Head and Neck Cancer

Some oropharynx cancer patients may qualify for less radiation treatments, according to a new study from experts at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center. This could assist many patients in a quicker return to their normal lives.

Experts at University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have conducted the first study evaluating the effectiveness of a targeted drug for patients with salivary gland cancers (SGC).

Researchers from the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have created a urine-based test that detects pieces of DNA fragments released by head and neck tumors. The test could potentially facilitate early detection of this cancer type, which currently does not have a reliable screening method.

With a new $3.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, a team of Rogel Cancer Center researchers will develop new tools to detect changes in precancerous lesions that are likely to become oral cancers. When detected early, this type of head and neck cancer can be curable.

Early findings of two studies from the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center shed light on new ways to anticipate recurrence in HPV-positive head and neck cancer sooner. The papers, published in Cancer and Oral Oncology, offer clinical and technological perspectives on how to measure if recurrence is happening earlier than current blood tests allow, and provide a framework for a new, more sensitive blood test that could help in this monitoring.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and School of Dentistry found that certain drugs can change the fundamental makeup of cancer stem cells in mouse models of mucoepidermoid carcinoma – a lethal form of salivary gland cancer that currently has no treatment options.