title: Tumor-targeted photodynamic therapy.
abstract: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well-established clinical treatment modality for various diseases, including cancer. It involves the topical or systemic administration of a photosensitizer, followed by selective irradiation of the target lesion with a specific wavelength of non-ionizing light, which triggers oxidative photodamage and subsequent death of the targeted cells. Due to this two-step therapeutic process, PDT is a safe and minimally-invasive therapy. Nevertheless, classical non-targeted photosensitizers lack sufficient tumor selectivity and are taken up in the neighboring normal tissues, resulting in undesirable adverse effects. To overcome this obstacle, diverse tumor-targeting approaches have been developed. In this article, we discuss the current strategies and rationale regarding tumor-targeted PDT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Nanakuma, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. shirasu@fukuoka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shirasu
authors.forename: Sung Ouk
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuroki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010778:Photochemotherapy
keywords: Drug delivery; photodynamic therapy; photosensitizer; review; tumor targeting