Research
Research remains a vital pillar in the Head and Neck Section’s activities. Staff members have published 10 peer-reviewed articles in the past year, and have 8 articles or books chapters in press. Dr. Strome’s laboratory has developed promising advances in understanding mechanisms to improve tolerance and new drugs that may reduce the immunosuppression needed for laryngeal and parathyroid transplantation. We continue with IRB approved clinical trials in several areas:
- Human parathyroid allograft transplantation
- Development of squamous cell carcinoma cell lines as a first step in develop an active immunotherapy protocol. Dr. Shu has successfully generated two human SCCa cell lines in the past year.
- NIH funded, multi-institutional study comparing thyroplasty and reinnervation for management of a unilateral vocal fold immobility. We have begun to enter patients on this trial with success.
- Management of otolaryngologic manifestations of patients with Wegener’s granulomatosis.
- The effect of adjuvant Iressa therapy on patients with advanced head and neck cancer. This trial continues to accrue patients and is to early to report results.
- In conjunction with the Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, we are collaborating in efforts to identify a blood marker for thyroid cancer using molecular detection of TSHr by peripheral blood RT-PCR analysis.
In clinical research, we have reported and published our success in:
- Applying selective neck dissection in patients with irradiated neck, which has minimized the surgical morbidity of these patients.
- The indications and utility of postoperative irradiation for patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary glands.