Head cancer physical activity

Head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment often consists of major surgery followed by adjuvant therapy, which can result in treatment-related side effects, decreased physical function, and diminished quality of life. Perioperative nutrition interventions and early mobilization improve recovery after HNC treatment. However, there are few studies on prehabilitation that include exercise within the HNC surgical care pathway. We have designed a multiphasic exercise prehabilitation intervention for HNC patients undergoing surgical resection with free flap reconstruction...

Andrographolide, a medicinal compound, exhibits several pharmacological activities, including antiviral and anticancer properties. Previously, we reported that andrographolide inhibits Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) lytic reactivation, which is associated with viral transmission and oncogenesis in epithelial cancers, including head-and-neck cancer (HNC) cells. However, the underlying mechanism through which andrographolide inhibits EBV lytic reactivation and affects HNC cells is poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated these mechanisms using EBV-positive HNC cells and the molecular modeling and docking simulation of protein...

PURPOSE: This study aims to systematically explore the impact of physical exercise as supportive therapy for head and neck cancer. METHODS: A systematic search on PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane, and SPORTDiscus was conducted. Randomized controlled trials exploring the effects of a physical exercise intervention in comparison with usual care on outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer were selected. The RoB 2 tool was used to determine the study quality. The extracted data are reported as qualitative synthesis...

Tumor necrosis is a recurrent characteristic of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). There is a need for more investigations on the influence of biomolecules released by these necrotic foci in the HNSCC tumor microenvironment. It is suspected that a fraction of the biomolecules released by necrotic cells are damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which are known to be natural endogenous ligands of Toll-like receptors (TLRs), including, among others, proteins and nucleic acids. However, there has been no direct demonstration that biomolecules released by HNSCC necrotic cells can activate TLRs...

PURPOSE: The primary objectives were to describe the longitudinal course of sexual health in people undergoing curative (chemo)radiotherapy ([C]RT) for human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPVOPSCC) and identify factors associated with higher sexual satisfaction 12 months after [C]RT. METHODS: Eligible participants from three sites were recruited to a prospective observational study between October 2020 and November 2021. Measures of sexual health (QLQ-SHQ22), treatment outcome priorities (Chicago priorities scale), quality of life (QLQ-C30), symptom burden (MDASI-HN), emotional distress (PROMIS), and facial appearance and appearance distress (FACE-Q) were administered before, at the end and three and 12 months after [C]/RT...

Head and Neck (H&N) cancers are prevalent globally, and early and accurate detection is absolutely crucial for timely and effective treatment. However, the segmentation of H&N tumors is challenging due to the similar density of the tumors and surrounding tissues in CT images. While PET images provide information about the metabolic activity of the tissue and can distinguish between lesion regions and normal tissue. But they are limited by their low spatial resolution. To fully leverage the complementary information from PET and CT images, we propose a novel and innovative multi-modal tumor segmentation method specifically designed for H\&N tumor segmentation...

Recurrent cryptogenic embolic strokes pose a diagnostic challenge, often necessitating an extensive evaluation to determine the underlying cause. Cancer-related stroke is a frequently overlooked etiology, accounting for a substantial proportion of cryptogenic strokes. This case study underscores the importance of considering occult malignancies in patients with recurrent strokes of unknown origin and emphasizes the need for a comprehensive diagnostic workup to detect hidden malignancies. A 50-year-old male with a complex medical history presented with expressive aphasia and blurred vision resembling previous stroke episodes...

BACKGROUND: Data on the association between head and neck cancer (HNC) and dietary factors are inconclusive. No study has so far investigated the association between dietary total antioxidant capacity (dTAC) and HNC concerning interactions with other risk factors. METHOD: Pathologically confirmed new diagnosed HNC patients were included in this study. The control group was healthy hospital visitors who were frequently matched with patients on age (5 years interval), gender, and province of residence...

The circadian clock is a regulatory system, with a periodicity of approximately 24 h, which generates rhythmic changes in many physiological processes, including mitochondrial activity. Increasing evidence links chronodisruption with aberrant functionality in clock gene expression, resulting in multiple diseases such as cancer. Melatonin, whose production and secretion oscillates according to the light-dark cycle, is the principal regulator of clock gene expression. In addition, the oncostatic effects of melatonin correlate with an increase in mitochondrial activity...

Locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) are often refractory to platinum-based radiochemotherapy and new immuno-oncological strategies. To stimulate immunogenic antitumor responses in HNSCC patients, we investigated the cGAS/STING/IFN-1 signaling pathway after genotoxic treatments and concomitant abrogation of the DNA damage response (DDR). For this purpose, FaDu and UM-SCC1 cells were exposed to X-rays or cisplatin and treated with an ATR or Chk1 inhibitor, or by Fanconi anemia gene A knockout (FANCA ko)...

In recent research, the tumor microenvironment has been shown to attract mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), which is of particular interest due to its implications for cancer progression. The study focused on understanding the interaction between bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs) and head and neck cancer (HNC) cells. This interaction was found to activate specific markers, notably the osteogenic marker alkaline phosphatase and the oncogene Runx2. These activations corresponded with the release of collagenase enzymes, MMP9 and MMP2...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): Head and neck cancers pose a significant challenge to radiation oncologists due to several factors, including rapid shrinkage during radiation and patient weight loss. As the target and patient anatomy change, re-simulation and re-planning are often necessary, which precipitates additional time, resources, and cost. However, the true added cost of providing adaptive replanning for head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation therapy (RT) is often unknown. We hypothesize that adaptive replanning adds significant cost to treatment, primarily driven by the additional personnel time in the replanning process...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): Curative (chemo)radiotherapy ((CT)RT) for Nasopharyngeal cancers (NPC) achieves excellent disease control but is associated with significant late toxicities despite modern treatment delivery. Contemporary late toxicity data, including patient reported outcomes (PROs), is limited in the non-endemic population; we present a large contemporary series of toxicity outcomes and late PROs following treatment of non-endemic NPC. MATERIALS/METHODS: Adult patients completing radical (CT)RT for primary NPC between February 2016 and 2020 at 7 large UK cancer centers were identified on institutional databases...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): The results of an open-labeled Phase 2a trial (PREVLAR) suggested that infusion of RRx-001 (bromonitrozidine), a nitrogen-containing NLRP3 inhibitor and Nrf2 activator, attenuated the course and severity of severe oral mucositis (SOM) associated CRT (cisplatin/IMRT) in cancers of the mouth or OPC without impeding tumor response.1 Given its mechanism of action and the shared biology of radiation injury pathogenesis among other exposed tissues, we investigated the potential halo effect of RRx-001 on other regimen-related toxicities...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): The development of radiation-induced toxicities is a multifactorial process. Existing DVH-based prediction models use traditional multivariate analysis to combine all the potential risk factors. Recently, deep learning (DL) has been proposed for predicting mandibular osteoradionecrosis (ORN) directly from 3D dose distribution maps [1]. However, with this approach, incorporating non-imaging data such as potential risk factors presents challenges. We investigate the use of DL-based multimodality fusion for the purpose of radiation-induced ORN toxicity prediction...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): Real-time biology guided radiation therapy (BgRT) uses real-time positron emissions from a PET tracer during treatment to guide targeted radiation to cancerous lesions. Fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) is highly expressed on cancer-associated fibroblasts in tumors with low expression in normal tissues. While 18F-FDG-PET requires fasting and has background in the liver and brain, 68-Gallium labeled FAP inhibitor (FAPI) does not require fasting and has less background uptake...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): We have previously identified a non-canonical role for p16 in head and neck cancer (HNSCC) to repress homologous recombination (HR) via activation of a ubiquitin-mediated pathway. This was potentially via interaction with the transcription factor Sp1, however this interaction, as well as its downstream effects remain to be determined. MATERIALS/METHODS: HPV- HN5 cells forced to overexpress p16 and HPV+ UM-SCC-47 cells p16 CRISPR knockout or shRNA to Sp1 were used...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): CAR-T cell therapy is limited by toxicity, high cost, logistical manufacturing issues in the autologous setting and risk of GVHD in the allogeneic setting. Substitution of T cells with NK cells opens the possibility for an allogeneic off-the-shelf product with a better safety profile. However, the inadequate efficacy of CAR-NK cells against solid tumors can be extrapolated from experience with CAR-T cells. There is limited but promising preclinical evidence that radiation therapy (RT) enhances CAR-T cell tumoricidal activity against solid tumors...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): Our prior work demonstrated that inhibition of MAPKAPK2 (MK2) can enhance radiation (RT)-mediated in vivo head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tumor control and survival in preclinical immune incompetent models. The cytosolic DNA sensor cyclic GMP-AMP synthetase (cGAS) and its downstream adaptor protein, stimulator of interferon genes (STING), are conserved proteins within the innate immune signaling pathways and are important for mediating host defense against microbial infection and can play a role in anti-cancer immunity...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): The tumor microenvironment (TME) in HPV-unrelated head and neck cancer (HNC) is considered to be immunologically "cold," and immunometabolic adaptations to radiotherapy (RT) can exacerbate these conditions and lead to radioresistance. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) agonism may improve the immune response to RT by reducing glucose scarcity through upregulation of fatty acid utilization in cancer cells. Our clinical trial data shows that high serum oleic acid (OA), a PPAR ligand, correlates with response to radioimmunotherapy...