A research team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been conducting a study on the "aggressive head and neck cancer" which refers to tumors in the mouth and larynx and is known to be the sixth and most common type of cancer in the US. During their research they have estimated about 40000 of America's women and men are diagnosed by with Head and Neck Cancer per year. Chemotherapy being the treatment for this type of cancer has its defects such as those of the appearance as a result of surgeons having to remove the tongue, throat or even neck of the patient. In addition to that, this treatment proved to be effective only for 5 years before the death of the patients, but this might also vary according to the size and location of the tumor.
These scientists have been mainly focusing on the micro-RNA (short RNA)that they believe is associated with many of the other types of cancers and for the first time they were able to detect the link between the levels of specific micro-RNA, tumor recurrence and poorer survival in head and neck cancer. Several tests have been made and they are still continuing to search for the cause and treatment of this disease.
for more information visit http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/03/18/researchers.identify.genetic.markers.aggressive.head.and.neck.cancer
