| Summary: | 碩士 === 臺北醫學大學 === 醫學科學研究所 === 101 === Laryngeal cancer is one of the most common diseases for head and neck cancer. Risk factors, such as smoking, drinking, and external environmental carcinogen, may induce its tumor growth. Treatments of laryngeal cancer include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and a combination of therapies. In the early stage, tumors can be removed partially by surgery or treated by chemotherapy. After surgery, the remaining vocal cords can be retained and swallowing and voice functions, maintained. The advantage of chemotherapy is the retention of the full structure and function of the throat. For malignant laryngeal cancer, such as subglottic and supraglottic cancers, metastasis of tumor cells is likely to happen via lymphatic tissue due to the abundant amount of lymph content. Pre-operative and post-operative radiotherapies are usually performed to prevent the spread of cancer cells into the surrounding tissue. For metastatic tumor cells already in the lymph nodes and cartilage soft tissue, total laryngectomy surgery is necessary to remove the whole tumor. The application of total laryngectomy surgery removes the entire larynx and will create a hole for respiration. This permanent hole goes through the front of the neck to the trachea, and will cause the loss of voice, swallowing, and breathing.
The purpose of this study is to investigate ways to improve the quality of life after total laryngectomy surgery. We chose hydroxyapatite-rich bioactive glass (bioglass) as our material to prepare a tissue-engineered throat cartilage scaffold by the electrospinning technique. The structure and the composition of the throat scaffold, and mimic of arrangement of endothelial cells in the inner layer of the scaffold are successfully prepared and well characterized. In this study, biodegradable poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA, 10wt %) was dissolved in a solvent mixture of dichloromethane (DCM) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at a 8:2 (v/v) ratio. The mimic of Trachea of PLLA coil was combined with electrospun tubular scaffold. In order to promote cell adhesion and proliferation, a layer of hyaluronic acid polymer was coated onto the PLLA fiber surface by using a coaxial technique to improve the integrity and hydrophilicity of the scaffold. Electrospun membranes were created to form a 3-D multi-layer shape , and further modified in accordance with different requirements, ie. increasing the pore size (350μm-500μm) by adding paraffin sphere based on mesh size and the control of rotation rate. Paraffin spheres were then dissolved in hexane solution. Pore sizes and distributions were characterized by using a capillary flow porometer; larynx tissue engineering scaffold has the versatility and applicability of clinical transplant surgery potential.
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