Photodynamic Diagnosis and Therapy of Superficial Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) are based on the interaction between light (usually laser light), photosensitizing compounds that fluoresce when exposed to certain wavelengths of light, and molecular oxygen in the tissue (Dougherty and Marcus 1992). It has been known since about 1960 that porphyrin mixtures such as hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) administered by i.v. injection accumulate more selectively in neoplastic tissue than in healthy tissues (Ligson and Baldes 1960). The photodynamic therapy of bladder cancer was first performed in 1975 (Kelly and Shell 1976).