Pre-RT extractions do not appear to reduce the risk of ORN.

These results emphasize the importance of periodic and thorough OPC examinations.

Smoking is a risk factor for cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract with recidivism rates high even after diagnosis. Nicotine, a major product in tobacco, is a complex drug with multiple characteristics including analalgesic properties. The goal of the study was to examine pain levels in the context of smoking status among patients recently diagnosed with cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract who have not yet received any treatment including radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy. A convenience sample of 112 newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients (78 men and 34 women) were recruited from clinics at the University of Florida. Smoking rates were: 32% never smoked, 34% former smokers, 34% current smokers. Among current smokers, 62% reported plans to quit in the next 3 months and 38% had tried to quit more than three times in the past 5 years. Current smokers reported higher general (sensory and affective) and oral pain levels (spontaneous and functional) and painrelated interference than did never and former smokers (all F's >8. and p's <.0001) even after controlling for stage of diagnosis. In addition, current smokers reported significantly greater interference from the pain (F 2,73 =10.5 p<.0001).Perspective-This study highlights the importance of understanding self-reported pain in cancer patients who continue to smoke. When pain is elevated, smokers may be motivated to use tobacco as a means of reducing pain, which in turn reinforces smoking behavior. Tobacco cessation programs should include pain management as a component of treatment.

Complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) includes the risk of secondary malignancies. This may be related to mechanisms including radiation and chemotherapy regimens, chronic graft-versus-host disease, inflammation, and prolonged imunosuppression. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a complication associated with chronic graft-versus-host disease after allo-HSCT. Although human papillomavirus (HPV) is known to be associated with OSCC, the role of HPV in development of OSCC in post-HSCT patients has not been studied. We identified 2 cases of OSCC in allo-HSCT recipients. Both biopsy specimens tested positive for p16(INK4A), a surrogate marker for HPV. We propose that the association of OSCC and HPV in patients after allo-HSCT may not be incidental. Clinical implications of these cases may imply the need for a HPV screening, early intervention, and consideration of anti-HPV vaccination in this population. The effectiveness of such interventions could be validated in a prospective clinical study.

This study compared the effectiveness of different methods of instruction for the oral and pharyngeal cancer examination. A group of thirty sophomore students at the University of Florida College of Dentistry were randomly assigned to three training groups: video instruction, a faculty-led hands-on instruction, or both video and hands-on instruction. The training intervention involved attending two sessions spaced two weeks apart. The irst session used a pretest to assess students' baseline didactic knowledge and clinical examination technique. The second session utilized two posttests to assess the comparative effectiveness of the training methods on didactic knowledge and clinical technique. The key indings were that students performed the clinical examination signiicantly better with the combination of video and faculty-led hands-on instruction (p<0.01). All students improved their clinical exam skills, knowledge, and conidence in performing the oral and pharyngeal cancer examination independent of which training group they were assigned. Utilizing both video and interactive practice promoted greater performance of the clinical technique on the oral and pharyngeal cancer examination.Dr. Clark is Associate Professor,