Speaking, Eating Possible After Tonsil Cancer Surgery With Reconstruction, Study Finds
A new technique for reconstructing the palate after surgery for tonsil cancer maintained patients’ ability to speak clearly and eat most foods, a new study shows.
The technique, developed at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, is described in the September Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery.
“This is the area that triggers swallowing, that separates the mouth from the nasal cavity. It affects speech and eating – typically, patients have difficulty eating when they have this kind of tumor and undergo surgery. We can remove the cancer, but there are major quality of life issues,” says study author Douglas Chepeha, M.D., M.S.P.H., associate professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery and director of the microvascular program at the University of Michigan Health System.
Tonsil cancer develops in the back of the throat, which means surgery could include parts of the palate, the tongue and the jaw. Traditional reconstruction efforts have meant taking a large, round piece of tissue to plug the hole left when the tumor is removed. But this impairs the way the palate and tongue function, and does not restore the complex components of the throat that allow a person to speak and swallow. Read more
Study Examines Efficacy Of Cervical Cancer Screening Methods
According to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, conventional Pap tests, which have been used since the 1940s, and ThinPrep, a test approved in 1996 that represents 70% of the U.S. cervical cancer market, are equally effective at detecting precancerous cells, USA Today reports. The main difference in the tests, according to USA Today, is how cells are prepared for evaluation (Rubin, USA Today, 10/28). Cells are smeared on a slide for evaluation in a traditional Pap test, while ThinPrep uses liquid-based cytology, wherein cells are rinsed in a vial of preservation solution (Reinberg, HealthDay/U.S. News & World Report, 10/27).
Study authors noted that FDA has allowed Hologic, the maker of ThinPrep, to say that the product is more effective in finding early and more advanced signs of cervical abnormalities (USA Today, 10/28). To test this assertion, the study authors randomly assigned 89,784 Dutch women to have either a traditional Pap test or a ThinPrep test (HealthDay/U.S. News & World Report, 10/27). George Sawaya, an ob-gyn at the University of California-San Francisco, said the study’s findings “should serve as a cautionary tale that just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s better.”
Mark Schiffman and Diana Solomon of the National Cancer Institute wrote in an accompanying editorial in JAMA that although ThinPrep is the more expensive alternative, it “is preferred by most laboratories because the specimen is easier and quicker to scan under the microscope.” Read more