Cell phones have been the subject of many studies when it comes to cancers of the head. From brain tumors to eye cancer, researchers have been hard at work to see if there are any connections.
In the latest of studies, the findings show that using and talking on a cell phone doesn’t increase your chances of developing melanoma of the eye.
An earlier, smaller study of just over 100 people said there was such a connection, but this larger study of 459 subjects did not come to the same conclusion. The results of the study were published in the online issue …read more

The European Commission has approved the use of Erbitux (cetuximab), previously approved for use in combination with radiotherapy, as a first-line treatment of head and neck cancer.
Erbutix was the subject of the EXTREME study, which was published in the the New England Journal of Medicine a few months ago. The researchers had found that there was a medial overall survival rate increase of almost three months among patients who took Erbutix.
To read more about Erbutix and its effect on head and neck cancer, you can go to the article, European Commission Approves Erbitux for First-Line Use in Head and …read more

Esophageal cancer, cancer of the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract, is not a common cancer but it is a difficult one to treat.
Researchers have found that people who smoke and/or drink large quantities of alcohol increase their risk of esophageal cancer significantly. For example, for one subtype of cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the risk was five times higher among people who drank four glasses of alcohol per day.
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Tags: cancer blog, esophageal cancer

It’s safe. No it’s not. Yes it is. No it’s not. Could it be that our health and safety – and all the research that is being done – are reduced to schoolyard-like exchanges like “is to!” and “is not!!”? That’s what it seems like sometimes.
First, we read of research that says cell phone use cause brain cancer and not just any brain cancer, but a rare form of it. Then we read that it doesn’t cause the cancer because other researchers had different findings. But wait, yet more researchers say it does cause cancer. And what’s the latest? Apparently, …read more

Do you have a cell phone? I do, my three kids do, although they’re hardly kids at 17, 19, and 21. Am I concerned about their use of the phone. Yes and no. I have noticed that they don’t tend to have long conversations on their phones but, rather, they do a lot of texting. That may result in sore thumbs, but it helps reduce any concern I may have about the connection between cell phones and brain cancer.
So, does cell phone use cause brain cancer? One study says yes, another says no. Then a while later, another couple of …read more

We all know acupuncture as an old medical procedure that originated in China — a practice of inserting thin needles into specific body points to improve health and well-being.
Now, new data from a randomized, controlled trial found that acupuncture provided significant reductions in pain, dysfunction, and dry mouth in head and neck cancer patients after radical neck dissection.
According to David Pfister, MD, Chief of the Head and Neck Medical Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) — who led the study and who presented the results at the ASCO Annual Meeting:
“Chronic pain and shoulder mobility problems are common after …read more

An allergic reaction to the cancer drug cetuximab has been found.
Sometimes the reaction includes anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition characterized by a drop in blood pressure, fainting, difficulty breathing, and wheezing.
Now researchers funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered that specific pre-existing antibodies cause the severe reaction to the drug.
Cetuximab is an immune-based therapy commonly used to treat persons diagnosed with head and neck cancer, or colon cancer, marketed as the popular brand Erbitux — a product of ImClone Systems Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
Find more details from …read more

Carbohydrates. Carbs. It’s like a word from hell for the uber weight-loss buff. Hello?! Atkins diet!
If you do not know a low-carb diet didn’t start as a fad that it turned out to be. It is a desperate diet method for the clinically obese. Especially the ones that need to lose weight in a short period, maybe because so that they will qualify for a lap-band surgery or something.
But lets us not forget that our body needs carbs. It is like an energy fuel. For the diabetic and the obese, too much carbs is bad, especially the refined carbs. But …read more

Such were the findings of scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center who were able to capture genetic signatures common to head and neck cancer.
The researchers collected the rinsed saliva and filtered out cells thought to contain one or more of 21 bits of chemically altered genes common only to head and neck cancers. Tumor and blood samples also were collected.
The cellular mishaps occur when small molecules called methyl groups clamp on to the DNA ladder structure of a gene. In the grip of too many methyl groups, these genes can incorrectly switch on or off …read more

A web-based software program that can make more accurate predictions of long-term survival for head and neck cancer patients have been developed by researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute.
According to Samuel J. Wang, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator, Holman Pathway Resident in the Department of Radiation Medicine, OHSU School of Medicine:
“This new tool can help us make personalized predictions of conditional survival for an individual patient depending on his or her specific situation.
This is the first time we have the ability to make a customized prediction of conditional survival probability for an individual head and neck cancer …read more