tobacco – Page 13 – Oral Cancer News

DNA adducts linked to oral cancer in smokers

Source: www.news-medical.net Author: Sarah Guy, medwireNews Reporter Having a high susceptibility to certain types of DNA damage caused by tobacco smoking could significantly increase the risk for oral cancer, show results of a Taiwanese study. Levels of BaP 7,8-diol 9,10-epoxide (BPDE) - a metabolite of Benzo[a]pyrene, an important carcinogen found in cigarette smoke - correlated positively with smoking status in a cohort of individuals with oral cancer, report the researchers. The findings also indicate a significantly increased risk for oral cancer among individuals with high DNA adduct levels compared with their peers with low levels. "Based on our finding, we suggest that detected BPDE-like DNA adducts could be used as a biomarker for oral cancer risk," write Huei Lee (Taipei Medical University) and colleagues in the Archives of Oral Biology. The team analyzed BPDE-DNA adduct levels in oral tissue samples from 158 oral cancer patients and 64 individuals without cancer (controls), using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results of these assays significantly and positively correlated , so that immunohistochemistry-negative patients did not have detectable DNA adduct levels using ELISA and vice versa. DNA adduct levels also positively correlated with smoking status among the cancer patients, note the researchers, with significantly higher adduct levels among smokers than nonsmokers, at 93.18 versus 0.04 adducts per 108 nucleotides. Lee and co-workers also observed that cancer patients had significantly higher DNA adduct levels than controls, at a range of 0-358.00 versus 0-39.50 adducts per 108 nucleotides. Indeed, DNA adduct level was an [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-12-31T12:33:45-07:00December, 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 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-12-31T12:21:03-07:00December, 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 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-12-23T08:22:47-07:00December, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Global burden of cancer: opportunities for prevention

Source: The Lancet, Volume 380, Issue 9856, Pages 1797 - 1799, 24 November 2012 In The Lancet, Isabelle Soerjomataram and colleagues report that about 169 million years of healthy life were lost due to cancer worldwide in 2008 alone, based on a summary measure (disability-adjusted life-years [DALY] lost) that combines years lived with disability and years of life lost because of premature death. By contrast with mortality rates and counts, which emphasize deaths occurring at old ages, DALY give more weight to deaths occurring at young ages at which people are more likely to be working, raising children, and supporting other family members. Worldwide, the highest DALY rates were noted in eastern African countries (eg, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia) in women and in several high-income and middle-income countries (eg, Hungary and Uruguay) in men. Despite the substantial limitations inherent in the modeling of sparse cancer registry data and various assumptions about the natural history of every disease and related variables, these findings emphasize the growing burden of cancer in economically developing countries. This burden is partly due to the ageing and growth of the population and marketing-driven adoption of unhealthy lifestyles such as tobacco use and consumption of high-calorie food, as well as limited progress in reduction of infection-related cancers.2 Opportunities exist to reduce these major risk factors and the associated cancer burden through broad implementation of proven interventions specific to every country's economic development level. These interventions include tobacco control, improvement of opportunities for physical activity and healthier dietary patterns, [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-11-28T11:10:26-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Do fruits and veggies offset tobacco/alcohol cancer risks?

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: DrBicuspid Staff Consuming fresh fruits and vegetables has been shown to reduce the risk of oral cancer, and now a new study suggests that these "protective effects" may impede the negative effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption with regard to cancer risk (Nutrition and Cancer, November 2012, Vol. 64:8, pp. 1182-1189). For the study, researchers from the University of São Paulo assessed the association between frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables and the risk of oral cancer, comparing results between nonsmokers and smokers and nondrinkers and drinkers. Their case-control study involved 296 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma attended in three major hospitals in São Paulo, paired with 296 controls recruited from outpatient units of the same hospitals. The researchers found that eating both fruit and vegetables was associated with prevention of the disease in light (odds ratio [OR] = 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.27-0.78) and heavy (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.14-0.65) smokers. For nonsmokers, no fruit (OR = 50; 95% CI = 0.22-1.12) or vegetable (for tomato, OR = 0.53; 95% CI = 0.31-0.93) was associated with reduced risk of oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Similar results were found with regard to drinking status, with OR = 0.51 (95% CI = 0.30-0.87) and 0.18 for fruits (95% CI = 0.07-0.45), respectively, for light and heavy drinkers. "This observation suggests that the protective effect of fruit and salad intake may modulate the deleterious effects from tobacco and alcohol," the researchers concluded.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-11-28T10:18:37-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Top EU official resigns after snus bribe probe

Source: www.thelocal.se A complaint by Swedish Match about a suspected bribe meant to influence European tobacco policy has resulted in the resignation of EU health commissioner John Dalli, the European Union's top health official. "Commissioner John Dalli has today announced his resignation as a member of the Commission, with immediate effect," the European Commission announced in a statement released on Tuesday. Dalli's resignation, the first for a member of the Commission since 1999, came following the release on Monday of report detailing the findings of an investigation carried out by the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF, into a complaint filed by Swedish tobacco company Swedish Match in May 2012. The complaint alleged that a Maltese entrepreneur sought to leverage his connections with Dalli, also of Malta, in order to "gain financial advantages" from Swedish Match in exchange for attempting to influence "a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus". Snus – also known as Swedish snuff – is a tobacco product invented in Sweden in the early 1800s which has gained in popularity in Sweden after smoking was banned in restaurants in 2005. The sale of snus is outlawed in the European Union, but due to exemptions, it is still manufactured and consumed primarily in Norway and Sweden. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers Protection recently unveiled a proposal that would ban all smoke-free tobacco products outside of Sweden. The Swedish government has for years been trying to sway the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-10-23T07:45:13-07:00October, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless tobacco products pose serious health risks

Source: www.nice.org.uk Author: staff Smokeless tobacco products used by some people in South Asian communities are associated with serious health risks such as oral cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to latest NICE guidance. Many members of the South Asian community use smokeless tobacco products to freshen the breath or to aid digestion. These products, which include paan or gutkha, are typically served as a mixture which is chewed and consists of betel leaf combined with areca nut, tobacco and spices. Research shows that particular groups within South Asian communities such as women, those in older age groups and people from Bangladeshi origin, are more likely to use these products. However, many are not aware that using smokeless tobacco carries health risks such as cardiovascular disease, dental disease, nicotine addiction, problems in pregnancy, and oral cancer. South Asian women are almost four times more likely to have oral cancer as those from other groups. It is thought that the prevalence of smokeless tobacco among South Asian women is one of the main reasons for this increased likelihood. NICE's public health guidance on smokeless tobacco cessation for South Asian communities contains a number of recommendations to tackle its use and improve knowledge of its associated health risks. The recommendations are aimed a range of groups including directors of public health, clinical commissioning groups, dental public health consultants, and faith leaders and others involved in faith centres. NICE says local need should be assessed to determine the prevalence and incidence of smokeless tobacco [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-09-28T07:26:48-07:00September, 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 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-08-28T09:32:03-07:00August, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Researchers Identify Chemical Linked to Oral Cancer Risk in Smokeless Tobacco

By Denise Mann WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD Aug. 22, 2012 -- Dip, chew, snuff, and other types of smokeless tobacco are known to increase risk for oral cancer. Now new research in rats is zeroing in on exactly how this may occur. The findings were presented at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in Philadelphia. The newly identified cancer-causing culprit in these products is (S)-NNN. It is part of a larger family of chemicals called nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are also found in such foods as beer and bacon. They form naturally in the stomach when people eat foods containing high levels of nitrite. Nitrosamine levels in smokeless tobacco are far higher than in food, according to a prepared statement. Researchers fed rats a low dose of two forms of chemicals found in smokeless tobacco for 17 months. The doses were about equivalent to a person who used half a tin of smokeless tobacco every day for 30 years. (S)-NNN seemed to cause large numbers of oral and esophageal tumors in the rats, the study shows. "There is a very specific oral carcinogen in smokeless tobacco and it is potent," says researcher Silvia Balbo, PhD. She is a cancer researcher at the Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. This compound is found in all smokeless tobacco products, including those that look like breath mints, strips, or candy, and “snus,” which are pouches filled with tobacco that are placed between the upper lip and gum. [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-08-23T09:19:37-07:00August, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

The danger in smokeless tobacco products

Source: www.observer.ug (Uganda, Africa) Author: Racheal Ninsiima Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death among adults and is a significant factor for several mouth, throat, lung and heart diseases. It is also a major contributor to morbidity. Globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that tobacco causes about 71% of lung cancer, 42% of chronic respiratory diseases, 20% of global tuberculosis incidence and nearly 10% of cardiovascular diseases. But the issue of smokeless products that contain tobacco has for long been ignored. According to Dr Sheila Ndyanabangi, the tobacco control focal point person at the ministry of Health, schoolchildren are also consuming the products. This is because sometimes the ingredients are written in foreign languages which may not be understood by the consumers. What is smokeless tobacco? There are two basic forms of smokeless tobacco: snuff and chewing tobacco. An article ‘smokeless tobacco and how to quit’ on the website www.cancer.org, says snuff is finely ground tobacco packaged in cans and is sold either dry or moist. The nicotine in the snuff is absorbed through the tissues of the mouth as it is placed between the cheek and gum. Snuff is designed to be both “Smoke-free” and “spit-free” and is marketed as a discreet way to use tobacco. Chewed tobacco comes along as long strands of tobacco leaves that are chewed by the user who thereafter spits out the brown liquid (saliva mixed with tobacco). Types of smokeless tobacco Mouth fresheners: The commonest is Kuber. It is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-07-04T10:33:00-07:00July, 2012|Oral Cancer News|