2012 (May 4) - Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s death puts spotlight on rare cancer
Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, known by his stage name MCA, died May 4 at age 47 after battling a type of salivary gland cancer for nearly three years. The cancer initially had been found in Yauch’s right parotid gland – the largest type salivary gland – and in a nearby lymph node. Cancer of the parotid gland is rare and represents 3 percent to 7 percent of all head and neck cancers, according to Dr. Steven Frank of M.D. Anderson.
Parotid cancer strikes men and women equally, and is often diagnosed because patients or other people had noticed a lump or swelling on one side of their face. About 40 percent of parotid tumors are malignant, while the rest are benign, according to Dr. Frank. Additionally, 50 percent to 70 percent of people with parotid cancer survive 10 years after diagnosis, Frank says. The earlier it is found and diagnosed, the better the chances of survival.
Read more.
2012 (May 1) - Oral Cancer Possibly Most Expensive Cancer in the United States
According to Delta Dental of Michigan’s Research and Data Institute (RDI), oral cavity, oral pharyngeal, and salivary gland cancer could currently be the most expensive cancers to treat in the U.S. The study found that the average total healthcare spending over a year’s time was $79,151, as compared with $7,149 for the control group of patients without these specific cancers. The researchers also found that the cost doubled for patients who received surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Read the article.
2012 (April 30) - Portable Mini Microscope Could Speed Oral Cancer Diagnosis
Researchers at the University of Texas have developed a new portable probe that could be used to diagnose oral cancer. The probe creates three dimensional images of areas within a tissue surface by illuminating the area with a laser. By taking numerous images and layering them on top of one another, it can deliver a large field of view. Read the article.
2012 (April 24) - Indianapolis Indians' AAA Screening Featured in Local Newspaper
Indiana University and the Indiana Chapter of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA) provided free screenings at the Indianapolis Indians (AAA) game on April 24. Here is an article about the event, including an interview with Dr. Moore, a Head and Neck Cancer Alliance board member. Read the story.
2012 (April 18) - Michigan Researchers Work to Develop Saliva Test for Oral Cancer
Barry Wenig, a surgeon and Michigan State University professor in the College of Human Medicine's Department of Surgery, has teamed up with Delta Dental of Michigan's Research and Data Institute to work on a clinical trial to create a simple, cost-effective saliva test to detect oral cancer.
The study will enroll 100-120 patients with white lesions or growths in their mouths and tonsil areas to test. The researchers will be looking for specific biomarkers that were previously identified by researchers at UCLA. These particular biomarkers have been shown in studies to confirm the presence of oral cancer.
If the clinical trial is successful in helping create a saliva test to detect the biomarker’s presence, doctors and dentists would have a better idea of which patients actually need biopsies. Read more.
2012 (April 17) - Stanford Professor Develops Oral Cancer Scanner for Smartphones
Stanford University assistant bioengineering professor Manu Prakash, PhD, has developed a way to use smartphones to create detailed images of the oral cavity and screen patients’ mouths for suspicious lesions. The device, called OScan, attaches to any smartphone’s built-in camera and is about the size of a deck of cards. It consists of a mouth positioner, a circuit board and two rows of fluorescent-light-emitting diodes. OScan takes a high-resolution, panoramic picture of a person’s whole mouth cavity, allowing malignant cancer lesions to be easily detected as dark spots. Individuals can then send the images via cell phone to dentists, physicians, oral surgeons, etc. for diagnosis. Read more.
2012 (March 26) The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance Nominated for Gold SABRE Award
The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance and its public relations firm, MCSHealthcare Public Relations, have been jointly nominated for a prestigious Gold SABRE Award. The SABRE Awards are given by the Holmes Group to companies/organizations and their PR agencies for excellence in public relations work, in a variety of categories.
HNCA and MCS are one of five nominees in the Public Education category for the 2011 OHANCAW public relations campaign. The winners will be announced at Cipriani 42nd Street on May 8, 2012.
A complete list of SABRE finalists can be found on the Holmes Group website.
2012 (March 13) - Acupuncture May Help Prevent Xerostomia, According to Study
(Photo courtesy of www.sciencedaily.com)
New results from a study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston suggest that acupuncture may aid in preventing xerostomia in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma undergoing radiotherapy and may also reduce symptom severity.
Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, professor in the Department of General Oncology and in the Department of Behavioral Science at MD Anderson, and colleagues conducted the study with 86 participants, who were randomly selected to either receive acupuncture or conventional treatment involving oral hygiene measures three times per week during their 7-week chemotherapy course. The acupuncture group had higher salivary flow rates on standardized sialometry collection techniques and also fewer nonxerostomia cancer-related symptoms.
Xerostomia is characterized by a decrease in salivary flow that begins in the first few days of radiation therapy and leads to a 80 percent reduction in salivary flow after 6 weeks. Most patients with head and neck cancer undergo radiation therapy and develop xerostemia as a result.
Read more.
2012 (March 8) - Researchers Discover Gene Mutation Linked to Throat Cancer
(Photo credit: www.kcl.ac.uk)
In a joint study by King’s College London and Hiroshima University, researchers have identified a specific gene linked to throat cancer.
In order to isolate the specific gene, the researchers focused on ten members of a family who have each developed throat cancer. The study involved comparing the family members who have throat cancer versus those that have not developed throat cancer. The results showed that each of the family members with the disease had a single mutation in the ATR gene, yet those unaffected had no sign of the same mutation in their bodies.
The study was published March 8, 2012 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, and has amounted to what is the first evidence of a link between abnormality in this gene and an inherited form of cancer. The researchers say this finding raises new ideas about genetic factors linked to throat cancer and provides a platform for exploring the role of ATR more generally in cancer biology.
Read more.
2012 (Feb. 15) - Doctor performs successful voice-box surgery using part of patient’s shoulder
(Sherry Wittenberg's, pictured above, voice box appears on the cover of this month's issue of Laryngoscope, an international peer-reviewed journal for throat doctors.)
Dr. Douglas Chepeha, director of microvascular surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Michigan Medical School, has performed a groundbreaking surgery, using part of his patient’s shoulder blade to reconstruct her voice box. It is the first time this type of surgery has been successfully performed.
Chepeha performed the surgery at the University Hospital in Ann Arbor in March 2010. It lasted 16 hours.
Chepeha says the advance could help many other patients, including cancer patients who lose their voices and premature babies who end up with ruined voice boxes after being on a tracheotomy tube too long.
His patient, Sherry Wittenberg, is scanned every six months to make sure the cancer hasn't spread to another part of her body. She returned to work almost three months after the surgery.
Read more.
2012 (Feb. 1) - Australian Scientists make blood cell therapy breakthrough
A team of Australian scientists has made a breakthrough in the treatment of throat cancer after developing a therapy that uses a patient's blood to grow special white blood cells that recognize and fight infected cancer cells.
The scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research studied the effect of the therapy on patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a type of throat cancer. The survival rate of the patients in the study doubled, allowing many patients who would have been dying within 200 days to extend that to up to 520 days.
Read more.
2012 (January 25) Ohio State Study Finds Oral HPV Infection is Three Times More Common in Men than Women
"New research shows that men are three times more likely to have an oral human papilloma virus (HPV) infection than women. The findings help explain why HPV-related oral cancers are three times more common in men than women.
Dr. Maura Gillison, a medical oncologist and head and neck cancer specialist at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), led the study, which was published online today (1/26) by the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation of the findings by Gillison at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Phoenix, Ariz."
Read more.
2011 (October 10) - 152nd ADA Annual Session in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, N.V. – October 10, 2011 – The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance will host a booth at the 152nd ADA Annual Session, held October 10-14 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The World Marketplace Exhibition, features more than 500 leading suppliers of dental products and services, including the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance’s booth. The booth will feature promotional materials about Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week® (OHANCAW) and the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance. Attendees will also have an opportunity to sign up for OHANCAW 2012.
About the ADA Annual Session
The ADA Annual Session brings together leaders in dental practice, research, academia and industry to present hundreds of continuing education courses over four days. It will also feature more than 500 exhibiting companies, the "2011 Distinguished Speaker," and discounts on travel and housing. Visit ada.org/session for more information.
About the American Dental Association
The not-for-profit ADA is the nation's largest dental association, representing more than 156,000 dentist members. The premier source of oral health information, the ADA has advocated for the public's health and promoted the art and science of dentistry since 1859. The ADA's state-of-the-art research facilities develop and test dental products and materials that have advanced the practice of dentistry and made the patient experience more positive. The ADA Seal of Acceptance long has been a valuable and respected guide to consumer dental care products. The monthly Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) is the ADA's flagship publication and the best-read scientific journal in dentistry. For more information about the ADA, visit the Association's Web site at www.ada.org
2011 (October 13) - U.T. MD Anderson Cancer Center Conference
The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance Visits U.T. MD Anderson Cancer Center
Conference
Board Member Jennifer Bland attends the Hospital’s ‘Cancer Survivorship
Conference for Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals’
Houston, T.X. – October 13, 2011 – The
Head and Neck Cancer Alliance is on the road again, with Board Member Jennifer
Bland visiting the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on October
13-14 for the "Cancer Survivorship Conference for Physicians and Other
Health Care Professionals.”
The goal of the
“Cancer Survivorship Conference for Physicians
and Other Health Care Professionals" is to provide health care professionals with a firm knowledge
and skills in management of post-treatment cancer care and long-term follow up,
as well as education about managing psychosocial needs, cancer risk factors,
risk-reduction strategies, screening guidelines and training to screen,
diagnose and provide relevant follow-up care.
Ms. Bland will
have promotional materials available regarding Oral,
Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week® (OHANCAW) and the Head and Neck Cancer
Alliance. Attendees will also have an opportunity to sign up for OHANCAW 2012.
About the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
The mission of The University of
Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is to eliminate cancer in Texas, the
nation, and the world through outstanding programs that integrate patient care,
research and prevention, and through education for undergraduate and graduate
students, trainees, professionals, employees and the public.
South Carolina Head and Neck Cancer Alliance Allocated Funds for Patient Assistance
The South Carolina chapter of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance is proud to announce that through fundraising efforts, we are now allocating funds for patient assistance to South Carolina residents. Patients may apply for assistance which includes gas cards, food vouchers and special requests such as medications. All applications will be reviewed by two of our board members, one a nurse practitioner and one a nurse coordinator. The ability to help serve our patient population is our greatest accomplishment to date! To apply: send email to laursen@musc.edu or call 843-792-6624.
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2011 (Feb.) Be Healthy - Bay State Banner articles
Follow the links below to various articles from Be Healthy, a Bay State Banner publication:
Personal head and neck cancer stories
Another good reason to visit the dentist
View the publication with an online reader
2011 (Feb. 8) - Jack Wagner's PSA for OHANCAW
Watch Jack Wagner's PSA for www.ohancaw.com
2010 (July-Aug) - CBCE - Case-Based Curriculum
New Updates and Insights Into the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancers
2010 (Sept. 30) - CBCE - Archived Webcast
Optimizing Combined Modality Approaches to the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer
2010 (June 22) - Coffee May Reduce Risk for Some Head and Neck Cancers
In a new study, regular coffee drinkers – those who drank more than four cups of coffee a day – had a 39 percent decreased risk of oral cavity and pharynx cancers, two types of head and neck cancer.
Watch the video.
Download the study.
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