Robotic Surgery for Oral Cancer

I encountered these amazing pictures in the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Dec 2010 edition in an article titled "Transoral Robotic-Assisted Surgery for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma". This surgery was performed at Mayo Clinic as well as University of Alabama.

Of note, there are also some YouTube videos of robotic surgery for thyroidectomy you can watch below or here.

Reference:
Transoral Robotic-Assisted Surgery for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Archives of Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 136(12):1248-1252; 2010

Read More

Should Boys Also Get Vaccinated for HPV?

NPR on Aug 20, 2010 aired a story whether boys should also get vaccinated for HPV. It is well established that vaccines like Gardasil (FDA approved for boys last year) and Cervarix protect against two of the HPV types (HPV-16 and HPV-18) that can cause cervical cancer and some other genital cancers including anal, vulvar, vaginal, and penile cancers.

However, it may potentially prevent other types of HPV related disorders (NOT mentioned in the NPR story) involving the head & neck in both men and women, including:

Respiratory Papillomas (benign)
Throat Cancer
Oral Cancer (tongue, tonsil, salivary gland)
Oral ulcers/lesions/warts (benign)

According to epidemiological studies, there has been a dramatic increase in cancer involving the salivary glands and tongue attributed to HPV and were of squamous, acinar, and mucoepidermoid morphologic types. This increase in oral cavity cancer has occurred mainly in the 10-40 years age group and suspected to be secondary to increased acceptance of oral-genital sexual practices.

What is my personal feeling on whether boys should get vaccinated? I believe the answer is yes.

In order to receive the beneficial effect of the vaccine, the vaccine needs to be given in 3 doses (at $130 per dose) ideally between ages 9-26.

Read the NPR article here.

References:
Cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx in young females: increasing incidence, role of human papilloma virus, and lack of survival improvement. Semin Oncol. 36 (5), 451-9.

Prevention of human papillomavirus infections and associated diseases by vaccination: a new hope for global public health. Public Health Genomics. 12 (5-6), 319-30.

The epidemiology behind the HPV vaccine discovery. Ann Epidemiol. 19 (4), 239-44.

Read More

Coffee Decreases Risk of Head & Neck Cancer

Researchers at University of Utah found that regular coffee drinkers who drank more than four cups of coffee a day had a 39 percent decreased risk of two types of head and neck cancer: oral cavity and pharynx cancers. In the study published in the journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, they found however, that coffee did not decrease the risk of laryngeal cancer. Coffee contains over 1,000 different chemical compounds, including cancer-fighting antioxidants, and it’s those antioxidants that may provide a “plausible explanation” for reducing the cancer risk.

However, patients should not take this study as an excuse to increase their coffee intake specifically to counteract known cancer-causing behaviors including smoking, drinking alcohol, and chewing tobacco.

Read a CNN report on this here.

Reference:
Coffee and Tea Intake and Risk of Head and Neck Cancer: Pooled Analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, June 22, 2010; 1055-9965.

Read More

Earworms (The Song That Is Stuck In Your Head)

An earworm is when there is a tune that gets stuck in your head that lasts for minutes to hours. It wasn't really much interest for scientists to study until recently when they were able to determine the "characteristics" of a good earworm. In a study published in the British Journal of Psychology in November 2009 titled "Earworms ('stuck song syndrome'): Towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts", they found that the best earworms are:

- Repetitive songs with lots of la-la-las and doopity-doopity-dahs.
- Very familiar songs and it’s usually the chorus that gets stuck.
- Simple songs with sappy lyrics
- Happen when people are in a positive emotional state
- Person usually participating in non-intellectual activities, like walking
- Musicians’ earworm usually lasts longer

No good tricks to get rid of an earworm unfortunately, though there's lots of anecdotal suggestions.

Read about this in an MSNBC article here.

There was also an NPR Radiolab episode about this here.

Read the research paper here.

Please comment on your best trick to get rid of an earworm!

Read More

CNN: Head & Neck Cancer Afflicting the Famous

CNN on 2/19/10 published a story portraying Roger Ebert (film critic) and George Karl (Denver Nuggets coach) diagnosed with head and neck cancer and the problems, suffering, disability associated with its treatment.

Read the story here.

Read an earlier story of Roger Ebert specifically here.

Here's another story in Esquire.

The picture portrays tongue cancer (stage 2 squamous cell carcinoma).

---

Did you know that a few US Presidents also succumbed to head and neck cancer? Ulysses Grant had throat cancer (heavy drinker and smoker). Grover Cleveland had jaw cancer (also a heavy smoker and drinker).

Read More