Page 146 - Bio Engineering Approaches to Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

144 CHAPTER 6 Laser-assisted cancer treatment

Table 6.2 Photosensitizer agent under clinical or clinical approved.
Photosensitizers Type of cancers Ref.
Porfimer sodium Lung cancers [52, 53]
Esophageal cancer
Bladder cancer
Cervical cancer
Skin diseases
Kaposi’s sarcoma
Barrett’s esophagus
Head cancers
Brain cancer
Neck cancer
Breast cancer
5-Aminolevulinic acid Actinic keratosis [54, 55]
Basal cell carcinoma
Bladder tumor skin cancer
Lung cancer
Gastrointestinal tract
Methyl aminolevulinate Actinic keratosis [56, 57]
Tetra(m-hydroxyphenyl)chlorin Neck cancer [58, 59]
Scalp cancer
Breast cancer
Prostate cancer
Pancreatic cancers
N-Aspartyl chlorin e6 Fibrosarcoma [53]
Liver cancer
Brain cancer
Oral cancer
Lung cancer

[50]. Moreover, the application of hypericin has been studied in the clinical stage
for PDT of basal and squamous cell carcinoma as well as mesothelioma. Further
application of hypericin in a clinical-stage has been limited due to lack of solubil-
ity in aqueous media leading to immediate aggregations in water. Several stud-
ies have been improved the solubility of hypericin by using nanotechnology [51].
Lima et al. demonstrated that by entrapping hypericin in lipid-based nanoparticles,
cellular uptake increased by 30% [51]. Table 6.2 summarized photosensitizers for
clinical used.
Drug-delivery system represents an emerging approach to improve therapeutic
outcomes of PDT and PTT. In addition, drug delivery systems provide the opportu-
nity for dual cancer therapy by delivery both PTT or PDT agent and anticancer drugs
in a single platform.