Rare head and neck cancer linked to HPV, study finds
October 7, 2009
The images shows Thomas Carey, Ph.D., and his colleagues in the lab. Credit: University of Michigan Health System
An increase in cases of a rare type of head and neck cancer appears to be linked to HPV, or human papillomavirus, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The study looked at patients with nasopharyngeal cancer, a tumor that grows behind the nose and at the top of the throat, above the tonsils. This rare cancer occurs in less than 1 of every 100,000 Americans.
"Though rare, this is the first report of nasopharyngeal cancer being caused by the HPV epidemic. We are in the middle of a tonsil cancer epidemic, seeing many patients with tonsil cancer linked to HPV. It turns out that HPV may also be a new cause of this rare form of cancer that occurs in this hidden location," says study author Carol Bradford, M.D., professor and chair of otolaryngology at the U-M Medical School.
In the study, which appears online in the journal Head & Neck, the researchers looked at tissue samples taken before treatment for either nasopharyngeal cancer or tonsil cancer. Of the 89 patients in the study, five had nasopharyngeal cancer, and four of those were positive for HPV.
At the same time, the four HPV-positive tumors were also all negative for Epstein-Barr virus, which has previously been one of the biggest infectious causes of nasopharyngeal cancer.
"Since I began studying head and neck cancer, I have wondered what the cause of Epstein-Barr virus-negative nasopharyngeal tumors might be. This research suggests that there is a changing etiology for nasopharyngeal cancer in the North American population that may mirror the HPV-positive epidemic of tonsil cancer," says study author Thomas Carey, Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology and pharmacology and co-director of the head and neck oncology program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Overall, about 60 percent of nasopharyngeal cancer patients are alive five years after treatment. In fact, death rates for this type of cancer have declined 4 percent per year. The researchers suspect one potential reason is that HPV-related tumors are more responsive to chemotherapy or radiation than tumors linked to the Epstein-Barr virus.
Because nasopharyngeal cancer is so rare, the authors propose a multi-center trial to recruit more patients to verify the role of HPV in nasopharyngeal cancer.
More information: Head & Neck, published online Sept. 15, 2009, DOI:10.1002/hed.21216
-
HPV-positive head and neck cancer patients fare better than HPV-negative patients
Feb 12, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
HPV linked to better survival in tonsil, tongue cancer
May 13, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
HPV virus linked to breast cancer
Jun 11, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study reveals sharp increase in HPV-positive tonsil cancer
Apr 02, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study: Males should be given HPV vaccine
Nov 28, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
Feb 08, 2012
-
Exercise and weight loss
Feb 08, 2012
-
Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
Feb 07, 2012
-
"The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Feb 04, 2012
-
Oncolytic adenovirus
Feb 04, 2012
-
Nutrition label stuffs and diets
Feb 02, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Botox developer rues missing out on billions
Botox developer Alan Scott says he rues the day he handed over rights to the best-selling wrinkle-smoothing drug to a US company for just $4.5 million, saying he might have become a billionaire.
Medicine & Health / Medications
2 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV
A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...
14 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
Overeating may double risk of memory loss
New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
10 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
|
Declining health-care productivity in England: Who says so?
Reports that the National Health Service in England has been declining in productivity in the last decade appear to have been accepted as fact. However, a Viewpoint published Online First by The Lancet disputes this. The Vi ...
8 hours ago |
1 / 5 (1) |
1
Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor
(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.
15 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Japan's Fukushima reactor may be reheating: operator
Temperature readings at one of the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors have risen above Japan's stringent new safety standard but there was no immediate danger, its operator said Sunday.
Australian women reject 'I love u' texts
Australian women may have embraced the digital era, but they prefer a face-to-face declaration of affection to an "I love u" text and find men addicted to their mobile phones a major turnoff.
Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy
For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...
New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside
There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell
Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...