Photodynamic Therapy

Cancer is a huge issue plaguing the world and 20,000 people die everyday all around the world
(Gutierrez,2008). There are many cures but every cancer is different and that is why we haven't
found a cure for cancer yet, it's because there is no cure for cancer, every cancer is different and
they mutate insanely fast so you may need 2 completely different treatments to deal with 1
tumour, since there are many types of cancer there have to be many types of treatments, and this
article will be about the treatment called Photodynamic Therapy. This treatment requires drugs
called Photosynthesising agents to be put into your bloodstream or onto a patient's skin. Once
the drug comes into contact with certain types of light and it kills the cell, normal cells can get
rid of the drug over time but cancer cells have the drug stuck inside their bodies will die when
the light has been activated and all normal cells don't have the drug inside themselves since they
over time got rid of it will be perfectly fine and the patient doesn't have cancer anymore, there
are many names for this type of treatment, a few being, photoradiation therapy,
photochemotherapy, and photochemotherapy. Photodynamic Therapy. (2015, March 18).
There are quite a few treatments within photodynamic therapy that are approved by the FDA, the
first one being porfimer sodium, is the most widely used photosensitizer and also the most
widely studied photosensitizer, it is activated by a red light that comes from a laser, it is used in
treating cancer in the esophagus and in precancer of the esophagus, the next type of treatment is
called Aminolevulinic acid, this is a cream that is put directly on the face and scalp, and is
activated using a special blue light. The next type of treatment is Methyl ester of ALA is an
updated form of aminolevulinic acid, Methyl ester is more effective because is can get into
cancer cells more easily as aminolevulinic acid had a harder time making its way into cancer
cells. (Photodynamic Therapy. (2015, March 18)
There are many advantages and some disadvantages to photodynamic therapy, however this is
the same with all cancer cures. The advantages are: as long as the drug has been used correctly
there will not be any long term side effects, it isn't as invasive as surgery, it doesn't take a long
time, it is very precise, the drug can be used many times on the same part of the body, it doesn't
cause much scarring, and it doesn't cost as much as the other cancer treatments, but this treatment
isn't perfect, the disadvantages are: the drug can only treat places where light can reach since the
drug itself is activated via light, the treatment doesn't work on cancers that have spread to many
places, the drug makes the patient very sensitive to light in the area that the drug has been used
so many precautions have to be put into place before activating the drug, and the drug cannot be
used on people with certain blood diseases ad also to people who have allergies to the drug,this is
very rare but it may happen. (Photodynamic Therapy. (2015, March 18).
A 59 year old woman had been dealing with increased coughing and a large amount of mucus
production for a few months. Chest x-ray scans did not seem to show anything, but mucus
cytology showed a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma. This stage Ia lung cancer in the right
upper lobe bronchus was not able to cure through surgery because of her poor cardiopulmonary
function. She was treated by photodynamic therapy in February of 1981, involving intravenous
injection of hematoporphyrin derivative and fiberoptic endoscopically delivered argon dye laser
light. She dealt with the treatment well as there were no allergic reactions and the lesion
disappeared within a week. Even after five years, she the cancer still hasn't made another
appearance. This is the first known report of five-year disease-free survival following treatment
of a malignant lesion by photodynamic therapy only. (Kato, H. (1986). Five-year disease-free
survival of a lung cancer patient treated only by photodynamic therapy.
There are many cancer cures on the market at the moment, even then it doesn't look like this
would take over all the main cures such as chemotherapy and radiation, the reason being is
because of the fact that photodynamic therapy can only target cancers where light can reach, this
makes it difficult to use it on every part of the body, but as science evolves, it seems that this
cure may evolve with it and may be able to take over the cancer market.
Bibliography:
(Cancer.org , 2015). Retrieved September 25, 2016, from
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/photodynamic-therapy)
(Kato, H. (1986). Five-year disease-free survival of a lung cancer patient treated only by
photodynamic therapy. Retrieved September 25, 2016, from
http://journal.publications.chestnet.org/article.aspx?articleid=1059754)