Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment method often used in combination with other treatments, such as drugs or surgery. PDT uses light to kill cancerous cells. Photodynamic therapy is still in an experimental stage for treatment of mesothelioma.
Initially, the patient receives a photosensitizer which collects in cancerous cells but not in healthy cells. (A photosensitizer is a drug which makes malignant cells vulnerable (sensitive) to light of specific wavelengths.) After the cells have been sensitized, fiberoptic cables are placed in the body (usually through open-chest surgery) in order to focus light of just the right frequency on the tumor. This causes the photosensitizer to produce a toxic oxygen molecule which kills the cell.
See also article, "Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy after pleuropneumonectomy in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma," by H. Schouwink et al, Chest, 2001;120:1167-1174 and response to article (Chest, 2002;122:1866-1867).
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