Developing a medical device to reconstruct the facial bones of people suffering from cancer affecting the oral cavity using innovative biomaterials is the BIOFACE research project which was recently launched by doctors and scientists from Toulouse.
- After successfully reconstructing the noses of two people suffering from cancer from a synthetic graft, doctors and researchers from Toulouse were selected to launch the BIOFACE project.
- The latter is being carried out in order to revolutionize surgical procedures for facial bone reconstruction in oncology, thanks to the development of an innovative medical device based on the synergy of several biomaterials.
- “Currently, the first clinical studies are in the preparatory phase, both for veterinary trials and for human trials.”
It all started in 2022. That year, Agnès Dupret-Bories, university professor, hospital practitioner at Toulouse University Hospital and specialist in microsurgical reconstruction, her colleague Dr. Benjamin Vairel and their team achieved a medical feat. The latter managed, for the first time, to reconstruct the nose of a patient after cancer from a synthetic graft previously implanted in her forearm to pre-vascularize it. Until then, this type of reconstruction had never been carried out due to the fragility of this area. Later, a second patient, from Caen, benefited from the same surgical procedure and a third is waiting for the graft to be placed.
Oral cancer: “Radically modifying a method of management of operated patients”
Following this major advance, the National Research Agency selected the Toulouse university hospital center to develop the BIOFACE project, led by Professor Agnès Dupret-Bories and was launched on December 16. The objective? He “has the ambition to radically modify a method of caring for patients operated on for oral cancer”, she indicated. As a reminder, among head and neck cancers representing the fifth most common type of cancer in humans in Europe, more than a quarter are oral cavity cancers, the number of which is increasing worldwide and particularly in women. Surgery is the standard treatment for oral cavity cancers and frequently requires the removal of a facial bone. “Approximately 1,300 to 2,000 procedures of this type take place each year in France,” according to the Toulouse establishment. Problem: the surgical technique currently proposed, which consists of using bone taken from a donor site of the same patient and then revascularized by microsurgery, “is not fully satisfactory”.
Reconstruct large bone areas using biomaterials “including some 3D printed”
Thus, as part of the BIOFACE project, doctors, academics, industrialists and researchers want to develop a tailor-made reconstruction technique based on the synergy of several biomaterials. In detail, the latter wish to make possible the reconstruction of large bony areas (jaws, maxillae) using synthetic or biological biomaterials, “some of which are 3D printed”, while maintaining compatibility with radiotherapy treatment. “This ambition is based on an innovative process allowing reconstruction in a single step thanks to the combination of four specific biomaterials: the MyBone® Hydroxyapatite-based implant, the personalized Titanium implant, an albumin membrane and a spray antibacterial.” Once completed, this device will allow the facial bones to be reconstructed without having to resort to bone removal from another part of the body.
“Currently, the first clinical studies are in the preparatory phase, both for veterinary trials and for human trials. Tests on animal models are scheduled for 2028, while the first implantation trials in humans will begin the year next, in 2029. (…) Once developed, the new BIOFACE procedure could also be used for facial bone reconstructions in non-oncological contexts, such as benign tumors or trauma Furthermore, this innovation could find additional applications, particularly in the field of orthopedics. can we read in the press release from the Toulouse University Hospital.
