A case of autologous microfat grafting in lip reconstruction of a whistle deformity following cancer treatment

A whistle deformity is defined as a deficiency in the vertical length of the lip so that the free margins of the upper and lower lips do not meet normally, giving the appearance of whistling. This is a common secondary deformity of the vermilion in patients with cleft lip. A case involving a 61-year-old man who developed a whistle deformity as a result of two wedge resections and postoperative radiotherapy for treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip is presented. Hyaluronic acid-based tissue filler and autologous microfat transplantation to the lower lip were used for definitive management of the patient’s whistle deformity. After one year of follow-up, the patient was pleased with the overall result and noted marked improvement of his oral competence and overall appearance of the lip. The present case demonstrates that microfat transplantation is a viable option for correcting a whistle deformity, not only after surgery, but also following adjuvant radiotherapy – both of which potentially reduce graft viability secondary to decreased vascularity of the recipient site.     

An immunocompetent murine model for oncolysis with an armed and targeted measles virus.

An immunocompetent model is required to test therapeutic regimens for clinical trials with the oncolytic measles virus (MV). Toward developing this model, a retargeted MV that enters murine colon adenocarcinoma cells forming tumors in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice was generated. Since MV infection tends to be less efficient in murine than in human cells, the targeted virus was also armed with the prodrug convertase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), and named MV-PNP-antiCEA. We have shown before that in cultured cells, infection with this virus activated the prodrug, 6-methylpurine-2'-deoxyriboside (MeP-dR), causing extensive cytotoxicity. When injected intratumorally (IT), MV-PNP-antiCEA inhibited subcutaneous tumor growth marginally, but subsequent administration of the prodrug enhanced the oncolytic effect. Systemic delivery of MV-PNP-antiCEA alone had no substantial oncolytic effects, but in combination with the prodrug it was therapeutic, revealing synergistic effects between virus and prodrug. Immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide (CPA) retarded the appearance of MV neutralizing antibodies and enhanced oncolytic efficacy: survival was 100%, with 9 out of 10 animals going into complete remission. This immunocompetent murine model facilitates the testing of therapeutic regimens for clinical trials.