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

头颈癌是一种毁灭性的疾病。它在英国的发病率继续上升。手术切除癌症是治疗的基石，但通常需要重建舌头和嘴唇等组织，以恢复功能，并将手术的心理影响降至最低。重建是通过从身体其他部位转移组织来实现的，例如从前臂转移皮肤，这一过程被称为游离组织转移(FTT)。然而，FTT的失败率很高。这是由于手术过程中的损伤，这是血液供应中断的直接结果，同时组织被采集、转移并在新的部位重新连接。组织的预处理可以减轻损伤的严重程度，提高重建手术患者游离组织移植的成功率。本研究将评估特定药物对可用于游离组织移植的组织进行预处理的能力。它将使用FTT的动物模型来确定预适应是否确实减少了这些组织的损伤。这些学习剂适合人类使用。如果成功，这项工作将为将预适应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.