Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the administration of a photosensitizing agent and its subsequent activation by light of the appropriate wavelength, resulting in destruction of cells containing the agent. PDT has been designed as a promising new modality in the treatment of various malignant and nonmalignant disease since the early 1980s. Recent chemical and physical developments have brought forth new methods of PDT. We provide an overview of photosensitizers, photobiology and photochemistry, and light sources available for PDT. Clinical and preclinical PDT studies are discussed.
This paper was published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4166
Laser Florence '99: A Window on the Laser Medicine World, Leonardo Longo; Alfons G. Hofstetter; Mihail-Lucian Pascu; Wilhelm R. Waidelich, Editors, pp.134-137
