Abstract
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a recently developed treatment involving the use of a photosensitizer and low power light, usually from a laser, to selectively destroy tumor cells. At present, we perform PDT for head and neck cancer using argon or excimer dye lasers with hematoporphyrin derivative as a photosensitizer. This study attempted to assess the utility and safety of PDT and to investigate the long-term outcome. All 24 patients had squamous cell carcinoma: 15 with laryngeal, 5 with lingual or oral, and 4 with pharyngeal cancer and were treated by PDT. Data were obtained from records from February 1988 through April 1995. After PDT, 12 of 15 laryngeal cancer patients were classified as having a complete remission (CR), as were 2 of the 5 lingual or oral and one of the 4 pharyngeal cancer patients. The patients were followed for 8 to 153 months. The longest duration of CR in patients treated by PDT alone was 148 months. Photosensitivity was experienced by all patients, but required no treatment. Liver, kidneys, and bone marrow showed no abnormal values. There were no clinically relevant adverse reactions, and patients with severe complications due to other types of treatment and elderly patients were also treated safely with this therapy.
Highlights
Since the early 1900s it has been known that photosensitive substances can induce photochemical reactions when exposed to light 1], and this phenomenon suggested that a therapeutically beneficial photochemical reaction can be induced in malignant tumors by tumorspecific photosensitizers
Among 13 patients with laryngeal cancer who underwent photodynamic therapy (PDT) as the first treatment of choice; 1 patient with T lb and 2 patients with T2 resulted in partial remission (PR), while the other 10 patients achieved complete remission (CR), resulting in a CR rate of 76.9%
2 patients with T2 cancer who underwent PDT for recurrent lesions initially treated by radiotherapy regained a CR for as long as 5 and 13 months, and 1 T3 patients attained a CR
Summary
Since the early 1900s it has been known that photosensitive substances can induce photochemical reactions when exposed to light 1], and this phenomenon suggested that a therapeutically beneficial photochemical reaction can be induced in malignant tumors by tumorspecific photosensitizers. Attention has been focused on photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer, using tumor-specific photosensitizers and low-energy laser light. Since Dougherty et al [2] reported the first application of PDT for cancer treatment in 1978, this procedure has become increasingly accepted, especially in lung cancer [3] and cervical carcinoma. It has been applied in patients with cancer of the stomach, esophagus, and bladder. Safety, and long-term outcome of PDT in patients with head and neck cancer
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