Cancerous Tumor on the Nose

Skin cancer can require surgical intervention and typically includes removal of the entire tumor plus surrounding bone or nearby tissue. The goal of surgery is to remove the entire tumor while keeping appearance and function as normal as possible.

Diagnosed with melanoma, this patient, age 86, underwent surgery to remove the spreading malignancy. The physician was able to remove the tumor, but left an area of exposed cartilage across the patient’s nose. Exposed cartilage is avascular (without sufficient blood supply) and healing can be extremely difficult. Options include skin grafting, having associated risks, or prosthetics.

To treat the wound, the physician opted for MimiClon’s MatriStem® and placed the matrix over the exposed nose cartilage. Following 7 applications of MatriStem over a period of 8 weeks, the patient’s nose tissue was successfully remodeled with site-appropriate full-thickness tissue, dramatically improving the patient’s quality of life.