HPV alters oral-cancer expectations

Source: www.dispatch.com Author: staff Demographics are important to physicians. Demographics help guide us toward more-likely and less-likely diagnoses in patients.In their most basic form, they mean we are surprised when we learn that the 90-year-old woman with hand pain suffered the injury while boxing. On the other hand, demographics are why a doctor tells the overweight man with a history of hypertension that he is “a heart attack waiting to happen.”Most disease processes can be characterized by a typical patient and are based on age, gender and sometimes ethnicity or socio-economic class. This has long been the case with oral-cancer cases. Most physicians have an idea of a typical oral-cancer patient. We envision an older, male patient with few teeth following a lifetime of poor oral health. They generally have lower income and are lifelong smokers. That’s why the tonsillar-cancer patient was such a surprise to me. He was 34, upper-middle class and did not smoke or drink. He had recently undergone surgery to remove his tonsils and a good portion of the back of his throat. He had come into the emergency department that day because he was having difficulty breathing and swallowing. When I walked into the room, he was sitting on a gurney and drooling into a garbage can that he kept between his knees. The skin around his neck looked swollen and tight, leaving me to imagine how much swelling there was in the back of his throat.His surgery had been six days earlier, and he [...]

2012-12-31T12:29:13-07:00December, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

New research reveals genetic mutations of HNC

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff New findings regarding the genetic mutations that cause head and neck cancer (HNC) may lead to new therapies, according to collaborative research presented in November at the 2012 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium in New York City. Aaron Tward, MD, PhD, and colleagues analyzed tumor samples provided by the University of Pittsburgh from 92 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), according to an article on onclive.com. Patient samples were chosen to reflect the normal distribution of patients with these cancers -- that is, mostly men and smokers, noted Dr. Tward. Of these patients, 89% reported a history of tobacco use and 79% alcohol use; 14% of all tumors and 53% of oropharyngeal tumors were found to be positive for human papillomavirus (HPV). Tumor sites also were selected to be roughly representative of the general HNSCC patient population -- that is, most were oral cavity cancers, followed by a substantial proportion of oropharynx cancer samples and a few from patients with hypopharyngeal or laryngeal tumors. Investigators used hybrid capture sequencing to compare tumor tissue and nontumor tissue from the same patient. They also compared the total number of mutations in the HNSCC samples with samples from previous tumor studies. The analysis yielded a large number of mutations. For example, 5,000 genes had at least one mutation, and 1,300 had at least two, the researchers reported. Dr. Tward emphasized, however, that most of these are not implicated either in promoting or maintaining the cancer. He said [...]

2012-12-31T12:21:03-07:00December, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Searching for new pathways and treatments for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Source: www.onclive.com Author: Lauren M. Green Scientists now know a lot more about the genetic landscape of head and neck cancer and hope that eventually this knowledge will lead the way to new therapies, according to Aaron D. Tward, MD, PhD, of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tward described findings of recent collaborative research on the topic at the 2012 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium. For this research, Tward, also with the Department of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School and a clinical fellow in those specialties at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary in Boston, and colleagues analyzed tumor samples provided by the University of Pittsburgh from 92 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The samples were chosen to be reflective of the normal distribution of patients with these cancers, that is, “mostly men and mostly smokers,” noted Tward. Of these patients, 89% reported a history of tobacco use and 79% alcohol use; 14% of all tumors and 53% of oropharyngeal tumors were found to be positive for human papillomavirus. Tumor sites also were selected so as to be roughly representative of the general HNSCC patient population; thus, most were oral cavity cancers, followed by a substantial proportion of oropharynx cancer samples, and a few from patients with hypopharyngeal or laryngeal tumors, Tward explained. Investigators used hybrid capture sequencing to compare tumor tissue with nontumor tissue from the same individual. They also compared the total number of mutations in the HNSCC samples [...]

2012-12-23T08:22:47-07:00December, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Link between coffee and dental care – lower your oral cancer risk

Source: blogjam.eu Author: Jenny L McCoy Studies have already shown that coffee may benefit dental care by reducing the risk of developing cavities. Now there’s even more good news for java junkies. Researchers have discovered that drinking a lot of coffee actually lowers your risk of mouth and throat cancer. According to the findings featured in WebMD, people who drink more than four servings of coffee daily have nearly a 40% lower chance of contracting mouth or throat cancer when compared to people who don’t drink coffee. For those who drank less than five cups of coffee daily, the level of protection fell to still significant 4% lower odds for contracting mouth and throat cancer for each cup of coffee consumed each day. Protection for oral and pharyngeal cancer was evident, but protection against cancer of the larynx was not. Coffee’s protective effect was shown to remain intact even for drinkers and smokers, despite the fact that tobacco and alcohol consumption are linked to head and neck cancers. Additionally, the protection effect didn’t demonstrate a boost by consuming fruits and vegetables, which are also known to protect against head and neck cancers. The researchers at the University of Milan reached these findings when they analyzed nine studies comparing 5,139 people with head and neck cancer to 9,028 people without cancer. So, which ingredient in coffee is responsible for reducing the risk of oral cancer? The study dismissed caffeine as a likely possibility since drinking tea, even in mass quantities, was [...]

CDC says graphic anti-smoking ads work, more on way

Source: USA Today The federal government says its graphic ad campaign showing diseased smokers has been such a success that it is planning another round next year to nudge more Americans to kick the habit. The ads, which ran for 12 weeks in spring and early summer, aimed to get 500,000 people to try to quit and 50,000 to kick the habit long-term. "The initial results suggest the impact will be even greater than that," says Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which spearheaded the $54 million campaign. The ads showed real Americans talking about how smoking caused their paralysis, lung removal and amputations. He says it's the first time the U.S. government has paid for anti-smoking ads, although some media ran them free. The CDC doesn't have a tally yet on how many people actually tried to quit, but it says the ads generated 192,000 extra calls — more than double the usual volume — to its national toll-free quit line, 800-QUIT-NOW, and 417,000 new visitors to smokefree.gov, its website offering cessation tips. That's triple the site's previous traffic. "We do plan to do another (campaign) next year," Frieden says, adding that he has no details yet on the ads or their timing. He says the amount the CDC spent this year is a pittance compared with the $10 billion the tobacco industry spends annually to market its products. The nation's two largest tobacco companies, Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, declined [...]

2012-08-07T10:39:19-07:00August, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Robotic surgery vs. radiation therapy: study will find which better for throat cancer

Source: http://www.windsorstar.com/ Author: Beatrice Fantoni, The Windsor Star In the first trial of its kind in the world, doctors in London, Ont., are comparing robotic surgery and radiation therapy to find out which method helps throat-cancer patients retain speech and swallowing functions - two very important functions that can have a serious effect on quality of life for cancer survivors. Dr. Anthony Nichols and Dr. David Palma of the London Health Sciences Centre are working with 68 test subjects who have cancer of the back of the throat (also known as oropharyngeal cancer) and measuring the swallowing functions of each patient one year after treatment. Because the cure rate for oropharyngeal cancer is pretty good, Nichols said, he and Palma want to focus on how to improve patients' post-treatment quality of life. In Canada, the standard way of treating oropharyngeal cancer is with a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. However, Nichols said, there can be some longterm side-effects with this treatment, such as dry mouth, hearing loss, taste changes and compromised swallowing function. "The side-effects are more than what we'd like," said Palma. "We want to improve the quality of life." Surgery using a robot is a newer treatment that could perhaps be more appropriate for some oropharyngeal cancer patients, Nichols said. London is currently the only site in Canada to offer what is known as transoral robotic surgery. The robot sounds promising, Palma said, and so it warrants more study. "We don't really know if the 'surgery first' approach [...]

Cancer Patients Who Smoke Report Worse Pain, Symptoms

Source: MedScapeToday.com February 24, 2012 (Palm Springs, California) — Cancer patients who smoke experience more severe symptoms than nonsmoking cancer patients and are also at greater risk of misusing opioids, a new study shows. "Our findings show a profile of higher levels of physical symptoms (pain, fatigue, poor appetite, and insomnia) and psychological symptoms (depression and anxiety) among smokers than non-smokers," report Diane Novy, PhD, from the Pain Management Center at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and colleagues. The findings underscore the importance of smoking cessation for this patient population, she told Medscape Medical News, even though it's unclear if there is a causal effect. "We don't know the cause. They may smoke more because of the pain," she said in an interview. However, studies also show that smoking has been known to increase certain types of pain such as back pain, and nerve pain, she added. "If we can motivate them to stop smoking, I think they're better off." The findings were presented here at the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) 28th Annual Meeting. Pain, Fatigue, Insomnia The study included 486 cancer patients (52% female), with a mean age of 55 years, who were referred to the Pain Management Center for uncontrolled pain. Ninety-four patients were smokers, and the rest (n = 356), classified as nonsmokers, were former smokers or never-smokers. The patients were diagnosed with a wide range of cancers, the most common being gastrointestinal (18.5%), followed by hematologic (15%) and [...]

2012-02-28T17:43:34-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Erlotinib dose doubled for smokers with head/neck cancer

Source: www.oncologyreport.com Author: Miriam E. Tucker Giving smokers a higher, short-course dose of erlotinib before definitive surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck resulted in favorable responses for the first patients evaluated in a small pilot study. Investigators gave 300 mg of erlotinib (Tarceva) to smokers daily and 150 mg daily to nonsmokers who had a waiting period of more than 14 days before scheduled surgery for head and neck cancer. Seven of the 10 patients evaluated so far had partial responses and 3 had stable disease, according to a poster presented at a head and neck cancer symposium sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology. The study was based on recent data in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients showing that smokers metabolize erlotinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, twice as quickly as do nonsmokers (J. Clin. Oncol. 2009;27:1220-6), said lead author Dr. Mercedes Porosnicu of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem, N.C. That study established the maximum tolerated dose of erlotinib at 300 mg daily in NSCLC patients who smoke. Dr. Poroniscu’s presentation included the case study of a smoker with a very large oral cavity tumor protruding through his lips. He was described as being in significant pain and unable to eat or chew. The first CT scan showed a tumor of at least 8 cm and there was "significant metabolic activity" on PET scan. "At 6 days of erlotinib treatment, his tumor was obviously smaller and he could [...]

British throat cancer Europe’s highest thanks to obesity and alcohol

Source: www.lifeinsurance.co.uk Author: Lana Clements The UK suffers the highest rate of throat cancer in Europe, double the average rate, according to new analysis by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). Britain's high level of alcohol consumption and obesity are blamed for the figures. Using World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, the WCRF found that around six out of every 100,000 people develop throat cancer in the UK, while the European average stands at about three. The findings come as the British Liver Trust reports a 74% increase of liver cancer deaths in England and Wales since 1997 as ten people a day now die from the disease. Liver and throat cancer are both strongly linked to obesity and alcohol consumption, while throat cancer is also linked to smokers and liver cancer to hepatitis B. Andrew Langford, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, attacked the government over the UK's strategy towards liver damage: "At the moment all we are seeing are weak policies or no action at all. "Our government-led alcohol policies are a joke and despite nearly every other developed nation having universal vaccination for hepatitis B we are still debating whether we should, while this debate continues many are being infected and for some this will lead to them dying of liver cancer." According to the British Liver trust, liver cancer survival rates have not improved during the last three decades, even though scientific treatment has moved forward, because of the advanced stage of the disease at diagnosis. [...]

2011-11-20T09:41:57-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Although Most Smokers Want to Quit… Only a Fraction Actually Do

Source: The Wall Street Journal Author: Betsy McKay   More than two-thirds of American smokers want to quit, but only a fraction actually do, underscoring a need for more services, messages, and access to medications to help them kick the habit, according to a new government report out today. Nearly 69% of adult smokers wanted to quit in 2010 and more than half tried, but only 6.2% succeeded, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Those who try to quit can double or triple their chances with counseling or medications, but most of those who did try to quit in 2010 didn’t use either. Nor did they receive advice on how to quit from a doctor. The findings suggest more needs to be done to help smokers quit — particularly certain segments of the population with low quit rates, said Tim McAfee, director of the public health agency’s Office on Smoking and Health, in an interview. Nearly 76% of African-American smokers wanted to quit last year, and 59% tried — well above the national average, said McAfee. But a mere 3.2% succeeded, which is the lowest rate among measured races and ethnicities. American smokers with college degrees had a far higher rate of success at quitting — 11.4% — than smokers with fewer than 12 years of schooling, who had only a 3.2% success rate. Still, McAfee said, there are some encouraging signs. For example, the percentage of young adults between the ages of 25 and 44 who want to [...]

2011-11-11T15:22:32-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|
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