Researchers at Queen Mary University, London have discovered a new gene interation which may influence the development of head and neck cancers.
The gene FOXM1 is well known for its involvement in cancer development, however a connection has now been shown between this gene and K15, a stem cell marker. The function of stem cells is to repair and replenish tissues in the body and so anything adversly affecting these cells may have implications in the development of cancer.
Well, that’s it done and dusted for another year…
There was a tense run-up to the 3rd annual Saving Faces Family Cycle Challenge, with wind, rain and thunder forecast. By some miracle, the day dawned bright and cloudless and the first drops of rain only fell as we were packing up to go.
Saving Faces was excited to have a stand at the British Dental Association’s 2012 Conference and Exhibition.
This year’s event was be held at the Manchester Central Conference Complex in the heart of the city from the 26th to the 28th of April. Over four thousand delegates are expected to attend.
We were particularly excited to be promoting the Saving Faces Diagnostic Advice Service (SFDADS), which will help dentists detect mouth cancers early and speed up the referral process. Participating dentists upload patient details and electronic images of suspect lesions onto a secure online system and receive expert diagnostic advice from a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon within 3 working days.
Jag Dhanda is a BAOMS/Saving Faces – FSRF Head and Neck Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool. Here he answers some questions about his work.
Helena Emich was a previous PhD student at the Blizard Institute, funded by Saving Faces. Here she answered questions about her project which looked at the mechanisms that allowed oral cancer to spread around the body.
Interim report for the BAOMS/FSRF-Saving Faces Joint Fellowship
Summary of Research
Oral cancer is the commonest type of head and neck cancer and remains a debilitating and devastating disease. Its incidence is growing in the UK and advances in the management of this disease have made little impact on the overall survival for the condition. The most adverse factor for survival in oral cancer is extracapsular spread (ECS). In this instance the disease spreads from the mouth to lymph nodes in the neck and subsequently spills out from these lymph nodes.
Biopsy tissue was collected from 110 patients with oral cancer at University Hospital Aintree in Liverpool, one of the largest head and neck cancer referral centres in the UK. This tissue was used to determine the important molecular events in the development of ECS. Clinical data from patient follow-up after surgery confirmed the dire consequences of ECS. The findings were comparable with a larger previous study in which less than one quarter of the patients with ECS survived after 5 years.
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Restaurant owner Shah Ahmed came up with a truly novel way to support Saving Faces after his Mum was diagnosed with cancer.
Restaurant owner Shah Ahmed came up with a truly novel way to support Saving Faces after his Mum was diagnosed with cancer.
In 2010, Lynda French suffered a terrible car accident which left her skull split in two and part of her brain missing.
