Photodynamic therapy in superficial bladder cancer: past, present and future

Abstract

For many reasons, such as toxicity and lack of selectivity of photosensitisers, as well as complexity of technical procedures and inconstant therapeutic results, photodynamic therapy of highly recurrent superficial bladder cancer never gained wide acceptance in the urological community. However, the 25 years of experience combined with the recent discovery of new photosensitisers, such as protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) induced by 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) or ALA-derivatives or hypericin open new, very interesting perspectives in this therapeutic field.