title: More Adventures in Photodynamic Therapy.
abstract: Photodynamic therapy is a procedure that can provide a selective eradication of neoplastic disease if sufficient drug, light, and oxygen are available. As this description suggests, it involves the photosensitization of malignant tissues to irradiation with photons in the visible range. While not suitable for tumors at unknown loci, it can be of use for eradication of cancer at surgical margins and therapy at sites where substantial surgery might otherwise be involved. Drug development has been delayed by several factors including the reluctance of major pharmaceutical firms in the United States to invest in this technology along with some unwise approaches in the past.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 540 E Canfield Street, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. dhkessel@med.wayne.edu.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kessel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
keywords: apoptosis; autophagy; photodynamic therapy