Study explores carbohydrates’ impact on head, neck cancers

Illinois: Consuming high amounts of carbohydrates and various forms of sugar during the year prior to treatment for head and neck cancer may increase patients’ risks of cancer recurrence and mortality, a new study reports. However, eating moderate amounts of fats and starchy foods such as whole grains, potatoes and legumes after treatment could have protective benefits, reducing patients’ risks of disease recurrence and death, said lead author Anna E. Arthur, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois.

Breath test for detecting head and neck cancer

Lausanne: A portable device can detect the presence of certain types of cancer in people's breath. Tested on patients, the new device was developed in part by EPFL researchers as part of an international collaboration. Inhale, then exhale. This simple act could now save lives. A technology developed in part at EPFL can quickly identify the presence of a head and neck cancer, such as of the throat or mouth by analysing people's breath. The new device, equipped with extremely sensitive sensors, has been tested on patients and operates with a computer or even a mobile phone. It's an innovative tool for the early diagnosis of tumours. Very few routine exams exist to detect cancer. Yet this disease is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Most tumours are found relatively late, which makes recovery less likely.

New Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer Tested

The University of Maryland has launched a new clinical trial testing a novel treatment for patients with localized, inoperable recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The treatment employs the immunotherapy drug MK-3475 (Pembrolizumab) in combination with radiation to the tumor, and is indicated for patients who have received prior radiation, have no evidence of distant metastatic disease and for whom surgery is not an option.

Intra-tumor Genetic Heterogeneity and Mortality in Head and Neck Cancer

Plos: Normally, the cells in human tissues and organs only reproduce (a process called cell division) when new cells are needed for growth or to repair damaged tissues. But sometimes a cell somewhere in the body acquires a genetic change (mutation) that disrupts the control of cell division and allows the cell to grow continuously. As the mutated cell grows and divides, it accumulates additional mutations that allow it to grow even faster and eventually from a lump, or tumor (cancer).

Phase 1 Clinical Trial of CUDC-101 “Throws Kitchen Sink” at Head and Neck Cancer

University of Colorado. US: Head and neck cancer is among the few solid tumors whose incidence is increasing in the U.S. and outcomes have been slow to improve. Results of a phase 1 trial of the drug CUCD-101 with radiation and chemotherapy were reported by the University of Colorado Cancer Center and 6 other U.S. cancer centers in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. CUDC-101, currently being developed by Curis, Inc., works by inhibiting two growth factors and an enzyme that effects DNA expression – EGFR, Her2 and HDAC – all of which are overexpressed in many cancers, including the target of this trial: the common type of especially aggressive head and neck cancer that is not caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV-) but rather by tobacco or alcohol.

Large study catalogs genetic culprits in head and neck cancers

Dana-Farber. US: Scientists have published the first comprehensive catalog of genetic mutations and other abnormal changes found in 279 cancers of the head and neck, and have identified several broken molecular pathways that might be targeted by existing and future cancer drugs.

Researchers Produce First Comprehensive Genomic Map of Head and Neck Cancers

UCSD. US: A team that includes scores of researchers from across the country representing dozens of universities and medical institutions has produced the most comprehensive integrative analysis yet of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs), a particularly malignant and deadly type of tumor that accounts for roughly 3 percent of all cancers in the United States.

NIH-funded study uncovers range of molecular alterations in head and neck cancers, new potential drug targets

NIH. US: Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have discovered genomic differences — with potentially important clinical implications — in head and neck cancers caused by infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States, and the number of HPV-related head and neck cancers has been growing. Almost every sexually active person will acquire HPV at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Smoking Associated with Elevated Risk of Developing a Second Smoking-Related Cancer

ASCO. US: An analysis of five large, prospective cohort studies indicates that lung (stage I), bladder, kidney and head and neck cancer survivors who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day prior to their cancer diagnoses have an up to five-fold higher risk of developing a second smoking-associated cancer compared to survivors of the same cancers who never smoked.

Revolutionary new approach uses advanced technology to remove head and neck cancer tumors

Oral Cancer Foundation. US: In a groundbreaking new study, UCLA researchers have for the first time advanced a surgical technique performed with the help of a robot to successfully access a previously-unreachable area of the head and neck.