squamous cell carcinoma

Genes May Link Disparate Diseases

Source: The Wall Street Journal Diseases that strike different parts of the body—and that don't seem to resemble each other at all—may actually have a lot in common. Scientists have identified the genetic basis for many separate diseases. Now, some researchers are looking at how the genes interact with each other. They are finding that a genetic abnormality behind one illness may also cause other, seemingly unrelated disorders. Sometimes diseases are tangentially linked, having just one gene in common. But the greater the number of shared genetic underpinnings a group of diseases has, the greater the likelihood a patient with one of the illnesses will contract another. Researchers have found evidence, for example, that there is a close genetic relationship between Crohn's disease, a gastrointestinal condition, and Type 2 diabetes, despite the fact the two conditions affect the body in very distinct ways. Other illnesses with apparently close genetic links are rheumatoid arthritis and Type 1 diabetes, the form of the disease that usually starts in childhood, says Joseph Loscalzo, chairman of the department of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. This network approach, known among scientists as systems biology, could change the way medical specialists view and treat disease, according to some researchers. Rather than only looking to repair the parts of the body that are directly affected by illness, "we should be looking at what the wiring diagram [inside of cells] looks like," says Albert-László Barabási, a physicist at Northeastern University's Center for Complex Network Research [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-05-02T10:33:24-07:00May, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

April: Oral Cancer Awareness Month

Source: Aspen Dental April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month. According to Brian Hill, founder and executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation, as many as 40,000 people in the United States will be told they have oral or pharyngeal cancer in 2012. Some of them may be sitting in your dental chair today. With one person dying of oral cancer every hour of every day, and more than 50% of those diagnosed not living more than 5 years, this is a reminder to screen every patient yourself, and encourage your dental hygiene staff to do the same. The Statistics About 100 people are diagnosed with oral cancer every day in the United States. Few people are aware that the death rate for oral cancer is higher than for many other types of cancers, which is because oral cancer often is not discovered until it has reached later stages. This is particularly true for human papilloma virus number 16 (HPV16)-related oral cancer, which occurs most frequently in the posterior areas of the mouth—at the base of the tongue, around the tonsils, and in the oropharynx—where it’s harder to spot without a very thorough exam. To further complicate things, HPV16-related cancer does not always present the tell-tale physical characteristics, including lesions, that are easily distinguished from healthy oral tissues. This is not good news, because HPV16 has reached epidemic levels in the United States: of the 37,000 incidences of oral cancer, about 20,000 (up to 60%) can be linked to HPV, according [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-04-02T09:47:20-07:00April, 2012|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and the Changing Face of Oropharyngeal Cancer

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology To the Editor: In their article, Chaturvedi et al1 document the rise in human papillomavirus (HPV) –associated cancers as a proportion of squamous cell carcinomas of the oropharynx over the last 25 years. The contemporary figures are mirrored by two recent British studies2,3 demonstrating that the majority of oropharyngeal cancers are now HPV related. In the accompanying editorial,4 Mroz et al rightly highlight the importance of evaluating HPV vaccination for both men and women in the light of these data and lament the lack of significant improvement in the outcomes for non–HPV-associated head and neck cancers. However, they also suggest that the benefit of targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) through concurrent cetuximab may be confined to HPV-associated tumors. Although EGFR expression per se does not correlate closely with response to cetuximab, there is increasing evidence of an inverse correlation between p16INK4A expression (as a marker of HPV association) and EGFR expression shown by immunohistochemistry.5,6 Though suppressed by viral oncogenes, HPV-associated tumors retain wild-type P53,7 and patients with this tumor type have demonstrated excellent survival with existing protocols such as concurrent chemoradiotherapy or surgery with postoperative radiotherapy. Conversely, non-HPV tumors, harboring a range of mutations,8 may respond less well to DNA-damaging agents, but patients with these tumors might benefit from the addition of concurrent EGFR blockade to radiotherapy. Data from the recent SPECTRUM (Study of Panitumumab Efficacy in Patients With Recurrent and/or Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer) study of adding another EGFR-targeting monoclonal antibody, panitumumab,9 [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-03-09T10:34:29-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Robotic surgery less invasive on HPV-related oral cancers

Source: Dr.Bicuspid.com March 1, 2012 -- Robotic surgery conducted through patients' mouths provides excellent results in removing squamous cell carcinoma at the back of the throat, especially in patients with HPV, according to a new Mayo Clinic study (Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March 2012, Vol. 87(3), pp. 211-212). "We were surprised that the cancer cure results were even better than the traditional treatments that we have been doing, but that is probably almost as much of a matter that these cancers are HPV-mediated for the most part, and they respond much better to treatment," said study author Eric Moore, MD, a head and neck surgeon at Mayo Clinic. "Importantly, the treatment preserved patients' ability to swallow, and their speech performance was excellent." Dr. Moore and his team followed 66 patients with oropharyngeal cancer who underwent transoral robotic surgery with the da Vinci robotic surgical system. Every few months, the patients underwent imaging studies, scans, and exams to determine if cancer was recurring. After two years, the researchers found that the patients' survival rates were greater than 92%, which is as high as some other surgical and nonsurgical treatments for oropharyngeal cancer. Because traditional surgery techniques to remove throat tumors can be traumatic, requiring cutting and reconstructing the mandible, neck, and tongue, the researchers were also interested in patients' healing after robotic surgery. "We found that with transoral robotic surgery, 96% of patients could swallow a normal diet within three weeks of treatment," Dr. Moore said. Less than 4% required a gastrostomy [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-03-01T16:21:18-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Adaptive radiotherapy may benefit patients with head and neck cancer

Source: News-Medical.net Researchers led by a senior investigator at Hofstra-North Shore LIJ School of Medicine and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have released initial findings from a first-of-a-kind clinical trial in adaptive radiotherapy (ART) for head and neck cancer. The trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, provides evidence that ART may benefit patients with less technical difficulty than previously believed. The findings of this trial were released online in advance of publication in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics. Physicians commonly use radiotherapy to treat squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx (back of throat). Current standard-of-care treatment is called intensity-modulated radiotherapy, or IMRT. IMRT allows physicians to "sculpt" radiation to fit the anatomy of individual patients. Although appealing, this technique has a crucial Achilles' heel - it is based entirely on a CT or MRI scan taken before actual treatment begins. Since a typical course of radiation treatment for oropharynx cancer lasts 6-7 weeks, standard IMRT cannot compensate for common changes that take place in a patient's body during this time, such as weight loss, shrinkage of tumor, or gradual movement of normal tissues. Recent work suggests that the inability of standard IMRT to keep up with these changes may lead to unanticipated toxicity, or potentially worse, missing of tumor. For this new trial, which was conducted at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, investigators started patients on standard IMRT. They then took CT scans while patients were lying in the radiation treatment room [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-02-10T10:40:11-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

PET/CT Detects Early Recurrence of Head and Neck Cancer

Source: Elsevier Global Medical News Routine use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography scans can detect locoregional recurrences of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck before they became clinically apparent, according to a retrospective chart review of 234 patients who had been treated with chemoradiation between 2006 and 2010.  The finding suggests that routine use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) may improve the outcome of salvage therapy, said Dr. Yasir Rudha, who reported the study at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Symposium sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology.  PET/CT was associated with a high false positive rate, which should be considered when ordering radiological exams and biopsies, but a negative post therapy PET scan appears to be an excellent predictor of freedom from future locoregional recurrence, said Dr. Rudha of St. John Hospital/Van Elslander Cancer Center, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.  The technology is relatively new, and its use for routine follow-up in patients with head and neck cancer is still controversial, he acknowledged. "Only a few publications have reported the value of PET examination at a fixed time interval after the end of treatment," he said. "PET scan is often ordered in our hospital as a routine surveillance tool following successful completion of treatment."  The review of charts for all 234 patients identified 45 who had achieved clinical no-evidence-of-disease status at the time of post treatment imaging. In this group, PET/CT scanning at 6-9 weeks identified 15 patients with abnormalities that required further evaluation. Of those, eight patients (53%) were [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-02-06T11:45:04-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Head and neck cancer carries substantial comorbidity burden

Source: MedWire News People with head and neck cancer experience a high burden of both acute and chronic comorbidity, shows an analysis of a large Dutch population-based cohort. The researchers therefore advise clinicians to account for patients' comorbidity burden when assessing the risk-benefit profile for different treatment options. Sarah Landis (GlaxoSmithKline, London, UK) and co-workers analyzed information on 1499 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) living in the Netherlands. For each patient they calculated prevalence and incidence rates of eight comorbid conditions: cardiovascular disease, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), liver disease, diabetes, anemia, pneumonia, depression, and other malignant disease. Rates of the same eight conditions were also calculated in a control population of 5996 cancer-free individuals matched for age and gender. Writing in the journal Head and Neck, Landis et al report that the mean age of the SCCHN cohort was 62 years and two-thirds were male. The site of cancer was the oral cavity in 610 patients, the pharynx in 317, and the larynx in 572. The most prevalent comorbidities in patients with SCCHN were cardiovascular disease (41%) and asthma/COPD (12%); the other comorbidities were prevalent in less than 10% of patients. Notably, in the period of 12 months prior to the index date, patients with SCCHN were between two and four times as likely as cancer-free controls to have any of the comorbidities investigated, the authors remark. In terms of incidence, rates of all comorbidities (with the exception of other malignant diseases) were [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-02-06T10:16:32-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Third Head and Neck Indication for Erbitux

Source: The ASCO Post, January 1, 2012, Volume 3, Issue 1, Matthew Stenger In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs.Cetuximab (Erbitux) was recently approved by the FDA for use in combination with platinum-based therapy plus fluorouracil (5-FU) for the first-line treatment of patients with recurrent locoregional disease or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.1-3 Cetuximab has prior indications in combination with radiation therapy in locally or regionally advanced squamous cell head and neck cancer and in recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer that has progressed after platinum-based therapy. It also has indications in colorectal cancer. The most recent approval is based primarily on results of a study conducted outside the United States in 442 patients with metastatic or locally recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were not suitable for curative treatment with surgery or radiation. The study used a European Union (EU)-approved cetuximab rather than the U.S.-approved cetuximab (Erbitux). Erbitux provides approximately 22% higher exposure than the EU-approved cetuximab; these pharmacokinetic data, together with the results of the study conducted in Europe and other data using Erbitux establish the safety and efficacy of Erbitux at the recommended dose.In this trial, the addition of cetuximab (n = 222) to platinum-based therapy plus 5-FU (n = 220) significantly increased median overall survival from 7.4 to 10.1 months, representing a 20% reduction in risk of death [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-01-07T17:15:00-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Quality-of-Life Outcomes in Transoral Robotic Surgery

Source: SAGE Journals Online Abstract Objective. To report long-term, health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) outcomes in patients treated with transoral robotic surgery (TORS). Study Design. Prospective, longitudinal, clinical study on functional and HRQOL outcomes in TORS. Setting. University tertiary care facility. Subjects and Methods. Patients who underwent TORS were asked to complete a Head and Neck Cancer Inventory before treatment and at 3 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. Demographic, clinicopathological, and follow-up data were collected. Results. Sixty-four patients who underwent TORS were enrolled. A total of 113 TORS procedures were performed. The mean follow-up time was 16.3 ± 7.49 months. The HRQOL was assessed at 3 weeks and at 3, 6, and 12 months, with a response rate of 78%, 44%, 41%, and 28%, respectively. TORS was performed most frequently for squamous cell carcinoma (88%). There was a decrease from baseline in the speech, eating, aesthetic, social, and overall QOL domains immediately after treatment. At the 1-year follow-up, the HRQOL scores in the aesthetic, social, and overall QOL domains were in the high domain. Patients with malignant lesions had significantly lower postoperative HRQOL scores in the speech, eating, social, and overall QOL domains (P < .05). Patients who underwent adjuvant radiation therapy or chemotherapy and radiation therapy had lower postoperative scores in the eating, social, and overall QOL domains (P < .05). Conclusion. The preliminary data show that patients who undergo TORS for malignancies and receive adjuvant therapy tend to have lower HRQOL outcomes. TORS is a promising, minimally [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-27T10:58:43-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

FDA Approves Cetuximab for Late-Stage Head and Neck Cancer

Source: The Oncology Report The Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 7 approved cetuximab as an initial treatment of late-stage head and neck cancer in combination with chemotherapy. Cetuximab, marketed as Erbitux by Bristol-Myers Squibb, is an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antagonist, administered as an intravenous infusion. Previously, it was approved in combination with radiation therapy for the initial treatment of locally or regionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma. It was also approved for use alone in patients with recurrent locoregional disease or metastatic disease whose disease has progressed following platinum-based chemotherapy. The newly approved indication is for the treatment of these recurrent or metastatic patients as an initial therapy in combination with platinum-based therapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a BMS spokesperson said. (At press time, the company had not yet issued a statement on the approval.) Erbitux was initially approved in 2004 to treat EGFR-positive late-stage colon cancer after patients stopped responding to chemotherapy and was approved in 2006 for the treatment of head and neck cancer. The newly approved indication is for "recurrent locoregional disease or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in combination with platinum-based therapy with 5-FU," according to the revised label, posted on the FDA Web site. The two previously approved indications for head and neck cancer were for "locally or regionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in combination with radiation therapy," and for "recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck progressing after platinum-based therapy. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-09T11:05:16-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|