survival – Page 8 – Oral Cancer News

Health scores after 1 year may predict survival in head and neck cancer patients

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: staff Changes in patients' physical health status during the year after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer appear to predict survival at five years, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The TNM staging system for cancer (based on the tumor, involvement of lymph nodes and any distant spread) is effective in predicting whether cancer patients will die of their disease, according to background information in the article. However, it considers only factors directly related to cancer and not information about other medical conditions or the patient's overall health status. "These factors may have a meaningful effect on the management of patients with head and neck cancer from the initial assessment through treatment selection and management of complications," the authors write. Mark J. Jameson, M.D., Ph.D., then of the University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, and now of the University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, and colleagues studied 403 patients (64 percent men, average age 58.7) who were diagnosed with head and neck cancer between 1995 and 2005. Participants completed general physical health assessments when they were diagnosed and again three, six, nine and 12 months later and then were followed up for five years. Among all patients, scores on the health assessments decreased between diagnosis and the three-month point. Those who died during the second or third year exhibited no recovery in their scores, while those who died within the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-09-16T08:43:58-07:00September, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Erbitux – first treatment in 30 years to prolong survival in 1st-line recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff Data presented at the 33rd European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Stockholm demonstrate that the addition of Erbitux® (cetuximab) to platinum-based chemotherapy increases overall survival (OS) compared to chemotherapy alone in the 1st-line treatment of patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).1 Furthermore the data showed the significant benefits of Erbitux were achieved without any detrimental impact on quality of life (QoL).2 "These data are incredibly exciting as they represent the first advance in the 1st-line treatment of head and neck cancer in this setting for three decades. For the first time since the introduction of platinum-based chemotherapy we are able to increase the overall survival time for recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer patients," said Professor Jan B. Vermorken, lead investigator of the EXTREMEa trial and head of the Department of Medical Oncology, Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium. The EXTREME study was a multicenter, randomized, controlled, Phase III trial involving 442 patients, designed to assess the efficacy of Erbitux combined with cisplatin or carboplatin plus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) versus chemotherapy alone in the 1st-line treatment of patients with recurrent and/or metastatic SCCHN.1 Patients treated with Erbitux plus chemotherapy experienced the following improvements, compared to chemotherapy alone:1 - Increased median overall survival of nearly 3 months (10.1 vs. 7.4 months; p=0.04), equating to a 20% risk reduction of death (HR: 0.80) during the study period - A 70% increase in median progression-free survival (5.6 vs. 3.3 months; p<0.001) [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-09-15T22:10:24-07:00September, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Advexin Improves Survival in Head and Neck Cancer

Source: CancerConsultants.com Author: staff The targeted agent Advexin (p53 tumor suppressor therapy) improves survival compared with methotrexate among head and neck cancer patients with the p53 biomarkers. These results were recently presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine 2008: Cancer Clinical Trials and Personalized Medicine. Head and neck cancers originate in the oral cavity (lip, mouth, tongue), salivary glands, paranasal sinuses, nasal cavity, pharynx (upper back part of the throat), larynx (voice box), and lymph nodes in the upper part of the neck. Worldwide, head and neck cancer is diagnosed in approximately 640,000 people annually and is responsible for approximately 350,000 deaths each year. Patients whose head and neck cancer has returned following prior therapy have suboptimal long-term outcomes with standard therapies and research continues to evaluate novel therapeutic approaches to improve these outcomes. The field of genetics is emerging as a potential therapeutic tool in the treatment of cancer. Although still in clinical trials, researchers are testing and exploring the use of genetic strategies for several types of cancer. Gene therapy, a type of treatment in the field of genetics, often involves the insertion of a functional, normal gene into a cell that has a dysfunctional gene that may cause or contribute to the growth of cancer. One gene, called the p53 gene, is of major focus in the evaluation of gene therapy since a significant portion of cancers have been shown to have a mutation (alteration) of this gene. The [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-07-29T16:13:12-07:00July, 2008|Oral Cancer News|