PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY OF BRAIN-TUMORS

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a binary treatment modality suitable for various malignant tumors including brain. It involves the selective u ptake of a photosensitizer into tumor followed by intraoperative irrad iation of the tumor with light of an appropriate wavelength to cause a ctivation of the sensitizer and subsequent selective tumor destruction , PDT has been extensively investigated in laboratory studies and has been used in clinical trials to treat a variety of brain tumors, parti cularly gliomas. The main advantage of PDT lies in its ability to sele ct out infiltrating tumor cells that are responsible for local tumor r ecurrence, The therapy has been shown to be safe clinically but adequa te trials have yet to be undertaken to prove its efficacy and much wor k remains to be done to optimize treatment. The biological basis, labo ratory studies, and clinical trials involving PDT in the treatment of cerebral tumors are discussed, (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.