vaccine – Page 13 – Oral Cancer News

Anti-cancer vaccines are emerging

Source: Boston Globe Author: Karen Weintraub Long envisioned drugs to harness the immune system could reshape treatments For more than a century, doctors and patients have dreamed of using the body’s own defenses to fight cancer. Why, they wondered, can’t the immune system - so good at tracking down and destroying intruders - attack the tumor cells that invade healthy tissue? Finally, science is catching up with this vision. Just reaching the market in a big way, so-called therapeutic vaccines turn a patient’s immune system against the cancer and help prevent a recurrence. If the early promise of these vaccines is realized, they will soon join the basic arsenal for fighting all cancers, several researchers said. “We really are in a transformative moment,’’ said Dr. Glenn Dranoff, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a medical oncologist and immunologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Prostate cancer patients were the first to benefit. A therapeutic vaccine called Provenge received federal approval last year after studies showed it safely extended the lives of advanced prostate cancer patients for an average of 4.1 months. Then came a vaccine called Yervoy, designed to attack melanoma, a particularly dangerous form of skin cancer. Cancer generally turns down the body’s immune response to a tumor; Yervoy is designed to turn it back on, enhancing the immune system’s ability to kill cancer cells. Many more cancer vaccines are under development, with hundreds of trials underway in patients with breast, prostate, lung, kidney, colon, cervical, brain, and [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-12-19T14:52:52-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

The one thing Rick Perry did right: A shot that stops cancer, the politics of sex and HPV prevention

Source: CultureMap.com I don’t like Rick Perry — I never voted for him and worked actively to try to oust him — but in 2006 he tried to do something good for young girls in Texas. He tried to mandate vaccinations for sixth grade girls with a drug that prevented HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), the devil behind cervical cancer. This virus is responsible for the deaths of 4,000 young women each year in the United States. When Perry announced his mandate, the shit hit the fan and his conservative base (which is most of the state) went ballistic. The social conservatives objected to the vaccine as an infringement on parental rights, and small government conservatives were alarmed at Perry’s aggressive use of executive power. Needless to say, Perry backed off, and the vaccine was off to a miserable start. Six years later, fewer than 33 percent of girls ages 11 to 26 have received all three doses of the HPV vaccine, and Perry is still paying a political price for it. Not just for girls Well, it now appears that boys aren’t “immune” from HPV’s effects. After all, girls have to get infected from somewhere, right? Doctors have observed that young men were getting throat cancers that were usually seen in older, tobacco-using men. Also, there was an increase in anal cancers. Who do you think the culprit behind this was? HPV. It turns out that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease: between 75 and 80 percent of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-12-02T12:39:52-07:00December, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Use and Acceptance of HPV Vaccine Still a Work in Progress

Source: National Cancer Institute A bellwether moment in the history of cancer prevention came in 2006 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against the two primary cancer-causing, or oncogenic, types of the human papillomavirus (HPV)—HPV-16 and HPV-18. These types are responsible for more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases worldwide. In 2009, the FDA approved a second HPV vaccine, Cervarix, which also targets HPV-16 and HPV-18. Gardasil and Cervarix, vaccines that protect against the two primary cancer-causing types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), entail a three-shot regimen, with each dose delivered several months apart. But what has transpired since these two vaccines received regulatory blessing in the United States has reaffirmed something that cancer and public health researchers have appreciated for some time: The translation of basic research to the clinic doesn’t end with FDA approval of a new drug or treatment. In many respects, FDA approval is just a beginning. In March 2007, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) gave its strongest recommendation for HPV vaccination for females ages 9 to 26, which is the FDA-approved indication for Gardasil. Cervarix is approved for females ages 10 to 25. Both vaccines entail a three-shot regimen, with the doses delivered several months apart. According to the most recent data, only 44 percent of adolescent girls 13 to 17 years of age have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Completion rates for the three-shot [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-30T10:47:00-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Why HPV vaccination of boys may be easier

Source: www.npr.org/blogs/health Author: Richard Knox When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a half-dozen years ago that preteen girls be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, two things happened. A lot of parents and some conservative groups were jarred by the idea of immunizing young girls against a sexually transmitted virus. And uptake of the vaccine has been poor — only about a third of 13- to 17-year-old girls have gotten the full three-shot series. Now, in the wake of a CDC expert panel's recommendation to extend vaccination to 11- and 12-year-old boys, there's reason to think things might be different this time. "There's been a surprisingly muted reaction," says Dr. Don Dizon, a Brown University oncologist. "We tend to believe that girls are chaste and are going to 'save themselves for marriage.' But, you know, sexual activity is something that's almost expected of boys." Seventeen-year-old Connor Perruccello-McClellan agrees. The idea that teenage girls might have sex is "just a touchy issue, a taboo, I guess," he says. "It's just not as accepted for girls." Perruccello-McClellan, a senior at Providence Country Day School in Rhode Island, is among the 1 percent of U.S. males who have already been vaccinated against HPV. That's because Rhode Island has one of the nation's most aggressive campaigns to vaccinate schoolchildren against nine different infections, including HPV. Still, like most people, he thought HPV vaccine protects only against cervical cancer — a notion that may have abetted the double standard associated with it. Cervical cancer [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-07T14:46:21-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

New HPV Study Proves Vaccine’s Effectiveness

Source: Cancer.gov A flurry of new research findings on a vaccine that prevents persistent infections by cancer-causing types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) has confirmed the vaccine's efficacy and opened new avenues for research. The results, published in three separate reports, suggest that the vaccine could be simpler to administer and more affordable than researchers had previously thought—and that the vaccine may also have unexpected benefits. All three studies originate from an ongoing clinical trial of Cervarix in Costa Rica. The new findings could help inform efforts to develop vaccination programs to prevent cervical cancer in countries around the world, the researchers said. "The results from our trial and from other trials are extremely promising for this vaccine," said Dr. Allan Hildesheim of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), a leader of the trial. "And they suggest that the impact of the vaccine may go beyond cervical disease." HPV infections can lead to cancers of the anus, vagina, vulva, penis, and some oropharyngeal cancers, in addition to cervical cancer. Cervarix is one of two HPV vaccines currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent these infections; the other is Gardasil. One of the studies found that fewer than the prescribed three doses of Cervarix may offer the same protection as the full course. If confirmed, this could make vaccination easier to administer and more affordable, factors that are especially important in developing countries that have high rates of cervical cancer. A second study from the Costa [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-09-27T11:19:48-07:00September, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine may be as easy as just 1-2

Source: American Council on Science and Health Author: Staff Proven to be the leading cause of cervical cancer, the human papillomavirus (HPV) has recently been linked to anal and oral cancer as well. That’s why it’s important for young men and women to protect themselves against those strains of the virus with the HPV vaccine. Currently, the vaccine schedule consists of three shots that are spaced months apart, but unfortunately, a three-dose regimen may not be economically feasible for many. That’s why the results of a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute provide hope that receiving only two HPV vaccine doses — or even a single dose — may be enough to confer immunity. For the purposes of their study, researchers from the National Cancer Institute’s epidemiology division recruited 7,500 women between the ages of 18 and 25 who were HPV-negative; these women then received either three doses of the Cervarix vaccine against HPV, or a control (hepatitis A vaccine). Over a four year follow-up period, 929 women received only two doses of the vaccine, while 551 received only one. Surprisingly, the resistance to HPV infection among women who received two shots was just as high as it was among women who received all three shots. The study authors point out that a two-dose regimen has the potential to reduce cervical cancer incidence more effectively than the standard three-dose regimen since more women, especially in low-income regions, would opt to receive the shorter treatment regimen. The results, however, are [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-09-12T17:07:18-07:00September, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Men likely at greater risk for developing HPV-positive cancers

Source: curetoday.com Author: Jon Garinn A new analysis from the National Cancer Institute suggests that the number of HPV-positive oral cancers among men could rise significantly in the next decade, possibly surpassing HPV-positive cervical cancers among women. The genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 20 million Americans are currently infected and about 6 million are infected each year. Using population-based cancer registry data, the researchers found that between 1988 and 2004, oropharyngeal cancers related to HPV increased by 225 percent, with men accounting for the majority of cases. Relying on U.S. Census projections and age-period-cohort models, they projected a 27 percent rise in cases by 2020. More than 40 types of HPV are spread during genital, oral or anal sex with an infected partner—some are low-risk (wart-causing) while others are high-risk (cancer-causing). In most cases, the body’s own immune system gets rid of HPV within about two years of infection. But if the body cannot clear the infection, it can develop into several cancers, including oropharyngeal and cervical, which is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide. Gardasil, the only approved vaccine for young men and women, is effective against two types of cancer-causing HPV and two types of wart-causing HPV. Cervarix is an HPV vaccine approved only for women.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-07-11T22:06:00-07:00July, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Cancer vaccines make progress in combating disease

Source: http://www.masshightech.com/ Author: Lori Valigra, Mass High Tech correspondent Sen. Edward Kennedy’s death two years ago from the deadly form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), refocused attention on how slowly treatments have progressed since former President Richard Nixon declared the war on cancer in 1971. But a new form of treatment that goes beyond oncology drugs and surgery is now coming of age: cancer vaccines. At the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago — a major forum for cancer researchers — several companies and research groups reported progress on cancer vaccines, including a New England company with a shot for GBM. Agenus Inc. of Lexington reported its Prophage G-200 almost doubled the longevity of patients with recurring GBM to 11 months. That’s good news to patients with that particularly aggressive form of cancer, which also killed composer George Gershwin and music synthesizer legend Robert Moog. Vaccines represent a relatively new approach to fighting the spread of cancer, having appeared in the last decade. The basic concept is similar to a vaccine for a disease like measles: an injection in the arm induces an immune response that helps the body fight a particular pathogen, in this case, a cancer. An effective immune response would then shrink tumors and extend lives. Research and Markets estimates that the relatively new market for cancer vaccines could rise sharply to top $7 billion by 2015. The research company looked at six main categories of cancer vaccines: antigen/adjuvant, DNA, vector-based, tumor [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-25T08:36:46-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Finally, a selfish reason to get boys vaccinated for HPV

Source: www.slate.com Author: Kent Sepkowitz A vaccine that prevents cancer is the dream of just about every patient, doctor, and public health official. Therefore, hopes were quite high five years ago, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that causes almost all cases of cervical cancer. But despite its clear efficacy, the vaccine has been something of a dud. According to a 2008 survey, only 34 percent of the target crowd, girls aged 13 to 17 years, had received it. The reasons for the slow uptake relate to generic vaccine issues (cost, pain, distrust) as well as a particular discomfort with this one, dubbed the "sex vaccine" by many conservatives, who object to it on the grounds that it somehow promotes licentious behavior (as if it were possible to make teenagers any hornier). However, a new study presented at last week's annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists makes the vaccine look even more valuable. Though preliminary and still unpublished, these findings have the potential to finally shift the perception that HPV is a woman's problem and convince parents to get their boys vaccinated against the virus, too. The researchers make the most compelling case to date that HPV causes yet another malignancy—oropharyngeal cancer, a disease that affects men three times more often than women. (It's a subcategory of "oral" or "head and neck" cancer, which also predominantly affect men.) Their work appears to have [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-17T12:56:58-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

With HPV-related head and neck cancers rising, focus on treatment and vaccination

Source: blogs.wsj.com/health Author: Laura Landro A form of head and neck cancer associated with the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus is on the rise, especially in men, the WSJ reports. Fast-rising rates of oropharyngeal cancer — tumors in the tonsil and back-of-the-tongue area — have been linked to changes in sexual behavior that include the increased practice of oral sex and a greater number of sexual partners. But HPV-positive cancer has also been reported in individuals who report few or no sexual partners. It may also be possible for the virus to be transmitted to an infant via an infected mother’s birth canal. An HPV vaccine is routinely recommended for girls because the virus can cause cervical cancer. The rise in HPV-positive head and neck cancers is leading to a new focus both on treatment of the disease, and whether recommending routine vaccination for boys could prevent oral infections and cancers. (A CDC advisory panel said in 2009 that it was fine for boys to get the vaccine, but recommended against routine administration.) Eric Genden, chief of head and neck oncology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, tells the Health Blog that when treated appropriately, patients with HPV-positive cancers have an 85% to 90% disease-free survival rate over five years. By contrast, patients with HPV-negative head and neck cancers, which are often associated with smoking and drinking, typically have more advanced disease when the cancer is detected and face a five-year survival rate of only 25% to 40%, Genden says. HPV-induced head [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-31T14:23:46-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|