Patient Texting Study to Promote Oral Health
CellTrust is working with the Arizona School
of Dentistry and Oral Health (ASDOH) to launch a text messaging study intended to improve patient oral health
compliance. For the Text2Floss pilot study, CellTrust and ASDOH researchers
will devise a series of text message programs designed to reach and educate
current patients and the underserved. It will also promote preventive and
ongoing health and wellness initiatives.
The project was
founded by Tony Hashemian, D.D.S., Assistant Dean of Global Oral Health at
ASDOH, who feels there is a need for health organizations to have the ability
to use short message service (SMS) text messaging as a HIPAA-compliant
communications tool.
The organizations
believe that by directly providing physicians and clinicians with required
patient information to make informed decisions, a secure SMS solution will
improve the quality of healthcare with decreased response times and accurate
decision-making, allowing for quicker interventions and improved patient
outcome.
Anthocyanins, Powerful Antioxidants in Black
Raspberries Found to Fight Cancer
Dr. Susan Mallery, a
Professor at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry and an Oral
Pathology Consultant at The Ohio State University and James Cancer hospitals,
has dedicated nearly 30 years to studying new strategies for preventing oral
cancer. Treatment for oral cancer relies on excising cells before they turn
cancerous.
"While not all oral
lesions progress to cancer, we cannot accurately predict which will be the ‘bad
actors.’ This often results in multiple surgeries and high anxiety in both our
patients and clinicians,” says Dr. Mallery.
Since 2003, Dr.
Mallery has been investigating a variety of agents to identify new therapeutics
that can suppress the conversion of pre-cancerous to cancerous cells. Her first
breakthrough was the creation of an oral gel based on anthocyanins, powerful
antioxidants found in black raspberries. Study results showed that the gel,
when applied to the mouth, would suppress genes associated with functions that
allow cancerous cells to grow, thus diminishing the risk for recurring lesions.
In 2009, The Ohio
State University College of Dentistry, in collaboration with the Center for
Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) awarded Dr. Mallery and her team
funding for a project aimed at developing a way to treat precancerous lesions
directly in the mouth and preventing recurring lesions. Dr. Mallery partnered
with two pharmaceutical chemists from the University of Michigan, Drs. Stephen
Schwendeman and Kashappa Goud Desai, along with two Ohio State investigators
Drs. Gary Stoner and Peter Larsen to develop a first of its kind patch that
could stick to the inside of the mouth, and deliver a continuous therapeutic
dose of fenretinide directly on the lesion.
The research team
plans to move the patch into pre-clinical and clinical trials, and is already
looking at a combination of fenretinide and anthocyanins, as well as testing a
combination therapy using the patch and black raspberry-based gel mouthwash to
prevent recurrence of lesions.
“If we can
effectively treat the lesions with the patch, and then prevent more from coming
back, we will completely change – and improve upon – the way oral cancer is
currently treated,” says Dr. Mallery.