Patients with larynx cancer who received a three-drug combination of docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) during induction chemotherapy were more likely to retain larynx function than were patients treated with cisplatin and 5-fluoruracil (PF) alone, according to data from a randomized controlled trial in the March 24 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 and head and neck cancer: a meta-analysis implementing a Mendelian randomization approach.
Boccia S, Hashibe M, Gallì P, De Feo E, Asakage T, Hashimoto T, Hiraki A, Katoh T, Nomura T, Yokoyama A, van Duijn CM, Ricciardi G, Boffetta P.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Jan;18(1):248-54.
PMID: 19124505
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-0462
Safety evaluation of topical applications of ethanol on the skin and inside the oral cavity.
Lachenmeier DW.
J Occup Med Toxicol. 2008 Nov 13;3:26.
PMID: 19014531
doi:10.1186/1745-6673-3-26
Simultaneously targeting epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase and cyclooxygenase-2, an efficient approach to inhibition of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Chen Z, Zhang X, Li M, Wang Z, Wieand HS, Grandis JR, Shin DM.
Clin Cancer Res. 2004 Sep 1;10(17):5930-9.
PMID: 15355926
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy in the Treatment of Locally Recurred Head and Neck Cancer. Corrected Proof, 7 August 2007
Leena Kankaanranta, Tiina Seppälä, Hanna Koivunoro, Kauko Saarilahti, Timo Atula, Juhani Collan, Eero Salli, Mika Kortesniemi, Jouni
Berberine inhibits human tongue squamous carcinoma cancer tumor growth in a murine xenograft model.
Ho YT, Yang JS, Lu CC, Chiang JH, Li TC, Lin JJ, Lai KC, Liao CL, Lin JG, Chung JG.
Phytomedicine. 2009 Sep;16(9):887-90. Epub 2009 Mar 20.
PMID: 19303753
Our primary studies showed that berberine induced apoptosis in human tongue cancer SCC-4 cells in vitro. But there is no report to show berberine inhibited SCC-4 cancer cells in vivo on a murine xenograft animal model. SCC-4 tumor cells were implanted into mice and groups of mice were treated with vehicle, berberine (10mg/kg of body weight) and doxorubicin (4mg/kg of body weight). The tested agents were injected once per four days intraperitoneally (i.p.), with treatment starting 4 weeks prior to cells inoculation. Treatment with 4mg/kg of doxorubicin or with 10mg/kg of berberine resulted in a reduction in tumor incidence. Tumor size in xenograft mice treated with 10mg/kg berberine was significantly smaller than that in the control group. Our findings indicated that berbeirne inhibits tumor growth in a xenograft animal model. Therefore, berberine may represent a tongue cancer preventive agent and can be used in clinic.
ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) - A new study has found that the amount of vitamin D in patients being treated for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was strongly associated with cancer progression and overall survival. The results will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in New Orleans.
Also, several recent reports have concluded that vitamin D deficiency is associated with poor outcomes in other cancers, including breast, colon and head and neck cancer. This is the first study to look at lymphoma outcome.
"Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption before head and neck cancer diagnosis strongly predicts the patient's future risk of death, according to published studies. Now, results of a new study show a similar effect among those who continued these habits after cancer diagnosis.
"Most cancer survivors are counseled to quit smoking; despite this, many still smoke. In our study, 21 percent continued to smoke even after their cancer diagnosis, increasing their risk of death," said researcher Susan T. Mayne, Ph.D. "Similarly, we found that continued drinking increases the risk of death.""
"(CBS) Your daily cup of java may deliver some unexpected health benefits. Studies have shown it may lower your risk for Type II diabetes and certain types of cancer (colon, mouth and throat), and protect against heart disease and cavities.
Dr. Alanna Levine, a primary care physician, said on "The Early Show" researchers aren't sure exactly why coffee has these benefits, but speculated that perhaps the coffee has antioxidant properties. "
A ground-breaking Canada-wide clinical trial led by Dr. Katherine Borden, at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Universit de Montral, has shown that a common anti-viral drug, ribavirin, can be beneficial in the treatment of cancer patients. Published in the journal Blood (First Edition), the study demonstrates that ribavirin suppresses the activities of the eIF4E gene in patients. This gene is dysregulated in 30 percent of cancers including breast, prostate, head and neck, colon and stomach cancer.
The beverage maté: a risk factor for cancer of the head and neck.
Goldenberg D, Golz A, Joachims HZ.
Head Neck. 2003 Jul;25(7):595-601. Review.
PMID: 12808663
DOI: 10.1002/hed.10288
Simultaneously Blocking Glycolysis and Fat Metabolism
Can the use of DCA and a fatty acid metabolism blocker together force more cancer cells into using aerobic metabolism?
Tim McGough used green tea extract, which contains EGCG, in his fantastic response.
DCA works by reactivating mitochondria and shifts metabolism from glycolysis to glucose oxidation. Hopefully the cancer cell will then undergo apoptosis. However, cancer cells have an alternate energy source: fat metabolism. This page explores to possibility of blocking fat metabolism to help force the cell into apoptosis.
Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a cancer that does not respond well to DCA. This study, Head and Neck Cancer Cell Lines Are Resistant to Mitochondrial-Depolarization-Induced Apoptosis states:
"Results: ΔΨm in head and neck cell lines started to show slight loss of ΔΨm, while HL-60 showed significant loss of ΔΨm after 30 min of treatment. All cell lines demonstrated complete mitochondrial depolarization within 24 h, however, only the control cell line HL-60 underwent apoptosis. In addition, HNSCC cell lines did not demonstrate cytoplasmic cytochrome c release despite significant mitochondrial membrane depolarization, while HL-60 cell initiated apoptosis and cytochcrome c release after 24 h of treatment. Conclusions: Head and neck cancer cell lines exhibit defects in mitochondrial-membrane-depolarization-induced apoptosis as well as impaired release of cytochrome c despite significant mitochondrial membrane depolarization. Proximal defects in the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway are a feature of HNSCC.(head and neck squamous cell carcinoma)"
Note that although the cell lines were depolarized, apoptosis did not occur. So I checked to see if fatty acid metabolism is used by squamous cell carcinoma.
BioVex Inc, a company developing next generation biologics for the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious disease, announced that the results from a Phase I/II combination study in previously untreated patients with head and neck cancer will be presented at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, which will take place May 29, 2009 - June 2, 2009 in Orlando, FL.
Antitumor activity of human papillomavirus type 16 E7-specific T cells against virally infected squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Albers A, Abe K, Hunt J, Wang J, Lopez-Albaitero A, Schaefer C, Gooding W, Whiteside TL, Ferrone S, DeLeo A, Ferris RL.
Cancer Res. 2005 Dec 1;65(23):11146-55.
PMID: 16322265
For five gruelling months in 2006 and 2007, Carol Kanga suffered through treatment for a life-threatening case of throat cancer linked to an unlikely source: a sexually transmitted viral infection.
Kanga's treatment was successful, but the virus that struck her is causing increasing concern among some researchers who think it is causing a small-scale epidemic of throat cancer.
That virus, scientists have proved only in the last two years, is human papillomavirus, or HPV - the same virus that's behind most cases of cervical cancer.