Throat

• While HPV is best known for causing cancers of the cervix in women, this virus family also causes cancer in other bodily tissues.
• Such further types of HPV-driven cancer include those of the “Head and Neck,” collectively tumours inside and behind the nose, throughout the mouth (including the tongue, gums, and palate), all sections of the throat, and the voice box.
• Unfortunately, a lack of standardized and reproducible reference samples makes it challenging to control the recommended test workflows for diagnosing such cancers.
• These standardized and reproducible tissue-oriented test controls will then be added to Microbix’s catalogue of QAPs, expanding its activities into support of oncology workflows alongside its wide range of infectious disease test controls.

• BUSAN, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a type of cancer that affects the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, and throat.
• The links between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection status and the molecular characteristics of HNSCC are not clearly defined.
• Therefore, the HPV infection could be considered a criterion for developing treatment strategies, thereby enabling precision medicine tailored to the patient's condition!
• Title of original paper: Deciphering Head and Neck Cancer Microenvironment: Single–Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Reveals Human Papillomavirus–Associated Differences

• Overview
  This is a summary of the scientific conclusions reached by the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) on the medicinal uses of mallow leaf.
• The HMPC conclusions are taken into account by EU Member States when evaluating applications for the licensing of herbal medicines containing mallow leaf.
• Mallow leaf preparations may also be found in combination with other herbal substances in some herbal medicines.
• - Therapeutic area
  - Cough and cold
  - Gastrointestinal disorders
  - Status
  - F: Assessment finalised
  - Date added to the inventory
  - Date added to priority list
  - Outcome of European assessment
  - European Union herbal monograph

• With the countless studies available today on the effects of tobacco use, we should have no trouble convincing ourselves and others of how harmful it is.
• The cells that make up our tissues, organs and body systems are sensitive to the effects of external toxic agents, many of which can be found in tobacco.
• Many smokers not only accept this, but also ignore the serious danger it poses to the people around them.

Initial effects in the mouth and pharynx

• When tobacco smoke enters our body, the first cells to receive it are in the mouth, nose and throat.
• These effects on the immune system are also linked to a higher likelihood of developing cancer.
• We also cannot forget that tobacco smoke robs us of our sense of taste and smell, leaving an almost continuous bitter taste in the mouth.

Lung damage

• Furthermore, due to the direct damage caused by tobacco on the tissue that maintains the structure of the lungs, the bronchi and bronchioles become blocked, generating symptoms similar to suffocation.
• As if that were not enough, people with COPD are also more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer.

Black tar and macrophages

• We can cast our minds back to the previous image of my father’s pipe, black and sticky with tar.
• It so happens that the lungs are rich in macrophages – special cells that play a key role in our immune systems by reacting to attacks, producing inflammatory responses.
• These cells end up ingesting the tar from tobacco, and they eventually die loaded with this substance which builds up and gives a smoker’s lungs their characteristic blackened appearance.

Nicotine’s effects on neurons: dependence and addiction

• As with any other compound that stimulates neurotransmitter receptors, permanent stimulation desensitises neurons.
• This means that the neurons reduce the number of receptors, or change their sensitivity to the stimulant.
• This desensitisation process can lead not only to nicotine dependence, but also to other diseases such as memory loss.

Guillermo López Lluch is a member of the Spanish Society of Cell Biology, the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology, the Society for Free Radical Research and the International Coenzyme Q10 Association. The research carried out by the author is financed by public funds from the Spanish Government or the Autonomous Government of Andalusia.