swallowing

Study will evaluate Panitumumab regimen in advanced SCCHN

Source: http://www.onclive.com/ Author: staff Canadian researchers are investigating standard fractionation radiotherapy with concurrent high-dose cisplatin versus accelerated fractionation radiotherapy with panitumumab in patients with locally advanced stage III and IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). The NCIC Clinical Trials Group has completed accrual for the randomized phase III study, which has a planned sample size of 320 patients with SCC of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, or hypopharynx. The trial was launched in December 2008, and the Data Safety and Monitoring Committee recommended continuing the trial in October 2011. Patients assigned to arm I will undergo standard fractionation radiotherapy once daily, five days a week, for seven weeks; they will also receive cisplatin intravenously over one hour on days 1, 22, and 43 of radiotherapy. Participants assigned to arm II will undergo accelerated fractionation radiotherapy once or twice daily, five days a week, for six weeks; they will also receive panitumumab intravenously over 30-90 minutes one week prior to and on days 15 and 36 of radiotherapy. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS), while secondary endpoints include overall survival, local and regional PFS, distant metastases, adverse events, swallowing-related quality of life, functional swallowing outcomes, and economic assessments. The FDA has approved panitumumab under the brand name Vectibix for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma with disease progression on or following chemotherapy regimens containing fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. Panitumumab is a human IgG2 kappa monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to human epidermal growth factor [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-09-11T08:18:26-07:00September, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer deaths declining among well-educated

Source: www.reuters.com Author: Genevra Pittman Deaths from mouth and throat cancer have dropped since the early 1990s, according to a new study -- but only among people with at least a high school education. Researchers said that may be due to higher rates of smoking and other oral cancer risks among less educated, poorer Americans, and because they're also less likely to have access to timely health care. Similar trends have been shown in rates of death from lung and breast cancers, for example, they added. "We have a lot more to do in terms of (the fact that) socioeconomic status probably is a really significant factor in mortality from oral and oropharyngeal cancers," said Dr. Joseph Califano, who studies those cancers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore but wasn't involved in the new research. "Clearly access to health care to detect cancer in early stages is very important." The study, led by Dr. Amy Chen at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, included mouth and throat cancer data from 1993 through 2007 in 26 states. Among adults age 25 to 64, there were about 19,300 deaths during that period. Cancer deaths declined during the 1990s and 2000s by two to five percent every year, on average, researchers found. By the end of the study period, the cancers killed three out of every 100,000 white men, six out of every 100,000 black men, and one each of every 100,000 white and black women annually. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-08-06T13:59:07-07:00August, 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 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-08-03T09:54:30-07:00August, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Western University profs to test robotic treatment of throat cancer

Source: metronews.ca Author: Josh Elliott Western University professors David Palma and Anthony Nichols will lead a first-ever study to see if robotic surgery can treat throat cancer while avoiding the long-term side effects that come with chemotherapy and radiation. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) allows doctors to use miniature robotic arms to operate in tight spaces where human hands can’t fit. London has the only TORS program in Canada. Early stage oropharyngeal cancer patients will be randomly assigned standard radiation care, or the new TORS treatment. Doctors will measure long-term side effects and quality of life following both treatments. Oropharyngeal cancer affects the back of the throat. Radiation therapy is effective at controlling the cancer, but some patients still suffer long-term side effects such as dry throat, difficulty swallowing, and hearing loss. “In the U.S., TORS is being used readily in the treatment of oropharyngeal cancer, in spite of the lack of high-level evidence supporting the use,” said Nichols, a head and neck cancer surgeon at London Health Sciences Centre. Palma, a radiation oncologist at LHSC, says the Western study will compare TORS treatment to traditional radiation therapy. “Before we can implement TORS, we need to prove that it meets that standard: Are the cure rates just as good, and are the side effects less?” Nichols sees reason for optimism: “Early studies of TORS show it holds promise to provide good disease control, as well as offer good speech and swallowing outcomes for patients.”

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-07-18T06:09:13-07:00July, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Mouthing off against oral cancer

Source: www.marketwatch.com Author: staff April Is Oral Cancer Awareness Month According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 30,000 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year, and more than 8,000 deaths occur annually. The five-year survival rate for oral cancers is roughly 50 percent. In observance of Oral Cancer Awareness Month, the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) recommends that patients receive a dental exam from a general dentist every six months. Dental exams not only help to decrease a patient's risk of oral diseases, such as cavities and periodontal (gum) disease, but they also may help to diagnose other, sometimes life-threatening, medical conditions, such as oral cancer. "The next time you visit your dentist, ask about an oral cancer screening," says AGD spokesperson Seung-Hee Rhee, DDS, FAGD. "Your dentist will feel for lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, cheeks, and oral cavity and thoroughly examine the soft tissues in your mouth, specifically looking for any sores or discolored tissues. Although you may have already been receiving this screening from your dentist, it's a good idea to confirm that this screening is a part, and will remain a part, of your regular exam." Although oral cancer is sometimes difficult to self-diagnose, warning signs may include bleeding sores; sores that do not heal; lumps; thick, hard spots; soreness or feeling that something is caught in the throat; difficulty chewing or swallowing; ear pain; difficulty moving the jaw or tongue; hoarseness; and numbness of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-03-30T05:19:13-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

HPV exposure increases men’s risk of cancer

Source: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/ Author: Zen Vuong “We’re at the precipice of this epidemic,” said Dr. Ezra Cohen, who specializes in head and neck cancers. The culprit is sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus-16. Human papillomavirus-positive head and neck cancer cases have been rising about 3 percent every year for the last three decades, said Cohen of The University of Chicago Medicine, an institution that includes the University of Chicago Hospitals. HPV-16 infection is three times more likely in men than in women, he added. Cells of the upper respiratory system of both men and women are very similar to the surface of the cervix in women, said Dr. Kenneth Alexander, chief of infectious diseases at The University of Chicago Medicine. HPV is linked to cervical cancer as well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 10,800 new cases of HPV-associated cervical cancer in the United States each year. This number is nearly 35 percent larger than the 7,100 cases of HPV-associated head and neck cancers found in the United States each year. Oral sex is “probably the most important risk factor” in contracting HPV-16-related head and neck cancer, which “will become more common than cervical cancer in this decade,” he added. Some 5,600 men are diagnosed with HPV-associated head and neck cancers each year, whereas only 1,500 women suffer the same fate, according to the CDC. HPV-16, one of more than 150 strains, is a sexually transmitted condition. More than 40 HPV types can be sexually transmitted, according to the National Cancer Institute. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-03-07T15:30:30-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

IMRT provides better QOL in head and neck cancers

Source: www.oncologyreport.com/ AUthor: Miriam E. Tucker Intensity-modulated radiotherapy is more expensive than 3-D–conformal radiotherapy is and has not been shown to improve standard outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer. But it results in better quality of life. These findings from two studies presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium raise the question: Does improved quality of life justify the greater expense of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), which has been rapidly adopted for the treatment of head and neck cancer? Because IMRT spares surrounding tissues, it reduces the likelihood of developing xerostomia, noted Dr. Nathan C. Sheets, who presented data on billing charges associated with IMRT, compared with 3-D–conformal radiotherapy (CRT). IMRT is reimbursed at a substantially higher level than CRT, however, and it is unclear how to assess this cost relative to other aspects of care in this population, said Dr. Sheets, a radiation oncology resident at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A separate study presented by Dr. Allen M. Chen compared quality of life in patients who received IMRT vs. CRT. "There’s very little data to suggest IMRT is better than non-IMRT using traditional end points. But the question is: How do you define ‘better’?" said Dr. Chen, director of the radiation oncology residency training program at the University of California, Davis in Sacramento. "IMRT might not particularly involve better cure rates, but it could make a difference in terms of other end points, such as quality of life, which we all know [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-02-12T09:20:40-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Patients to try out gum shield – could end dry mouth misery caused by radiation

Source: www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/ Author: staff Mouth cancer patients in Bradford will be the first in the world to try a new battery-powered gum shield that could end the misery of a dry mouth. The pacemaker device fits over the lower teeth and uses minor, painless, electric shocks to trigger saliva production. A dry mouth is a common side-effect of radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck. Healthy people produce around three pints of saliva a day. It is crucial for aiding digestion by softening food as well as fighting dental bacteria. It is also necessary for basic functions, such as speaking and swallowing. Patients being treated at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are being recruited to the double-blind trial, along with patients in London. Forty will be given a functioning device, while the remaining 44 will receive a placebo one. Neither the patients nor the doctors will know who has been given the active device. More than 15 patients have already been recruited in Bradford. Dr Jim McCaul, a consultant maxillofacial surgeon at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation, said: “Having a horrible dry mouth makes it impossible to chew food and difficult to speak. Patients worry about things like eating out in public and can’t taste their food as saliva facilitates taste. There is also an immune function in saliva.” Dr McCaul said up to now the only solution to the problem was for patients to sip water or use a saliva substitute in spray form, but the new [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-01-10T19:02:18-07:00January, 2012|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|

Larynx preservation studies should consider treatment impact

Source: www.internalmedicinenews.com Author: Sara Freeman, Internal Medicine News Digital Network Almost one-quarter of patients who had been given induction chemotherapy before radiotherapy for head and neck cancer experienced long-term swallowing difficulties, with another 15% experiencing voice disabilities that correlated with the mobility of the vocal cords. Long-term data from the GORTEC (Groupe Oncologie Radiothérapie Tête et Cou) 2000-01 larynx preservation trial also show that approximately two-thirds of long-term head and neck cancer survivors experienced severe problems with sticky saliva and dry mouth, which were in turn linked to nutritional problems. These findings, reported May 9 at the European Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ESTRO) Anniversary Conference, further confirm that studies looking at the effects of chemoradiotherapy on the larynx in head and neck cancer need to consider prospective assessment of laryngeal function, rather than just looking at anatomical preservation, according to a French radiation oncologist. Dr. Gilles Calais of the Centre Hôpitalier Régional et Universitaire de Tours (France) presented data from a prospective analysis of 61 patients who had participated in the original 213-patient GORTEC 2000-01 trial. He also presented updated results from the trial using a recently developed composite end point. "Larynx preservation can be achieved for most of our [head and neck] patients by using three different strategies: induction chemotherapy, concomitant [chemoradiotherapy], or alternating chemoradiotherapy," Dr. Calais observed. Indeed, larynx preservation is a possibility in approximately 80% of patients, he said. However, anatomical preservation does not mean that laryngeal function is maintained, especially with respect to the ability [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-21T14:31:34-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|