New Reconstructive Surgery for Skin Cancer

A study has found that cancer patients requiring major removal of head and neck tissue experienced improvement in function, appearance, and quality of life as well as excellent survival rates following a technique called free tissue transfer. The study was published in the November-December 2003 issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

Many head and neck cancers can be easily removed and treated by a facial plastic surgeon. However, some cancers have recurred after multiple treatments or have grown much larger and require removal of massive amounts of tissue, resulting in a large defect that is difficult to reconstruct with only surrounding tissue. Called free tissue transfer, the new technique involves transferring muscle and blood vessels from one part of the body to another to reconstruct damaged or missing tissue. Although free tissue surgery has been around since 1991, only a few surgeons perform it.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (Portland, USA) reviewed the charts of 43 patients treated with free tissue surgery for massive neglected skin cancers of the cheek, ear, forehead, scalp, and nose and found excellent results. Previously, the only options available to these patients were prostheses.

"Facial prosthetics can be excellent, but not all patients have access or can afford the time and expense involved in getting them,” said Mark Wax, principal investigator of the study.




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