tobacco – Page 14 – Oral Cancer News

Facing the Facts: HPV-Associated Head and Neck Cancers Get a Second Look

Source: CureToday.com HPV causes surge in oral cancer rates. Kevin Pruyne knew he didn’t fit the stereotype of a hard drinker or heavy smoker who one day develops an oral cancer. The 52-year-old mechanic had been working a three-week stint in a remote section of northern Alaska, repairing trucks on an oil field, when he noticed a hard lump beneath his jaw while shaving. For nearly three months, as Pruyne was prescribed antibiotics for a possible infection and then later shuttled between physician specialists, he kept hearing the same thing: the lump could not be cancer. Pruyne only occasionally consumed alcohol and had never smoked. His wife, Kathy, began researching her husband’s symptoms, which included repetitive throat clearing, a nagging sensation that something was lodged in his throat and ringing in his ears. And the lump, which looked like the top half of an egg, felt solid to the touch. This wasn’t some inflamed lymph node from a lingering head cold, Kathy Pruyne says. “He had every symptom [of cancer], but nobody would listen to me.” Kevin Pruyne, with his wife, Kathy, is hopeful his HPV-positive oral cancer will be cured. Photo by Rick Bacmanski. Pruyne received a diagnosis of stage 4 oral cancer, which started with a tumor at the base of his tongue. He had already begun chemotherapy when he learned that researchers had discovered an association between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and increasing rates of oropharyngeal cancers. He asked that his tissue be tested; the results came [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-06-20T12:05:38-07:00June, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Allentown woman who lost jaw to cancer shares anti-smoking message

Source: LehighVallyLive.com People often stare at Christine Brader. Sometimes strangers ask the Allentown woman what happened to her. She tells them, "I used to smoke." Tobacco users flinch when they hear her response, Brader says. Smoking led to oral cancer, which eventually cost the 49-year-old all of her teeth and part of her lower jaw.Brader has had three bouts with the disease since her first diagnosis five years ago, but is now cancer free. "I have to go through life disfigured, all because I made a bad decision and smoked," she says. Brader doesn't want others to follow in her footsteps, so she is working with Tobacco Free Northeast Pennsylvania to spread the word about the dangers of smoking. The organization serves a 10-county area, including Lehigh and Northampton, spokeswoman Alice Dalla Palu said. Brader recently shared her story in a radio advertisement broadcast during the week of World No Tobacco Day, which was May 31. In the ad -- part of the Centers for Disease Control "Tips from Former Smokers" campaign -- she describes preparing liquid meals and consuming them through a feeding tube. Last year, Brader appeared in a TV commercial for Truth, a national smoking prevention campaign that targets youth. BREAK THE HABIT: Call 1-800-784-8669 or visit tobaccofreene.com to get help quitting smoking. She started smoking at 16 to fit in with her peers and continued for 28 years. Brader quit cold turkey at 44 after learning in June 2007 that the growth inside her cheek was cancer. [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-06-18T10:03:27-07:00June, 2012|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Actor’s Diagnosis Puts Spotlight on Oral Cancer

Source: DrBicuspid.com May 9, 2012 -- Actor Michael Douglas' recent revelation that he has stage IV oropharyngeal cancer has highlighted the growing incidence of oral cancer, and experts say dentists can help stem the alarming increase of the disease by checking for it during routine examinations. The actor's cancer includes a walnut-sized tumor at the base of his tongue, and he will require radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Douglas says his doctors told him he has an 80% survival rate if it hasn't spread to his lymph nodes. While tobacco was the prime cause of oral cancer in the past, recent studies have attributed the steady increase of the disease to the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are approximately 130 versions of HPV but only nine cause cancers, and the HPV16 version causes almost half of the oral cancers in the U.S., said Brian Hill, executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation. "Tobacco is no longer the only bad guy," he told DrBicuspid.com. “HPV16 is increasing in incidence as the causative etiology, and if it continues on this trend line, it will replace tobacco as the primary cause of oral cancers." Dentists can play a key role in catching the disease in its early stages if they check for it during examinations, Hill pointed out. "But many dentists think it's such a rare disease that they don't bother to screen for it," he said. "Most Americans have never even heard of oral cancer, but it's not as rare or uncommon as [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-05-17T09:43:19-07:00May, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Actor Michael Douglas Partners With Oral Cancer Foundation For Early Detection PSA Campaign

LOS ANGELES, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Actor and producer Michael Douglas has donated his time to help create a television public service announcement (PSA) on behalf of the Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping those affected by the disease. The PSA will support the Foundation's efforts to educate the public about the need for annual screenings to catch oral cancers in their early, most survivable stages. The public service announcement will begin airing in June, and will continue to air nationwide through summer and autumn. Approximately 40,000 people in the US will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2012. This includes those cancers that occur in the mouth itself, in the very back of the mouth known as the oropharynx, and on the exterior lip of the mouth. There are two distinct pathways by which most people come to oral cancer. One is through the use of tobacco and alcohol, and the other is through exposure to the HPV-16 virus (human papilloma virus version 16), a newly identified etiology, and the same virus which is responsible for the vast majority of cervical cancers in women. While oral cancer has historically been linked to tobacco and alcohol use, this is not simply a smoker's disease any longer. New data shows that the fastest-growing segment of newly diagnosed cases is now young, non-smokers. Most startling, is the fact that while many other cancers have been in decline in recent years, the occurrence of oral / oropharyngeal [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-05-14T19:59:49-07:00May, 2012|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

2009 Federal Tobacco Tax Increase Cut Number of Youth Smokers by At Least 220,000 in First Two Months Alone, New Study Shows

Source: TobaccoFreeKids.org WASHINGTON, DC – The large federal tobacco tax increase implemented on April 1, 2009, reduced the number of youth smokers by at least 220,000 and the number of youth smokeless tobacco users by at least 135,000 in the first two months alone, according to a new study released today by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The researchers emphasized that the study measured only the immediate impact of the tax increase through May 2009, and the number of youth prevented from smoking and using smokeless tobacco would be much larger over time. The study "showed that a large national tax increase can influence youth tobacco use prevalence within a very short time period," the researchers wrote. "Adolescents not only respond to tax policy changes, but the speed of their response is fast. The prevalence of smoking and use of smokeless tobacco… dropped immediately following the tax increase in this study, and statistically significant and meaningful changes could be measured and detected within 30 days of the tax increase." The study was published online by the National Bureau of Economic Research and can be found at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w18026. The new study comes as the tobacco industry, led by Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds, is spending nearly $40 million to oppose a June 5 ballot initiative in California (Proposition 29) to increase that state’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack. The initiative would reduce smoking and fund research on cancer and other tobacco-related diseases, as well as tobacco [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-05-11T10:58:27-07:00May, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

New method of predicting the spread of throat cancer to other body parts found

Source: starglobaltribune.com Author: staff Independent of other factors, such as smoking history and HPV status, matted lymph nodes appear to signal increased chance of oropharyngeal cancer spreading to other parts of the body. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found a new indicator that may predict which patients with a common type of throat cancer are most likely have the cancer spread to other parts of their bodies. Patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who had “matted” lymph nodes – nodes that are connected together – had a 69 percent survival rate over three years, compared to 94 percent for patients without matted nodes, according to a study published online ahead of print publication in Head & Neck. The oropharynx is an area that includes the back of the tongue, soft palate, throat and tonsils. “The spread of cancer throughout the body accounts for about 45 percent of the deaths from oropharyngeal carcinoma,” says the study’s senior author, Douglas B. Chepeha, M.D., M.S.P.H., an associate professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery at the U-M Medical School. “Our findings may help doctors identify patients who are at higher risk for having their cancer metastasize and who would benefit from additional systemic therapy. Conversely, some patients without matted nodes may benefit from a reduction of the current standard treatment, which would cut down on uncomfortable side effects.” Notably, the findings indicate an increased risk independent of other established prognostic factors, such as the patient’s history of smoking or [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-05-07T08:16:13-07:00May, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Ongoing surveillance needed to monitor trends in HPV rates after vaccination

Source: HemOnc Today The ongoing monitoring of HPV-associated cancers via the National Program of Cancer Registries and the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program indicate a decrease in the US rates for cervical cancer, yet disparities remain, according to data published in a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Data pooled from the high-quality population-based cancer registry programs indicated that between 2004 and 2008, there were 12,080 HPV-associated cancers diagnosed annually among males and 21,290 among females. Of the overall cases, cervical cancer was the most common diagnosis (11,967 annually), followed by oropharyngeal cancer (11,726 annually). Compared with whites and non-Hispanics, blacks and Hispanics had the highest rates for cervical and penile cancer. Conversely, vulvar cancer rates were highest among whites and non-Hispanics. Anal cancer rates were highest among females (1.8 per 100,000) vs. males (1.2 per 100,000). Specifically, the rates were highest among white females and among black males. HPV-associated cancer rates were highest among females in West Virginia (16.3 per 100,000) and among males in Washington, D.C. (11.6 per 100,000). Rates in the lowest tertile for HPV-associated cancers were most common in Maryland, Colorado and Utah, whereas rates in the highest tertile were found in Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee. “The HPV vaccine will likely help decrease cervical cancer rates further and reduce the disparities,” the researchers wrote in the report. “Other HPV-associated cancers do not have approved screening programs; therefore, HPV vaccines are important prevention tools to reduce the incidence of non-cervical cancers.” In an accompanying editorial, CDC [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-05-02T11:06:43-07:00May, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

It’s Time to Stop Letting Congress Stomp on Nonprofit Advocacy Rights

Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy Nonprofit organizations have fewer rights to speak out about important public-policy matters today than they did last year. The latest assault on advocacy came in a spending bill Congress approved to provide money to education, health, and human-service groups. These new restrictions on advocacy were passed as part of a coordinated campaign by conservatives to quash popular democracy. Unfortunately, as contrasted with past “defund the left” efforts, charity leaders didn’t find out about them in time to take action to prevent their passage. The challenges to nonprofit advocacy began more than three decades ago when the Heritage Foundation started making new restrictions a priority. This attack was pushed by the Reagan White House in the early 1980s, took the form of major Republican congressional legislative efforts in the mid-1990s, and has arisen in various forms since then. Some conservative lawmakers and Republican White House officials have tried to go so far as to limit what charities can do with private contributions; others have tried to restrict the types of activities that nonprofits can conduct with federal funds. Most of their efforts were stopped by groups whose missions were to serve as watchdogs to protect charities’ rights and the coalitions they organized. Nevertheless, conservatives succeeded in several attempts to chip away at nonprofit advocacy rights. For example, Congress voted to prohibit social-welfare organizations classified under Section 501(c)(4) from receiving federal grants if they lobby. Additionally, grantees of the Legal Services Corporation face greater restrictions on advocacy [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-04-27T10:42:00-07:00April, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Canadian Dental Hygienists call for stronger tobacco control

Source: www.baytoday.ca Author: Kate Adams Canada’s Federal Tobacco Control Strategy (FTCS) has resulted in significant reductions in the levels of tobacco use in Canada. This has led to our nation being recognized as a world leader in tobacco control. The Smoking Cessation Quitline is just one of many highly successful programs the federal government has supported to this end. Unfortunately, significant financial cuts are being made to the FTCS. The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA) supports ongoing, stable funding for the FTCS in order to further reduce tobacco use levels in Canada. With the anticipated reduction in Health Canada’s tobacco control funding, Canada is at risk of reversing the downward trend in tobacco use. Elimination of the grants and contributions program will result in reduced involvement with non-profit partners who have made tobacco cessation a high priority. These partnerships are successful because partner organizations are uniquely equipped to meet the specialized health needs of different communities and priority populations across Canada. On a daily basis, dental hygienists see first-hand, the harmful impact of tobacco use on the mouth. CDHA’s president Arlynn Brodie says, “dental hygienists are committed to encouraging tobacco free lifestyles and to promoting cessation.” In many cases dental hygienists are the first to recognize signs of oral cancer from tobacco use, as well as tooth decay and abrasion caused by chewing tobacco. “All types of tobacco use have a negative impact on oral health,” adds Brodie, “dental hygienists focus on prevention and strongly believe continued investment in the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-04-25T06:51:22-07:00April, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Smartphone app could help diagnose oral cancer

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com Author: staff The newest tool for diagnosing oral cancer? It might be your smartphone. Researchers from Stanford University have developed a smartphone app and attachable scanner that its creators hope can improve early diagnoses of oral cancers in places where dental checkups aren't easily accessible. OScan is a pack-of-gum-sized device that attaches onto a smartphone camera, that includes a mouth positioner, two rows of light diodes and a circuit board. The tool can take a panoramic photo of the inside of someone's mouth. The image is detailed enough that a dental professional would be able to screen for oral lesions, the researchers said. The device is still being tested, but it has won two awards from the Vodaphone Americas Foundation this week. The creator, Manu Prakash, Ph.D., an assistant bioengineering professor at Stanford, said that he came up with the idea for the device when he was in India at a rural clinic, and saw photos of people with oral lesions -- but the lesions were so bad, many were inoperable. "Sometimes I see a problem and it just sticks in my head. This was one of those moments for me," Prakash said in a statement. "I just could not walk away from that chance meeting. I knew friends at high school who used to chew tobacco constantly. Nobody talked about the dire consequences." The Atlantic explained why this sort of screening tool has the potential to be valuable in countries such as India: "Like many forms of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-04-22T08:42:52-07:00April, 2012|Oral Cancer News|