Dr. Konstantina Stankovic

However, by understanding how birds do it, we can now start to think, can we reawaken these pathways in mammals, in humans?

And can we do it in a very precise fashion so that we turn them on when needed and turn them off afterwards?

Because cancer is regeneration gone awry.

So if we let these cells continue to divide and generate more cells in an uncontrollable fashion, that's a problem.

What's also really interesting is that there isn't a primary cancer of the inner ear.

And that's really cool.

That's another fascinating thing that could be used to potentially even develop new cancer therapies since there is an organ that doesn't get it.

Yes.

And before I comment on that, I'll just clarify that there is no cancer of the inner ear.

There can't be cancer of the outer ear, which is the auricle or the ear canal, but we are really talking about the inner ear.

In terms of this remarkable microenvironment within the head-neck region, yes, it's one of a kind, and at least in part it has to do with the remarkable blood supply to the area.

and the lymphatic system.

There is a very dense lymphatic system in the head-neck region.

We even call it a Waldeyer ring.

It includes the adenoid, which is the gland that sits at the back of the nose, plus the tonsils that sit at the back of your throat, plus all of these lymph nodes throughout the head-neck region.

In reconstructive surgery of the head and neck, we capitalize on that ability to heal quickly without an infection because sometimes people develop cancer of their jaw or of their tongue and a part of the jaw or the whole jaw has to be removed.

or the tongue has to be removed apart or a whole tongue.

So how do you reconstruct that?

We reconstruct that by borrowing tissue from somewhere else.

We can use tissue from the leg that's called fibular free flap or from the radial forearm or any other part of the body and we bring it in.