recurrence

Study suggests VELscope System helps reduce recurrence of oral cancer

Source: www.prweb.com Author: press release LED Dental Inc. announced today that a recent study suggests that its VELscope screening system can help surgeons reduce the recurrence rate for oral cancer following surgery. The article, "Tracing the 'At-Risk' Oral Mucosa Field with Autofluorescence: Steps Toward Clinical Impact," was just published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. It was authored by Catherine F. Poh, Calum E. MacAulay and Miriam Rosin of the BC Cancer Agency and Lewei Zhang of the University of British Columbia. The study was prompted by numerous previous studies showing that oral cancer recurs in a significant percentage of patients following oral cancer surgery. The study examined the experience of 60 oral cancer surgery patients between 2004 and 2008. Their cancerous lesions were treated with surgical excision alone, with a minimum follow-up time of 12 months. For 38 of the 60 patients, the surgeon used a surgical margin that was 10 mm beyond the tumor edge defined by the VELscope exam. Because the VELscope system utilizes fluorescence visualization, or FV, technology, these patients are described in the article as having had FV-guided surgery. The remaining 22 patients--the control group--did not have FV-guided surgery; instead, the surgeon used a surgical margin that was 10 mm beyond the tumor edge defined by the standard white-light exam. White light exams rely on visual inspection with the naked eye, whereas the VELscope system allows clinicians to discover cancerous and precancerous tissue that might not be apparent to the naked eye. Four years into [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-26T11:09:58-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

The prognostic significance of histological features in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Source: J Oral Pathol Med, June 25, 2009 Authors: S R Larsen et al. Background: Different factors predict nodal metastasis, recurrence and survival in oral cancer. The aim was to assess the prognostic value of histological features related to the primary tumour. Methods: A total of 144 patients surgically treated at Odense University Hospital for oral cancer between 1999 and 2004 were included in the study. Postoperative radiation therapy was given in case of close and involved margins or high TNM stages (UICC 1997). Median follow-up time was 38 months. All surgical resections were reviewed and 22 histological characteristics were assessed. Results: The predominant sites were floor of mouth (FOM, 39%) and lateral tongue (35%). Fifty-nine per cent had UICC97 stage I-II disease. Five-year cause-specific survival was observed in 65%. Nodal involvement at diagnosis was observed in 36% which was significantly related to grade, neural and vascular invasion; surgical margins and increasing tumour depth. A cut-off value of 2 mm (4 mm for FOM) separated patients without and with nodal metastasis at the time of diagnosis. However, on multivariate analysis, neck disease was only associated with tumour depth and grade. Cox analysis of local recurrence in the oral cavity over time showed that tumour diameter and surgical margins were significant predictors while cause-specific survival was related to diameter, depth of invasion, surgical margins and extracapsular spread (ECS). Conclusions: Tumour depth and grade were strong prognostic factors for nodal metastasis, independently of other histological features. Tumour diameter and margins independently predict [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-03T17:40:45-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Oral rinses used for tracking HPV-positive head and neck cancers hold promise for screening

Source: American Association for Cancer Research Author: staff A study published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, validates a non-invasive screening method with future potential for detection of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck cancers. In the study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University used oral rinses and targeted DNA amplification to track and identify oral HPV infections in patients with HPV16-positive and negative head and neck carcinomas (HNSCC) before and after therapy. Findings showed detection of high-risk HPV infections in patients with HPV16-positive HNSCC for up to five years after therapy, indicating a high rate of persistent infection and reaffirming the connection between high-risk types of HPV and HPV-positive head and neck cancer. “There is no question of cause,” said the study’s co-author Maura Gillison, M.D., Ph.D. associate professor of oncology. “It has now become a question of tracking the infection over time to identify those at risk of developing HPV-positive cancer, and for those who have had it, the risk of recurrence and risk of transmission. This is the first study in which we have been able to track the disease and related oral infections for an extended period of time.” Researchers obtained oral rinse samples from a group of 135 patients with head and neck carcinomas. Tissue analysis showed that 44 of these patients had HPV16-positive tumors. Both the tissue and oral rinse samples were genetically sequenced to specify the HPV variants in each. Patients with HPV16-positive tumors were [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-12-29T22:53:40-07:00December, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Re-irradiation with concurrent chemotherapy in recurrent head and neck cancer: a decision analysis model based on a systematic review

Source: Clin Otolaryngol, August 1, 2008; 33(4): 331-7 Authors: V Paleri and CG Kelly Objectives: Local recurrence is the major cause of treatment failure in head and neck cancer patients after radiation or combined therapy. If surgically unresectable, management involves supportive care or chemotherapy with palliative intent. Recent studies have assessed the role of re-irradiating these patients with concurrent chemotherapy (CTReRT) and have reported improved local control. The aim of this study was to perform a decision analysis model comparing quality adjusted life years (QALYs) between patients undergoing CTReRT and best supportive care for radio-recurrent head and neck squamous cancer. Design: Outcome data from recent reviews on the topic were used. A decision analysis model was generated. An expert panel arrived at a consensus to assign utility values for the various health state outcomes when CTReRT is administered for recurrent cancer, or in the setting of palliative care for these patients. Main Outcome Measures: Quality adjusted life years from the decision analysis model. RESULTS: Patients who do not suffer a severe complication following CTReRT were assigned by the expert panel to have a utility value of 0.7, and those who suffered one, a utility value of 0.6. A value of 1.0 equates to perfect health and 0 to death. The utility value assigned in the setting of good palliation was 0.8, with 0.6 given when symptom control was less than optimal. The model showed superior QALYs for the CTReRT arm of approximately 5 weeks (20 weeks versus 15 weeks for [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-16T11:17:31-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Challenges in cancer survivorship

Source: CURE Magazine (www.curetoday.com) Author: Kathy LaTour When Julia Rowland, PhD, director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship at the National Cancer Institute, took the stage in Atlanta at the fourth biennial cancer survivorship research conference in June, she welcomed the more than 450 participants on behalf of the estimated 12 million cancer survivors in the country today. The 12 million, Rowland explained, represent the estimated number of individuals alive as of January 2007 with a history of cancer, “regardless of where they are in the illness trajectory—newly diagnosed, in treatment, post-treatment, suffering a recurrence, living with or dying of progressing illness.” For the next two days, the 12 million would be the central focus as researchers presented the latest results of studies on the unique physical, psychosocial, behavioral, and economic outcomes associated with having cancer to the assembled cancer professionals, researchers, and public health professionals. Also present were 20 patient/survivor advocates, attending as part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Survivor-Researcher Mentor Program, which funded their attendance at the meeting so they could interact with researchers with the help of an assigned scientist-mentor. Rowland complimented the range of findings presented by the growing number of researchers in what is still a very new field of research, telling the assembled group that meeting organizers selected 12 abstracts for podium presentations from a record 220 submissions, revealing a wealth of new data and directions for future research. The conference, a collaboration of the NCI, LAF, and American Cancer Society, focused on interventions [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-09-28T21:28:42-07:00September, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Disease-Free Period Predicts Response to Salvage Therapy for Oral Cancer

Source: Abkhazia (www.abkhazia.com) Author: Ramaz Mitaishvili In patients with locally recurrent carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx, a disease-free interval of more than 1 year and tumor tissue negative for EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) expression predict a good response to salvage surgery. That's the conclusion of physicians in Brazil who studied the outcomes of 111 patients following salvage surgery for locally recurrent squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx at Hospital A. C. Camargo in Sao Paulo. Local recurrence in such patients carries a poor prognosis, and clinical factors alone are insufficient for identifying those who would benefit from further treatment, Dr. Luiz Paulo Kowalski and associates note in their paper in the July issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery. They therefore analyzed the prognostic significance of EGFR, matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9, and vascular endothelial growth factor expression. In multivariate analysis, disease-free survival and EGFR expression status were the only variables associated with an independent significantly high risk of death. Patients with a disease-free interval of less than 1 year (hazard ratio 1.97) and those with overexpression of EGFR (HR 4.20) had the worst prognosis. In their suggested treatment algorithm for patients with resectable local recurrence, Dr. Kowalski's group recommends surgery for all patients with a disease-free interval of > 1 year and for those with clinical stage I or II. They also believe that surgery is worthwhile for patients with higher stage tumors if they are EGFR-negative. They suggest other options [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-01T05:05:07-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|