title: A light in multidrug resistance: photodynamic treatment of multidrug-resistant tumors.
abstract: The major drawback of cancer chemotherapy is the development of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tumor cells, which are cross-resistant to a broad range of structurally and functionally unrelated agents, making it difficult to treat these tumors. In the last decade, a number of authors have studied the effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT), a combination of visible light with photosensitizing agents, on MDR cells. The results, although still inconclusive, have raised the possibility of treating MDR tumors by PDT. This review examines the growing literature concerning the responses of MDR cells to PDT, while stressing the need for the development of new photosensitizers that possess the necessary characteristics for the photodynamic treatment of this class of tumor.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Departmento de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. mcapella@biof.ufrj.br
authors.forename: Márcia Alves Marques
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Capella
authors.forename: Luiz Sabbatini
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Capella
mesh_terms: D020168:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects; D006414:Hematoporphyrin Photoradiation; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D020168:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D011166:Porphyrins