Pharmacological Preconditioning in Free Tissue Transfer: The Role of Heme Oxygenase-1

头颈癌是一种毁灭性的疾病。它在英国的发病率持续上升。手术切除癌症是治疗的基石，但通常需要重建组织，如舌头和嘴唇，以恢复功能，并尽量减少手术的心理影响。重建是通过移植身体其他部位的组织来实现的，比如前臂的皮肤，这一过程被称为游离组织移植（FTT）。然而，FTT有显著的失败率。这是由于手术过程中的损伤，当组织被采集、转移并在新部位重新连接时，血液供应被中断的直接结果。对组织进行预处理或“预处理”可以降低这种损伤的严重程度，并提高接受重建手术的患者游离组织移植的成功率。本研究将评估特定制剂对可用于自由组织移植的组织进行预处理的能力。它将使用FTT动物模型来确定预处理是否确实减少了这些组织的损伤。研究药剂适合人类使用。如果成功，这项工作将为将预处理治疗转化为临床研究奠定坚实的基础。

Head and neck cancer is a devastating disease. Its incidence continues to increase in the UK. Surgical removal of the cancer is the cornerstone of treatment, but often requires reconstruction of tissues, such as the tongue and lip, to restore function and minimise the psychological effects of surgery. Reconstruction is achieved by transferring tissue from elsewhere in the body, such as skin from the forearm, a procedure is known as free tissue transfer (FTT). However, FTT has a significant failure rate. This is due to damage during the operation, a direct result of the blood supply being interrupted whilst the tissue is harvested, transferred and reconnected in the new site. Pretreatment or ‘preconditioning‘ of tissues could reduce the severity of this injury and improve the success rates of free tissue transfer in patients undergoing reconstructive surgery.This study will assess the ability of specific agents to precondition tissue which could be used for free tissue transfer. It will use an animal model of FTT to determine whether preconditioning does reduce injury in these tissues. The study agents are suitable for human use. If successful, this work will form a sound basis for translating preconditioning treatments into clinical studies.