined 86 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, treated at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Forty patients were randomised to acupuncture and 46 to the standard of care. Those in the treatment arm received acupuncture therapy three times per week during the seven-week course of radiotherapy. Patients were evaluated before [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-27T14:18:34-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

FDA Approves Cetuximab for Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer

Source: MedScape News Today The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved cetuximab (Erbitux, Bristol-Myers Squibb ) for use in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic head and neck cancer. Data show that when combined with cisplatin-based chemotherapy, cetuximab improved overall survival, compared with chemotherapy alone. According to the researchers, this is the first time in 3 decades — since cisplatin was first used in head and neck cancer — that any regimen has improved on its success. The improved survival that was seen after cetuximab was added to the regimen (at a median of 2.7 months) is "therefore notable." Cetuximab was approved in the United States in 2004 for the treatment of epidermal growth-factor receptor–positive late-stage colon cancer in patients who no longer responded to chemotherapy. In 2006, it was approved for use in combination with radiation therapy for the treatment of locally or regionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. This latest approval expands on that to cover metastatic head and neck cancer. The ability of cetuximab "to extend the lives of patients with head and neck cancer is an important tool for oncologists, who often rely on a multitreatment approach for patients," said Richard Pazdur, MD, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Drug Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a statement." Given the aggressive nature of head and neck cancers that cannot be treated with surgery and radiation, it is important that patients have [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-08T12:00:48-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Proper dental care for cancer patients: why it is important

Source: newcanaan.patch.com Author: Alan B. Sheiner DDS Common side effects from radiation therapy are not stressed enough in dental schools, but they can be managed and even prevented. A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a retired physician with whom I had not spoken for a number of years since he retired from practice to become a “gentleman farmer” in the country. While I was happy to hear from him, his news was not so good. He was calling because he had been treated for base of tongue cancer and his teeth were “coming apart”. His cancer treatment consisted of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Unfortunately, he somehow “slipped through the cracks” and his oral cavity was now suffering from some of the side effects of the cancer therapy – fortunately he is currently cancer free. The oral cavity, one of the most complex and visible organ systems in the body, is invariably compromised as a result of treatment for head and neck cancer. Whether the malignancy is to be treated by surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of these modalities, the function, if not also the form, of the oral cavity will be impacted. Aside from the obvious physical changes after cancer surgery to the head and neck region, there are issues which usually accompany radiation therapy to the head and neck region. There may be side effects from cancer therapy, some of which can be devastating, but preventable or manageable with proper precautions and care. The most [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-23T09:33:21-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Screen carotids after head and neck radiation

Source: www.oncologyreport.com Author: Neil Osterweil, Oncology Report Digital Network Head and neck cancer patients treated with radiation should be screened routinely for carotid artery stenosis, investigators recommended at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology. Among 225 patients who had received radiation and were screened, an estimated 18% had significant asymptomatic stenosis (50% or greater narrowing) of one or both carotid arteries 3 years after treatment said Dr. Jennifer Dorth, a resident in radiation oncology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. "We recommend screening for head and neck cancer patients given that there are high rates of stenosis as well as high rates of progression of stenosis," she said. Factors significantly associated with risk for stenosis included Framingham risk factors (smoking history, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular/peripheral vascular disease, and atrial fibrillation) and radiation dose. The investigators retrospectively reviewed outcomes of asymptomatic, disease-free head and neck cancer patients who had received radiation with curative intent to the neck. The patients were screened with carotid Doppler ultrasound at or after the 1-year follow-up visit, and this was repeated every 2-3 years. Patients with ultrasound evidence of 50% or greater stenosis were referred to vascular surgery. The study identified 225 patients, 139 of whom had received intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), with the dose calculated separately for each side of the neck. Because of the separate treatment planning, the investigators analyzed the data by creating two separate models: one looking at all patients, and the other looking at [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-15T05:25:58-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

MRI can show jaw invasion of oral cancer

Source: www.medpagetoday.com Author: Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer Oral cancer's spread to the mandible could not hide from a type of MRI that may facilitate more accurate staging and surgical planning, data from laboratory studies suggest. Sweep imaging with Fourier transform (SWIFT) provided fine-detail views of cortical and medullary bone specimens, and the images exhibited good correlation with histopathologic findings. The in-vitro studies did not specifically examine SWIFT's ability to identify early cortical bone invasion by oral cancer. However, the high-quality images obtained from the investigation provide reason for optimism, the researchers reported in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. "Our study is very promising in that it offers a SWIFT-based MRI technique for accurate assessment of minute changes of cortical and medullary bone in three dimensions without any ionizing radiation," Ayse Tuba Karagulle Kendi, MD, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and co-authors wrote. "It has the potential to precisely determine the extent of mandibular bone invasion associated with oral carcinoma. This study is a crucial step toward the goal of developing a robust and noninvasive approach for preoperative imaging of mandibular invasion," they added. Carcinoma of the oral cavity often spreads to the mandible, but in many instances does not cross the periosteal layer, obviating the need for mandibulectomy. Limitations of current imaging techniques often preclude determination of bone invasion prior to surgery, the authors noted. MRI and CT have been used most often to evaluate mandibular invasion of oral cancer, but conventional [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-09-23T16:35:59-07:00September, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Trying to improve oral cancer treatment

Source: abclocal.go.com Author: staff It's a journey that can begin in the mirror or at the dentist's office. A small lesion in the mouth or throat can turn out to be oral cancer. Notoriously known to be unpredictable, these cancers are hard to treat, but some young doctors at the New York University's School of Dentistry are working to change that. Oral cancers take one American life every hour and it's because the unpredictability is a challenge. One person's cancer might be slow growing and another's wildly aggressive. It is impossible to tell which it is. The NYU researchers are trying to decipher their instruction codes, their genomics. If doctors know which way the cancer is going, it can be stopped. Halima Mohammed always carries water she constantly needs to drink. She is also a big consumer of fruits and vegetables. The reason: for nine years she has been fighting an oral cancer. "I can't have solid food so I get my nutrition from juices and most of these foods, especially the cabbage and the broccoli, are cancer fighting foods," she said. The cancer has had a huge impact on her life. She's already lost part of her tongue. "It is from my research one of the most painful type of cancers that you can have and I'm not diminishing cancer and the types of cancer, there is a constant pain, constant pain," said Mohammed. "It makes masticating difficult, swallowing difficult. You cannot have your favorite food anymore." But, Mohammed [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-09-23T16:16:45-07:00September, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Primary component in turmeric kicks off cancer-killing mechanisms in human saliva

Source: Eurekalert.org Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The inhibition of the cell signaling pathway also correlated with reduced expression of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines, or signaling molecules, in the saliva that promote cancer growth, said Dr. Marilene Wang, a professor of head and neck surgery, senior author of the study and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. "This study shows that curcumin can work in the mouths of patients with head and neck malignancies and reduce activities that promote cancer growth," Wang said. "And it not only affected the cancer by inhibiting a critical cell signaling pathway, it also affected the saliva itself by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines within the saliva." The study appears Sept. 15 in Clinical Cancer Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association of Cancer Research. Turmeric is a naturally occurring spice widely used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking and has long been known to have medicinal properties, attributed to its anti-inflammatory effects. Previous studies have shown it can suppress the growth of certain cancers. In India, women for years have been using turmeric as an anti-aging agent rubbed into their skin, to treat cramps during menstruation and as a poultice on the skin to promote wound healing. A 2005 study by Wang and her team first showed that curcumin suppressed the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-09-13T11:02:22-07:00September, 2011|Oral Cancer News|