Treatment Options for Dry Mouth and Mouth Sores from Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy

Oral complications are very common for cancer patients. They can result from chemotherapy medications and / or radiation to the head and neck area. Some common oral complications that can occur are dry mouth and mouth sores.

Dry mouth is not just an uncomfortable side effect; it is also a precursor to what can become further oral complications. Your mouth’s protection comes from three pairs of salivary glands. Cancer treatments can cause salivary gland dysfunction which increases the risk of oral infections and can compromise mouth function and comfort. Persistent dry mouth can also increase decay, and cause bad breath and gum disease.

Biotene Products can help counter some of the effects that chemotherapy and radiation have on the mouth and gums. Click here to view and order Biotene Products.

Oral Hygiene Protocol for cancer patients

1. Cut your food up into small pieces. Take small bites of your food and chew it slowly.
2. Drink plenty of liquids with meals.
3. Avoid sharp or crunchy foods that could scrape or cut your mouth or gums.
4. Gently brush teeth, gums and tongue with an extra soft toothbrush.
5. Use oral care products that are specifically developed for cancer patients and people taking other medications that can affect the mouth.
6. Sip water frequently and suck on ice chips.
7. Stay away from hard sugar candy and carbonated soda.

Product suggestions for cancer mouth sores and cancer dry mouth.

Use a toothpaste that is specifically developed for cancer patients. Biotene toothpaste contains enzymes that boost and replenish your oral defense system. Biotene does not contain Sodium lauryl sulfate, which is a detergent found in many other toothpastes which is known to promote canker sores and mouth ulcers in sensitive mouths.

Biotene sugar-free gum can help to stimulate salivary flow and protect between brushing.

Oral balance gel and Oral Balance Liquid can provide instant relief to serious dry mouth sufferers. Oral Balance products are a saliva substitute. Used before bed, they can provide up to 8 hours of overnight relief. Apply Oral Balance directly onto the tongue and around the mouth.

You can purchase all of the Biotene and Oral Balance products from our website at http://www.lotstolivefor.com/

Salmonella Bacteria May Help Trigger Immune Response to Cancer Cells

Scientists have discovered that treating tumors with salmonella bacteria can induce an immune response that kills cancer cells, scientists have found -- a discovery that may help them create tumor-killing immune cells to inject into patients.

Researchers from Italy and the United States who worked with mouse and human cancer cells in laboratories said their work might help in developing a new drug in a class of cancer treatments called immunotherapies or therapeutic vaccines, which harness the body's immune system to fight disease.

To read the full article from abc news that this short abstract was excerpted from click here.

The full study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday 8/11/10.

Skin Care during Chemotherapy and Radiation Oncology Treatments

Chemotherapy medications can affect a patient’s skin, hair, and nails. The side effects vary by patient and more broadly by the type of chemotherapy that is being administered.

Before starting treatment, it is suggested that the patient ask their oncologist or oncology nurse what specific skin/hair/nail reactions might be caused by the regimen prescribed. That way, they can better prepare by exploring products that will be helpful.

Some common side effects are dry, flaky or itchy skin. If a patient is receiving radiation, the skin can become burned, or an itchy bumpy rash can develop.

Tarceva can cause a rash and other skin changes. Soon after you start taking Tarceva, a rash may appear—most often on your face, upper chest and back. However, a rash may appear anywhere on your body with symptoms such as itching, tenderness, burning, dryness, or cracked skin on your fingers and hands. It may look like acne or dry skin. Rash is a common side effect of Tarceva. If you get a rash while on Tarceva, call your doctor about what to do, as some rashes have been serious. (Source: http://www.tarceva.com/patient/taking/effects.jsp)

Erbitux can also cause a very bad rash, sometimes called an acne-form rash. It can be mild, but sometimes it is severe. You can read more about this rash on the Chemocare website by clicking here.

Another side effect that can occur is hand-foot syndrome (sometimes referred to as Palmar-Plantar erythrodysesthesia). This is an irritation, cracking and peeling of the skin on the hands, and feet. Some medications that can cause hand-foot syndrome in patients are Capecitabine (Xeloda®), 5-Flurouracil (5FU), continuous-infusion doxorubicin, doxorubicin liposomal (Doxil®), and high-dose Interleukin-2.

A study that was published in the Journal of Supportive Oncology (March/April 2009) reviewed some of the skin, hair and nail effects from the toxicities of targeted biologic agents. This article is called Dermatotoxicity Linked to Targeted Biologic Agents.

A further description about the side effects that can be caused by EGFR Inhibitors including Erbitux, Tarceva and Vectibix can be found on the Mayo Clinic website.

We have products on our website that can help with many skin related side effects.

We sell many products to help radiation burns. They can be found by clicking here

The Lindiskin product line can help with many skin issues. These products can be viewed by clicking here.

Soothing balm can help hand-foot syndrome and you can read about it by clicking here.

Face serum, which comes in either a lavender scent or a citrus scent, can be viewed here. Face serum is an excellent product for individuals who are taking EGFR inhibitors and who might be experiencing the acneform rash as a side effect.

This information is published for informational and helpful purposes and is accumulated from sources that are believed to be reliable. It is not meant as a substitute for individual medical advice. It is suggested that you contact your healthcare provider with any questions you have that are specific to your disease and treatment protocol.

Jevtana Approved for Prostate Cancer Three Months Ahead of Expectations

The Food and Drug Administration on today approved the first prostate cancer chemotherapy drug found to extend the survival of men who are no longer being helped by other treatments.
The drug is called Jevtana and it is made by Sanofi-Aventis of France. The FDA approved Jevtana to treat prostate cancer that does not respond to hormone-deprivation treatments or to docetaxel, the cancer drug most commonly used to fight prostate tumors. Earlier this year, a study showed Jevtana prolonged survival for those patients by 10 weeks.
Jevtana was approved for use in combination with the steroid prednisone, which is often used in cancer treatment.
In that study, patients who received a treatment regimen including Jevtana lived for about a year and three months after starting treatment. Those who received standard treatment lived for about a year and three weeks. There is hope the drug will have a stronger effect on patients who are not as sick.
Jevtana is given by injection. In the study, patients on Jevtana were more likely to have their tumors shrink than those who were on standard chemotherapy. However no patients in the study experienced a complete remission, or disappearance of all signs of the disease.
This is the second prostate cancer drug that was approved this year, giving prostate cancer patients new options. Prostate cancer, which usually occurs in older men, is the second-most common cause of cancer death among men in the U.S., behind lung cancer, according to Sanofi.

Sources: Associated Press OnLine, Sanofi-Aventis and Federal Drug Adminsistration

More Highlights on New Cancer Treatments and Studies from the American Society of Clinical Oncology Conference

Chrionic Myeloid Leukemia
Dasatinib (Sprycel) which is made by Bristol-Myers Squibb is effective as an initial treatment for newly diagnosed patients with chronic phase (early stage) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), according to a phase II clinical trial from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
CML is a cancer of the blood-producing cells of the bone marrow. Patients with CML have an acquired genetic mutation (change) in their bone marrow cells called the Philadelphia chromosome, which produces the BCR-ABL protein. This protein causes the bone marrow cells to grow uncontrollably.
Dasatinib is currently approved as a second-line treatment when imatinib (Gleevec), the standard initial treatment, is no longer effective. Dasatinib and imatinib are targeted therapies that disrupt BCR-ABL. Both medications are given as a pill by mouth.
About ten years ago, Gleevec (manufactured by Novartis SA) was considered an amazing discovery with its ability to prolong lives in this deadly form of leukemia. Another drug called Tasigna, also from Novartis showed promise on CML as well. Soon doctors and patients will have a couple of other alternatives to combat this disease.
Advanced Prostate Cancer
For the first time, a new drug called cabazitaxel helped men with advanced prostate cancer that had stopped responding to standard treatment live longer. Currently, men with advanced prostate cancer receive hormone therapy and when hormone therapy does not work, they receive chemotherapy with the drug docetaxel (Taxotere). When the prostate cancer cells stop responding to treatment with docetaxel, meaning that the drug is no longer able to kill the cancer cells, there is no standard treatment, although mitoxantrone (Novantrone) is commonly used. In this study of almost 1,000 men with prostate cancer no longer responding to docetaxel, men who received cabazitaxel lived longer than men who received mitoxantrone. “There are no effective treatments available to help men with advanced hormone-resistant prostate cancer whose disease continues to grow despite standard chemotherapy, and this large study shows that patients who received cabazitaxel live longer,” said lead author Oliver Sartor, MD, Piltz Professor for Cancer Research at Tulane Cancer Center in New Orleans. “This treatment offers men with this advanced form of prostate cancer a new option.” Cabazitaxel is not currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The study referenced is a Phase III study. The drug cabazitaxel is manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis.
Metastatic Breast CancerWomen with breast cancer that has spread lived about two and a half months longer when they received a new drug called eribulin mesylate (manufactured by Eisai) compared with patients who received other treatments recommended by their doctors. Currently, there is no standard treatment for advanced breast cancer and this is the first study to look at this drug. Side effects included a low white blood cell count, fatigue, and nerve problems. This drug is not yet approved.
The source of the information in this post is from the conference highlights and related news releases found on the ASCO website (www.cancer.net). Please consult your medical practitioner to confirm and verify the topics discussed herein.

Advances in Cancer Drugs from the ASCO conference 2010

June is a month of hope and inspiration for cancer patients and the medical professionals who treat them. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) holds its annual conference in early June. Companies report on clinical trials of their promising drugs in this forum. Several encouraging studies were presented during the conference this year and are briefly highlighted below.

Pfizer has a prospective drug for patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer called crizofinib which was promising in an expanded Phase 1 study. The drug targets just a small percentage of lung cancer patients, those with a specific alteration of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. The results are encouraging and dramatic because the drug stopped the progression of disease in 87% of the patients and reduced tumor size in 57% of this very targeted group of patients. An expanded trial is planned. This is another new targeted therapy as it is very effective on a very small group of patients.

In another study, the targeted therapy drug Avastatin (bevacizumab), which is manufactured by Roche Holding AG, helped to slow the growth of advanced ovarian cancer. In the study Avastatin was shown to extend the time that women with ovarian cancer survived without disease progression from ten to fourteen months. This improvement occurred when patients were given Avastatin with chemotherapy and when the women continued Avastatin for up to 48 weeks after the chemotherapy had ended. Robert A. Burger, MD, Director of the Women’s Cancer Center at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. said “Based on these results, bevacizumab can be used as an initial treatment for patients with advanced ovarian cancer and other related cancers.”
Avastatin works by starving tumors of their blood supply.

Bristol Myers reported encouraging results from ipilimumab, under development for prolonging the life of melanoma patients. Ipilimumab works by stimulating the body’s immune system to combat the cancer. Patients receiving ipilimumab survived almost four months longer than patients who did not receive this drug. According to lead researcher Steven O’Day, MD, Chief of Research and Director of the Melanoma Program at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute in Los Angeles, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. “These results are an important advance for patients with advanced melanoma.”

The source of the information in this post is from the conference highlights found on the ASCO website (www.cancer.net). Please consult your medical practitioner to confirm and verify the topics discussed herein.

Skin Care After Oncology Radiation Therapy

It is imperative to protect skin that has been exposed to oncology radiation therapy from sun exposure. The skin is very sensitive for up to three years from radiation treatments. We have found that many radiation therapy patients are not aware that their skin remains vulnerable even after their therapy treatments are complete. Below we share some products that offer excellent protection. They are packaged conveniently, and most can be carried on to airplanes when flying.

SolRx Dry Zinc SPF #40 (.25 oz. $4.00)
SolRx Dry Zinc SPF #40 is excellent for facial blocking. This product is truly exceptional. It goes on clear and dries quickly, leaving a matte finish. It stays on in the water. Reapplication is not necessary. Overall it has a great feel and easy application. Small, easy to carry, and great for airline carry on luggage, cycle bags, sport bags.

SolRx MD Matte Zinc SPF #40 (2 oz. $29.00)

SolRx MD Matte Finish SPF #40-8 Hour Waterproof Clear Zinc Sunscreen: Sal-Free, Paraben-Free, Paba-Free, Oil-Free, Unfragranced, goes on clean and dry, stays put for 8 hours and is invisible on the skin: no white sheen. Product rated SPF 40 in the industry's 8 hour waterproof test. This is a fabulous high end sunscreen product. This product is very similar to the SolRx Dry Zinc, but is available in a larger packaging.

SolRx Spray-Dry 8 Hour Spray-On Sun block SPF #35 (2.5 oz. $7.00)SolRx spray sun block uses a trademarked Water Block waterproof system, and it will stay on all day in the water. Spray-Dry goes on light and dries rapidly. This product is safe for face, hands, seniors, and children. The spray goes on best when held 12 – 18 inches from the body for good, wide coverage. Great for carry on luggage.

RĀDX SPF #44 8 hour Waterproof Sun block with Parsol 1789 - $10.00 (2 oz.)
also available: SolRx SPF #44 or SPF #30 or SPF #15 Sunblock

This sunscreen should be worn daily on treated areas that might be exposed to the sun. Organic aloe gel based, and PABA-free, the formulation is made with an 8 hour waterproof system, so one application per day is usually sufficient. This product is made with Parsol 1789 UVA blocker, and the tubes have flip-top lids. The product leaves an almost matte finish so makeup can be easily applied over it.

SolRx Lip Ice SPF 30 - or TriSport Lip Protectant SPF 30 - $3.00 (per stick)

Daily use of SolRx or Tri Sport Lip Protectant will help to prevent dry lip syndrome. Made with super moisturizers, aloe and vitamins A and E, this SPF 30 product has a real vanilla flavor. SolRx: Long-wearing, moisturizing. As effective after a day outside, as it is in protection against sunburn & wind chap TriSport: Applied once, stays well, moisturizes, protects from both sunburn and wind chap, warm weather, cold weather, swimming, cycling, running.

Lindi Sun from LindiSkin – 4 oz. $25.00 Tropical Scent (spray on mist)

Alcohol free, Lindi Sun offers broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection for everyday use. This lightweight SPF 30+ sunscreen mist provides total coverage, and it's so easy to use. Lindi Sun dries quickly and offers great protection from the sun's damaging rays with a light tropical scent. Lindi Sun is water & perspiration resistant and contains no alcohol, oil or PABA. Parsol ® 1789 is one of the sunscreen ingredients.

There are numerous other skin issues that can develop after radiation therapy. Above we have highlighted the sun protection products. Other products will be discussed in future posts.