The role of photodynamic therapy in the management of stage I/II NSCLC

Abstract

There is a resurgence of interest in lung cancer screening, motivated by the fact that many lung cancer patients cannot be cured due to advanced disease at presentation. Lung cancer screening may detect more early stage disease. Very early stage squamous cell type lung cancer in the central tracheobronchial tree can be detected and local bronchoscopic treatments such as photodynamic therapy can be applied if the tumor is strictly intraluminal and nodal disease is absent. So, accurate staging regarding tumor size and nodal disease is much more important than treatment per se. Bronchoscopic treatments are less morbid treatment alternatives than surgery and surgical bronchoplasty, especially for patients suffering from COPD and who have poor cardiovascular status due to their smoking history.