New Research Investigates Strawberries to Fight Oral Cancer in Heavy Smokers

Ohio: Can cigarette smoke and the saliva of heavy smokers influence the metabolism of cancer-inhibiting chemicals found in strawberries and expression of genes associated with oral cancer risk? A new pilot study conducted at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) hypothesized that they can, and initial data reveals some intriguing differences in the oral microenvironment of smokers versus non-smokers.

What are Medicare Costs for Patients with Oral Cavity, Pharyngeal Cancers?

JAMA: Medicare costs for older patients with oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers increased based on demographics, co-existing illnesses and treatment selection, according to a report published online by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Many cases of oral cavity cancer and most cases of pharyngeal cancer are diagnosed at advanced stages when management of the disease is complex and treatment is aggressive and involves multiple specialists. The publicly funded Medicare program provides an opportunity for researchers to estimate the cost of care for older patients with these cancers.

HPV vaccination in boys saves spending on throat and mouth cancer

Scimex: Canadian researchers have found that vaccinating 12-year-old boys against the humanpapilloma virus (HPV) could be a cost-effective strategy for preventing a particular type of oral cancer that is increasing in the western world. The researchers applied a statistical model to a group of 192,940 Canadian boys who were 12 years old in 2012 in order to predict their health outcomes, and found that vaccinating the boys against HPV could result in millions of dollars of savings over their lifetimes.

Oral cancer

NIH. US: Oral cancer accounts for roughly two percent of all cancers diagnosed annually in the United States. Approximately 42,000 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer each year and about 8,000 will die from the disease.  On average, 60 percent of those with the disease will survive more than 5 years.
Oral cancer most often occurs in people over the age of 40 and affects more than twice as many men as women.

Oral cancer includes cancers of the mouth and the pharynx (the back of the throat).

More than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use smokeless tobacco

CDC. US: The first-ever report on the global use and public health impact of smokeless tobacco finds that more than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use these harmful products. The report, Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health: A Global Perspective, is being released today by the CDC and the National Cancer Institute at the National Conference on Smoking or Health in Mumbai, India. Thirty-two leading experts from around the world contributed to the report.The serious health effects of smokeless tobacco have been documented. As the report explains, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer in humans.