Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2012, 227(2)

Post-Occlusive Reactive Hyperemia in Basal Cell Carcinoma and Its Potential Application to Improve the Efficacy of Solid Tumor Therapies

JULIEN REYAL,¹ NICOLAS LEBAS,² EMMANUELLE FOURME,² THIERRY GUIHARD,¹ CATHERINE VILMER³ and PÉRIG LE MASURIER¹

¹Department of Surgery, Institut Curie, René Huguenin Hospital, Saint-Cloud, France
²Department of Biostatistics, Institut Curie, René Huguenin Hospital, Saint-Cloud, France
³Department of Dermatology, Institut Curie, René Huguenin Hospital, Saint-Cloud, France

Tumor hypoxia is a hallmark of malignant tumors, and is a major factor in the resistance to anti-cancer therapies, particularly radiotherapy. Indeed, tumor blood flow often fluctuates, and thus the oxygen supply is often reduced, thereby inducing tumor hypoxia. We decided to explore whether post-occlusive reactive hyperemia, a physiological reaction known to occur in normal tissues, could be induced through a malignant tumor, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), in which angiogenesis occurs, as in all malignant tumors. Skin blood flow was measured in twelve patients with BCC, using Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging to determine BCC perfusion after three minutes of vascular occlusion, induced by limb tourniquet for limb tumors (4 BCC), and/or by clamping the pedicle of a skin flap with the BCC at its center, for other tumor locations (12 BCC). We demonstrated for the first time that post-occlusive reactive hyperemia occurs in malignant tumors in humans. BCC perfusion curves were similar to those of healthy skin, characterized by a peak of hyperemia after reperfusion followed by a progressive return to the pre-occlusion perfusion level. Induction of post-occlusive reactive hyperemia in malignant tumors is therefore a novel investigational approach that could lead to a new adjuvant tool to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, respectively through the synchronized temporary increase of tumor perfusion and oxygenation.

keywords —— basal cell carcinoma; laser speckle contrast imaging; limb tourniquet; post-occlusive reactive hyperemia; random-pattern skin flap

© 2012 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2012, 227, 139-147

Correspondence: Julien Reyal, Department of Surgery, Institut Curie, René Huguenin Hospital, 35 rue Dailly, 92210 Saint-Cloud, France.

e-mail: julien.reyal@gmail.com