UNUSUALLY HIGH-AFFINITY OF II)-TETRADIBENZOBARRELENOOCTABUTOXY-PHTHALOCYANINE FOR LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS IN A TUMOR-BEARING MOUSE

An important factor in determining the efficacy of photosensitizing co mpounds in photodynamic therapy of tumors is the level to which tumors take up the photosensitizers after systemic injection. This parameter seems to be related to the transport modalities of the photosensitize r in the bloodstream. In this work the photosensitizer (II)-tetradiben zobarrelenooctabutoxyphthalocyanine was shown to have an unprecedented ly high association with low-density lipoproteins (71% of the phthaloc yanine in the plasma) when delivered in Cremophor micelles to tumor-be aring mice. This was accompanied by a particularly high tumor uptake a t 24 h post-injection.