Table 1.
List of key clinical and pre-clinical studies using Photodynamic Therapy for the treatment of various cancers. PS: Photosensitizer; VEGF: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor; PDT: Photodynamic Therapy; 5-ALA: 5-Aminolevulinic Acid; PpIX: Protoporphyrin IX.
| Photosensitizer | Cancer | n | Conclusion | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hematoporphyrin Derivatives | Carcinomas of the breast, colon, prostate, squamous cell, basal cell, and endometrium; malignant melanoma; mycosis fungoides; chondrosarcoma; and angiosarcoma | 24 | Highly pigmented and larger sub-cutaneous tumors require a stronger dose (5 mg/kg of PS) than non-pigmented and superficial tumors (2.5 mg/kg of PS); skin damage reduced by reducing illumination dose; maximum tumor necrosis observed till 2 cm. | [16] |
| Hypericin | Bladder carcinoma | (pre-clinical) | PDT in combination with anti-VEGF (bevacizumab) increases tumor responsiveness and reduced VEGF expression along with downregulation of other angiogenic proteins. | [31] |
| Photofrin® | Breast cancer with chest wall progression | 14 | A low dose of Photofrin® (0.8 mg/kg) mediated PDT induced tumor necrosis with lesions >2 cm in thickness; initial regression of untreated lesion was observed; Wound care-related difficulties were observed. | [33] |
| Photofrin®, Photogem, Photosan-3, or Temoporfin | Unresectable cholangiocarcinoma | 402 (meta-analysis) | PDT with biliary stenting could significantly improve patient survival period. | [34] |
| Photosan®, Photofrin®, or Foscan® | Unresectable extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma | 96 | Combination of PDT with systemic chemotherapy showed significantly longer overall survival than chemotherapy alone with higher median survival than control groups. The therapy was well tolerated. | [35] |
| Photofrin II | Metastatic breast cancer | 37 | PDT yields the best results in patients with asymptomatic lesions; reductions in Photofrin® dose with reciprocal increases in light dose did not impair treatment efficacy. | [36] |
| 5-ALA | Ovarian carcinoma metastases | 29 | Laparoscopic fluorescence detection of PpIX after intraperitoneal application of 5-ALA; histological assessment of the biopsy specimens proved that strong red fluorescence had a sensitivity of 92% for detecting tumor tissue on specimens. | [37] |
| 5-ALA | Glioblastoma | 10 | Intraoperative PDT following PpIX fluorescence-guided maximal resection and adjuvant therapy resulted in an increased overall survival rate; no adverse effects were observed. | [38] |
| 5-ALA | Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma | 20 | Combination of 5-ALA PDT with thoracoscopy followed by Anti-PD-1 Nivolumab immunotherapy for a maximum of 2 years; Currently ongoing. | NCT04400539 |