title: Photodynamic therapy for treatment of head and neck cancer.
abstract: Since 1975, photodynamic therapy has reportedly been effective in a variety of head and neck malignancies that failed traditional (conventional) therapy, including surgery, cryotherapy, chemotherapy, hyperthermia, and radiation therapy. Photodynamic therapy consists of the intravenous administration of (di)hematoporphyrin ether, a chemosensitizing drug selectively retained by neoplastic and reticuloendothelial tissues which, when exposed to a 630-nm argon laser, catalyzes a photochemical reaction to release free oxygen radicals, "the cytotoxic" agents responsible for cell death and tumor necrosis. Preliminary investigations have assessed the efficacy of photodynamic therapy in treatment of: (1) superficial "condemned mucosa" or "field cancerization" of the oral cavity and (2) stage III and IV head and neck carcinomas that had unsuccessful conventional therapy. Complete and/or partial remissions were obtained in 11 of 12 patients (16 treatments) with a variety of carcinomas of the nasopharynx, palate and uvula, retromolar trigone, temporal bone, cervical esophagus, and AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma of the oral cavity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI 48202.
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Schweitzer
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006414:Hematoporphyrin Photoradiation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000188:drug therapy