vaccines – Page 3 – Oral Cancer News

Reasons for Not Vaccinating Adolescents: National Immunization Survey of Teens, 2008–2010

Source: PediatricsAuthors: Paul M. Darden, MD, David M. Thompson, PhD, James R. Roberts, MD, MPH, Jessica J. Hale, MSa, Charlene Pope, PhD, MPH, RN, Monique Naifeh, MD, MPHa, and Robert M. Jacobson, MDPublished Online: March 18, 2013 Abstract OBJECTIVE: To determine the reasons adolescents are not vaccinated for specific vaccines and how these reasons have changed over time. METHODS: We analyzed the 2008–2010 National Immunization Survey of Teens examining reasons parents do not have their teens immunized. Parents whose teens were not up to date (Not-UTD) for Tdap/Td and MCV4 were asked the main reason they were not vaccinated. Parents of female teens Not-UTD for human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) were asked their intent to give HPV, and those unlikely to get HPV were asked the main reason why not. RESULTS: The most frequent reasons for not vaccinating were the same for Tdap/Td and MCV4, including “Not recommended” and “Not needed or not necessary.” For HPV, the most frequent reasons included those for the other vaccines as well as 4 others, including “Not sexually active” and “Safety concerns/Side effects.” “Safety concerns/Side effects” increased from 4.5% in 2008 to 7.7% in 2009 to 16.4% in 2010 and, in 2010, approaching the most common reason “Not Needed or Not Necessary” at 17.4% (95% CI: 15.7–19.1). Although parents report that health care professionals increasingly recommend all vaccines, including HPV, the intent to not vaccinate for HPV increased from 39.8% in 2008 to 43.9% in 2010 (OR for trend 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04–1.13). CONCLUSIONS: Despite doctors increasingly recommending adolescent vaccines, parents [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-06-20T10:42:12-07:00June, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Why HPV vaccination makes a difference against cancer

Source: www.cbsnews.com Author: Michelle Castillo Michael Douglas' frank discussion about the human papillomavirus (HPV) and oral cancer has put a spotlight on the dangers of the sexually transmitted virus. While using a condom may reduce risk for HPV, doctors are reminding people that the best way to protect oneself from the disease that can potentially lead to cancer is to get vaccinated at an early age and, if possible, go for routine screenings. HPV is a group of more than 100 very common viruses, about 40 of which can be transmitted sexually, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health. Approximately 79 million Americans are currently infected with an HPV strain, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, and nearly all sexually active men and women will get one type of sexually transmitted HPV in their lifetime. Specifically, 20 million people in the U.S. between the ages of 15 to 49 are infected with a genital HPV at any given time, and about half of men and women can expect to be infected with genital HPV in their lifetime. "HPV is ubiquitous in our population," Dr. Lori Wirth, medical director of the Center for Head and Neck Cancers center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, explained to CBSNews.com. "Anyone who has led a normal sex life will get HPV, and develop antibodies to the virus. But, a minority of people who have contact with the virus who don't effectively clear the virus from [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-06-12T07:21:26-07:00June, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Major study finds no link between vaccines and autism

Source: therawstory.comBy: Agence France-Presse Date: Friday, March 29, 2013 A US study out Friday sought to dispel the fears of about one third of American parents that giving a series of vaccines to children may be linked to autism. Even though children are receiving more vaccines today than they did in the 1990s, there is no link between “too many vaccines too soon” and autism, said the study in the Journal of Pediatrics. About one in 10 US parents refuse or delay vaccinations for their children because they believe it is safer than following the schedule put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to previous research. Prior studies have already shown there is no link between vaccines and autism, including a 2004 comprehensive review by the Institute of Medicine. This time, researchers at the CDC decided to look children’s exposure to antigens, the substances in vaccines that cause the body to produce antibodies to fight infection and disease. Researchers looked at data from 256 children with autism spectrum disorder across three separate managed care organizations in the United States. They compared the cumulative exposure to antigens in those children to 752 children without autism. “We found no evidence indicating an association between exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides contained in vaccines during the first two years of life and the risk of acquiring autism spectrum disorder, autism disorder or autism spectrum disorder with regression,” said the study. Nor were there any links between autism and cumulative [...]

Charlotte Parker2013-03-29T13:14:29-07:00March, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Team approach improves oral cancer outcomes

Source: www.drbicuspid.com Author: Donna Domino, Features Editor Providence Cancer Center in Portland, OR, is one of a growing number of facilities that is working to improve care for patients with oral cancer and head and neck cancers through a multidisciplinary program that brings together a spectrum of treatment providers. To illustrate the challenges many oral cancer patients face, R. Bryan Bell, MD, DDS, medical director of the Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Program at Providence, described the extreme effects the illness and its treatment had on one of his patients. The woman had undergone surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation for her oral cavity cancer. "This was a beautiful 32-year-old woman who had lost all her teeth and couldn't chew," Dr. Bell told DrBicuspid.com. "She had aged about 40 years during treatment, and she just looked awful. But she had no means of affording needed dental rehabilitation, which would have cost about $60,000. People need to see what happens when you don't restore these patients." Dr. Bell used the woman's case to convince officials at Providence Health, which oversees the medical center, of the need for a multidisciplinary approach for these patients. The new cancer treatment center, which opened last month, is a unique collaboration between dental and medical oncology specialists. The center provides coordinated care for oral cancer patients who often need expensive and complex dental rehabilitation, regardless of their ability to pay, according to Dr. Bell. His team includes head and neck surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, otolaryngologists, neuro-otologists, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-01-28T14:52:16-07:00January, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Preventing Cancer with Vaccines: Progress in the Global Control of Cancer

Source: CancerPreventionResearch.AACJournals.org Abstract The cancer control community is largely unaware of great advances in the control of major human cancers with vaccines, including the dramatic control of hepatocellular (liver) cancer with hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, now used routinely in more than 90% of countries. The biotechnology revolution has given us a new generation of highly effective vaccines against major global killers, global funding for immunization is orders of magnitude higher than ever before, and the vaccine delivery infrastructure has improved very significantly even in the poorest countries. Liver cancer is the greatest cause of cancer deaths in men of sub-Saharan Africa and much of Asia. Even in highly endemic countries such as China, the prevalence of HB surface antigen carriers has fallen from 10% to 1%–2% in immunized cohorts of children, and liver cancer has already fallen dramatically in Taiwanese children. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (now called the GAVI Alliance) has greatly expedited this success by providing HBV vaccine free for five years in most of the world's 72 poorest countries. HBV vaccination can serve as a model for the global control of human papillomavirus (HPV)–related cervical and other cancers with HPV vaccines. Cervical cancer is the greatest cause of cancer death in women in many developing countries; HPV vaccines are highly effective in preventing HPV infection and precancerous lesions in women, and the quadrivalent vaccine also prevents genital warts in men and women and precancerous anal lesions in men. HPV is causing a growing proportion [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-01-04T10:18:40-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Is oral sex more dangerous than smoking?

Source: www.yourtango.com Author: TresSugar Oral sex might be the new smoking. New research has found that oral sex may cause more cases of throat cancer in men than smoking thanks to HPV transmissions. In 2004, HPV caused 2.6 cases of throat cancer per 100,000 people, compared to .8 cases per 100,000 people in 1998. At this rate, by 2020 HPV will result in more throat cancer in both men and women than cervical cancer. What's making the rate go up? A higher rate of going down. Cancer researchers told the New York Times that younger people are having more oral sex because they think it's safer than intercourse. In addition to increasing awareness about the risks associated with oral sex, there may be another solution already available. The HPV vaccines currently recommended for girls could probably help prevent throat cancer when given to boys. Vaccine companies would have to test the drugs for that purpose specifically, and then health professionals would have to convince parents to vaccinate their boys against HPV. But maybe that would be easier than it's been to vaccinate girls against a potentially deadly, yet common STD, since society doesn't have the same hang-ups with male sexuality.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-15T05:12:30-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

HPV links to throat cancer in males

Source: www.thesimmonsvoice.com Author: Emese Nemeth Whether it is your first year or you are returning to college, there are always emails and pamplets about immunizations. While some vaccines are mandatory for public safety and health, vaccines such as Gardasil (also known as Silgard) for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are not. While some may argue that it is relatively new vaccine and side effects may be uncertain, the benefits are starting to out-weigh the risks. Gardasil was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006 to vaccinate against the four most common strains of HPV: types 6, 11, 16 and 18. Seventy percent of cervical cancer is caused by types 16 and 18. Types 16 and 18 are also known to cause HPV induced cancer of the anus, vulva, vagina and penis. The other two types, 6 and 11 are known to cause ninety percent of genital wart cases. More recently, HPV has been linked to induce throat cancer, specifically, oropharyngeal cancer. The American Society of Clinical Oncology also believes that "the annual occurrence of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer among men will surpass that of cervical cancer among women by the year 2020." Why throat cancer is more prevalent in men is still unclear, but throat cancer still affects both sexes with 6,700 cases of HPV-positive oropharynx cancers in 2010. While cervical cancer is on the decline due to regular pap smears, throats are only examined due to pain or unusual symptoms. Although Gardasil does not claim to prevent throat [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-09-23T16:21:46-07:00September, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

The Value of Vaccines

Source: Medscape.com Vaccines Decrease Rate of Bacterial Meningitis A recent, retrospective study revealed that the incidence of bacterial meningitis decreased by 31% over 10 years, likely the result of vaccinations (Thigpen et al. 2011). In addition, the median age of those infected increased from 30.3 to 41.9 years, evidence that vaccinating the young has protected them from infections while leaving older, unvaccinated people more vulnerable. The authors analyzed data on bacterial meningitis from 1998-1999 to 2006-2007 in 8 surveillance areas of the Emerging Infections Programs Network, which includes 17.4 million people. The 5 most common pathogens for bacterial meningitis were Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), Streptococcus pneumonia, group B streptococcus (GBS), Listeria monocytogenes, and Neisseria meningitides. Cerebrospinal confirmation of the clinical diagnosis was required. The beneficial effect of vaccines during the surveillance period is striking. The incidence of bacterial meningitis from Haemophilus influenza decreased by 35%. For strains of bacterial meningitis from Streptococcus pneumonia included in the PCV7 vaccine, infections decreased by 92%. Conversely, rates of meningitis from group B streptococcus, for which there is no vaccine, did not change. Deadly Choices In a recent Medscape One-on-One video interview, Eli Adashi, MD, discussed the dangers of the anti-vaccine movement with Paul Offit, MD, Chief of Infectious Disease at Children's Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Offit is a pediatrician and author of Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All, Basic Books, 2011. It's a Conspiracy... According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Unfounded claims can cause harm [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-29T09:50:20-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Protein inhibitor may supply contemporary HPV treatment

Source: Dr.Bicuspid.com Researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine have developed a protein-based inhibitor that could provide a topical treatment for HPV as an alternative to surgical and harsh chemical treatments (FASEB Journal, April 11, 2011). HPV affects about 20 million people in the U.S., making it the most common sexually transmitted infection. There are more than 100 types of HPV, of which more than 40 are sexually transmitted. These include two high-risk types, HPV-16 and HPV-18, which cause the majority of cervical and anogenital cancers, and some portion of head and neck cancers, particularly oral cavity and oropharynx cancers. "Currently, there is no cure for HPV, and the available treatment options involve destroying the affected tissue. We have developed a protein inhibitor that blocks HPV protein expression in cell culture, a first step toward a topically applied treatment for this cancer-causing virus," said senior author James Baleja, PhD, an associate professor of biochemistry at Tufts University School of Medicine. In their efforts to inhibit HPV, Baleja and his team zeroed in on the viral protein E2, which controls viral activities including DNA replication and the activation of cancer-causing genes. Using structure-guided design, the team developed a protein called E2R that prevents E2 from functioning normally. When the researchers applied E2R to a cell model of HPV biology, viral gene transcription was halted. Because HPV infects epithelial cells, the outermost layer of the skin, and the mucous membranes, protein inhibitors such as E2R could be applied in a topical form. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-27T12:21:43-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Virus passed during oral sex tops tobacco as throat cancer cause

Source: www.npr.org Author: Peggy Girshman If you're keeping score, here's even more evidence that HPV causes oral, head and neck cancers and that vaccines may be able to prevent it. Researchers studying the human papilloma virus say that in the United States HPV causes 64 percent of oropharynxl cancers. In the rest of the world, tobacco remains the leading cause of oral cancer, Dr. Maura Gillison of Ohio State University told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this past weekend. And the more oral sex someone has had — and the more partners they've had — the greater their risk of getting these cancers, which grow in the middle part of the throat. "An individual who has six or more lifetime partners — on whom they've performed oral sex – has an eightfold increase in risk compared to someone who has never performed oral sex," she said. The recent rise in oropharnx cancer is predominantly among young, white men, she noted, though she says no one has figured out why yet. About 37,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with oral cancer in 2010, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation. People with HPV-related throat cancer are more likely to survive their cancer than those who were heavy smokers or drinkers, the other big risk factors. The message may be more critical for teens according to Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. She has studied 600 adolescents over 10 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-02-24T10:24:37-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|