Background and Purpose: Combination therapy of interstitial photodynamic therapy (iPDT) with Cetuximab to attain symptomatic control of recurrent head and neck cancer.

Methods: Two patients with Unresectable recurrent Head and Neck SCC were treated with iPDT alone and iPDT and cetuximab. Treatments were administered in an outpatient setting. A single dose of Photofrin at 2 mg per kilogram of body weight was administered intravenously two days prior to laser illumination. The iPDT was accomplished by delivering 630-nm laser light through two laser fibers with 2.5 and 5 cm long diffusive ends. Light irradiance of 400 mW/cm for 250 seconds was used to deliver a total of 100 J/cm, during the iPDT. Light applications were conducted, twice, at 3-4 days interval. One of the patients was treated with cetuximab along with iPDT.

Results: Near total resolution of tumor was observed in the patient treated with iPDT and cetuximab, and partial resolution was seen in the patient treated with iPDT alone.

Conclusion: Interstitial photodynamic therapy may be used to treat patients with recurrent unresectable head and neck cancer. The combination of iPDT with Cetuximab has the potential to improve tumor response in the patient population for whom there is no effective therapies. This observation merits further studies.

Date Published: 8 March 2013
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 8565, Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics IX, 85652Q (8 March 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2020667

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8565:
Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics IX
Andreas Mandelis; Brian Jet-Fei Wong; Anita Mahadevan-Jansen; Henry Hirschberg M.D.; Hyun Wook Kang; Nikiforos Kollias; Melissa J. Suter; Kenton W. Gregory M.D.; Guillermo J. Tearney M.D.; Stephen Lam; Bernard Choi; Steen J. Madsen; Bodo E. Knudsen M.D.; E. Duco Jansen; Justus F. Ilgner M.D.; Haishan Zeng; Matthew Brenner; Laura Marcu, Editor(s)