Associate professors of surgery Khalid Ansari, Martin Osswald and Adetola Adesida used a clinically approved collagen biomaterial as a scaffold to grow new cartilage for patients who need nasal reconstruction after skin cancer.
The researchers hope to begin clinical trials in the near future to prove the efficacy of the cartilage in the operating room. Engineered cartilage-superior in many ways to that harvested at sites such as a patient's ribs or ear-could potentially supply unlimited quantities for surgeons and result in custom-made reconstructions for patients. In 2015, there were more than three million cases of skin cancer in North America alone and about one-third of cases occur on a patient's nose.
This research was funded by Alberta Cancer Foundation, Mickleborough Interfacial Bioscience Research Program and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.