AI Article Synopsis
- Photodynamic therapy (using Photofrin) shows promise as a less invasive treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, focusing on evaluating its effectiveness in patients.
- A study involving 42 patients found a 5-year overall survival rate of 57.8%, with a high complete response rate of 69%, highlighting the treatment's potential benefits.
- Results indicate that earlier tumor stages and certain disease types are linked to better survival outcomes, suggesting the therapy can significantly improve the quality of life for patients with this form of cancer.
Article Abstract
Background: Photodynamic therapy is a less invasive therapeutic procedure for carcinomas. The goal of this study was to evaluate the utility of Photofrin (porfimer sodium)-mediated photodynamic therapy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Methods: Forty-two head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients who underwent Photofrin-mediated photodynamic therapy were treated by intraoperative light activation at 630 nm via a fiber optic microlens, 48 h after injection. We evaluated the impact of age, sex, tumor stage, primary site, light dose, and cancer history on overall survival using a Cox proportional hazards model. Information on the survival status of patients was obtained after a mean follow-up period of 51 months (range, 6-180 months).
Results: The 5-year overall survival for all patients was 57.8 % (95 % confidence interval of the survival rate: 39.8 %-72.1 %). The complete response rate was 69.0 %, and the efficacy (complete response + partial response) was 97.6 %. Earlier tumor stage was associated with increased survival (p = 0.012). Diseases of the respiratory tract also showed significant association with survival as compared to those of the alimentary tract (p = 0.01).
Conclusions: Photofrin-mediated photodynamic therapy is useful for treating head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, and provides an improved quality of life in patients with recurrent or residual disease.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pdpdt.2019.101627 | DOI Listing |
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