1. Cancer. 2012 Jan 31. doi: 10.1002/cncr.27408. [Epub ahead of print]

Ellington CL, Goodman M, Kono SA, Grist W, Wadsworth T, Chen AY, Owonikoko T, Ramalingam S, Shin DM, Khuri FR, Beitler JJ, Saba NF. Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

BACKGROUND: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the head and neck (ACCHN) is a rare tumor of minor salivary, parotid, and submandibular glands. The biologic behavior of the disease is poorly understood, and nonsurgical treatment strategies have yet to be standardized. The long-term prognosis continues to be guarded, with an estimated 10-year survival of <60%. Population-based studies examining ACC are scarce. The authors aimed to analyze incidence rates and survival outcomes for patients diagnosed with ACCHN using national population-based data. METHODS: Data were obtained from the US National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Newly diagnosed ACCHN cases reported to SEER from 1973 through 2007 were categorized according to their sex, race, age, year of diagnosis, marital status, treatment interventions, primary tumor site, and disease stage. Incidence of ACCHN and postdiagnosis survival were examined over time and compared across different demographic and disease-related categories.

RESULTS: The authors identified 3026 patients with ACCHN. The mean age at diagnosis among those cases was 57.4 years (range, 11-99 years). Analyses of incidence data demonstrated a decline in ACCHN rates between 1973 and 2007, noted across all sexes and races with no detectable inflexion points. The overall 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year survival outcomes for ACCHN patients were 90.3%, 79.9%, and 69.2%, respectively. Females, patients with localized disease, and younger patients were found to have significantly better survival across all time periods (all comparison-specific log-rank P values <0.001). Multivariate analyses revealed better prognosis among women compared with men (hazard ratio [HR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65-0.82), among married compared with unmarried individuals (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71-0.91), with certain sites of origin and stage of disease (HR, 2.788; 95% CI, 2.36-3.29), and in those who had surgery of the primary tumor site (HR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.37-0.54).

CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence of ACC is declining. The noted differences in survival based on sex, marital status, site of origin, and treatment intervention require further investigation.

Cancer 2012. © 2012 American Cancer Society.

Copyright © 2012 American Cancer Society.

PMID: 22294420  [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://goo.gl/grhCj

Stacy Cacciatore is a freelance writer for South Charlotte News and can be reached at stacy@stacycacciatore.com.

Bookmark this site for updated information coming real soon!

Contact Gerald via email HERE if you have any questions, would like to volunteer or would like to be notified once registration is live.

Help us find a cure for this rare disease.

I’m training like crazy. Or at least I think I am. I ran 10 miles yesterday with my buddy John (new to Wannabe Riders) and although the run was slow going I felt good. More importantly, I’ve fully recovered. As a matter of fact, I did 1900 yards in the pool today.

Back to training tomorrow! I will say that I’m doing a much better job sticking with my training schedule compared to my first half-iron last august. I’m finding that my body is recovering much quicker this time around. I’d like to think that I am training hard, but who knows?

What’s important is that I am having fun! I’m training to stay average!

Cheers,

GB

2012 White Lake Half Iron

Enjoy!

For those that have already committed to run and/or ride at LIVESTRONG2012, good for you! I can’t wait spend another weekend with you. LIVESTRONG!

Deanna, Kristin, Christy and Reza after their 10k run!

I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get photos up on the website. We still have more to put up, but you can see a teaser in the sidebar for some of the photos from Saturday’s 5k/10k.
View the full photo stream

As I get more photos, we’ll be sure to put them up there. Also, if you see any photos of mine (Wyatt) that you would like to own, just email me and I’ll send you the files.

Why I Ride from Fine Films on Vimeo.

I'm riding for you Robert, Amber & John!

In a few hours, I will begin my first 24 hour cycling event, 24 Hours of Booty (24 HOB) here in Charlotte, NC. Who knows how many miles I will complete but I will do my very best. Besides… does it really matter? My plan is to ride, drink (non-alcoholic drinks), eat, sleep (a bit) and then repeat the cycle over and over again. It’s going to hurt, for sure, but I’ll have to suck it up!

If you are interested, you can follow as I tweet my experience (that’s right I am now on Twitter) at @wannabeglb.

But more importantly, I am riding the 24 Hours of Booty in honor of 14-year old Amber Cunningham who is currently battling non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, John Raucci who is battling Pancreatic Cancer and in memory of  a childhood friend, Robert McWhorter, who recently passed away (at age 35) from Colon cancer. This is for you guys; I hope to do you proud.

For what it’s worth, I have been asked to be one of the lead riders of 24 HOB; it’s an honor and a privilege that if you can believe it, makes me a bit emotional just thinking of it. To be in a position to do such a thing reminds me of how precious life really is. Very powerful stuff indeed.

Keep on fighting and LIVESTONG!

wannaberiders against cancer: I’m so proud of you for dedicating a part of your life to cancer awareness. Your positivity and steadfastness speaks volumes. Keep up the good work!

Cheers!

-GB

Here you are, team–your 2011 Wannabe Riders Against Cancer jersey!

I interviewed myself to on how I came up with this year’s design. Here’s how it went down:

Me: How did you come up with this year’s design?

Me: It was pretty easy. Our logo should remain the same year over year, and we got a lot of attention last year as the purple team, so I wanted to keep the purple. I decided to slim us down and add a bit of badass, so black became a dominant color. Then I reversed the logo to white, and, voila!

Me: Will it match last year’s bibs?

Me: You betcha. If you have bibs from last year, perfect. If not, black shorts will look great.

Me: I’m pretty stoked. I think the team will look great!

Me: I couldn’t agree more. I hope the team likes it as much as I do!

Even more exciting is the opportunity at this meeting for companies seeking to treat and perhaps cure cancers to connect with patient advocacy groups like Livestrong with the intent to spread the word about upcoming clinical trials or newly-approved treatments. I had a chance to meet with the LiveStrong folks to hear what they’ve been working on and let them know that they’re supported by WBRAC!

- Patrick Z.