Dear Oral Cancer & Diagnostics Insider,
As the number of oral cancer cases grows, particularly among young people with no traditional risk factors, dental oncologists are seeing more patients who need complex and expensive dental rehabilitation.
In this latest Insider Exclusive, we interviewed an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who is part of a multidisciplinary treatment team at an Oregon hospital that provides surgical reconstruction and restores patients' ability to chew, speak, and swallow -- regardless of their ability to pay for the treatment.
In a related story from the Oral Cancer & Diagnostics Community, the annual cancer report recently released by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that despite a decline in cancer death rates in the U.S., the rate of cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) has increased. Click here to read what's behind the trend and what existing therapies should be used to help prevent such cancers.
In the latest addition to our Leaders in Dentistry series, Michael B. Prystowsky, MD, PhD, a researcher who studies the molecular mechanisms regulating tumor behavior, discusses the differences he found in the genetic mutations in cancers driven by carcinogens versus those caused by HPV. Read more.
And new findings regarding the genetic mutations that cause head and neck cancer may lead to new therapies. Click here to see how some mutations act as "passengers" while others are "drivers" in promoting or maintaining head and neck cancer.
Meanwhile, clinical oral exams have poor overall performance as diagnostic methods for predicting dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), according to a new study in the Journal of the American Dental Association. Click here to read how dentists can improve their diagnostic methods.
And high-risk genotypes of HPV can be a contributing factor to oral carcinogenesis, especially in younger individuals without known risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol, according to a new study in Oral Diseases. Read what researchers found in the association between HPV 16, 18, 56 and OSCC.
Meanwhile, new research disputes suggested links between radiation from dental bitewing x-rays and the development of meningioma, a benign brain tumor. Click here to read about the in-depth organ dose data from the first evaluation of bitewing exposure using both male and female adult CIRS phantoms.
Finally, PET/MRI outperformed diffusion-weighted MRI for detecting lymph node metastases in head and neck cancer patients, according to a study presented at a recent radiology meeting in Chicago. Read what the researchers found when comparing various screening modalities and what they say is needed to improve lymph node metastases detection in such patients.
