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Photodynamic therapy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Hosokawa Seiji,
Takebayashi Satoru,
Takahashi Goro,
Okamura Jun,
Mineta Hiroyuki
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.22802
Subject(s) - photodynamic therapy , medicine , basal cell , head and neck cancer , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , head and neck , carcinoma , surgery , radiation therapy , chemistry , organic chemistry
Background Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive treatment for malignant tumors. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of PDT in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods Thirty‐three patients with HNSCC were treated with porfimer sodium‐mediated PDT followed by intraoperative light activation at 630 nm via fiber optic microlens delivered after 48 hours of injection. Results The complete response (CR) rate was 72.7%, while the efficacy (CR + partial response) rate was 97.0%. The rate of good local control (i.e., CR without recurrence after PDT) achieved after the initial PDT (82.6%) was significantly higher than that achieved after the second or third PDT (10%); this rate remained at 62.1% without functional disturbance and disfigurement even after excluding four previously untreated patients. The final local control rate following PDT plus additional therapies was 73.8%. Conclusions PDT is an effective therapy to treat HNSCC, and leads to an improved quality of life in patients with residual or recurrent disease. Lasers Surg. Med. 50:420–426, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.