Comparison of Cellular Death Pathways after mTHPC-mediated Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in Five Human Cancer Cell Lines.

One of the most promising photosensitizers (PS) used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) is the porphyrin derivative 5,10,15,20-tetra(-hydroxyphenyl)chlorin (mTHPC, temoporfin), marketed in Europe under the trade name Foscan. A set of five human cancer cell lines from head and neck and other PDT-relevant tissues was used to investigate oxidative stress and underlying cell death mechanisms of mTHPC-mediated PDT in vitro. Cells were treated with mTHPC in equitoxic concentrations and illuminated with light doses of 1.