Forms of photodynamic therapy treatment, our experiences during treatment

Abstract

The photodynamic therapy was described nearly 100 years ago, but the method has only become widespread worldwide in the 1970s. It is mainly used to treat tumours on the surface of the body or on the inner surface of certain hollow organs. The therapy involves illumination the surface to be treated with light of a wavelength corresponding to the absorption maximum of the photosensitising agent after a prescribed incubation period. The treatment generates reactive oxygen free radicals causing apoptosis and necrosis of the tumour cells. One of the limitations of PDT is severe pain. In order to minimise the pain, a daylight PDT protocol was developed, which is not different in efficacy from conventional treatment. In our hospital, the treatment was available in daylight form from 2019 and in conventional form from 2022. During this period, about 140 patients have been treated in our department, three quarters of them with the conventional method. Therapeutic efficacy ranged widely. Some patients received multiple treatments to enhance the effectivity of it. In spring 2023, we started combining treatment with fractional ablative laser pre-treatment.