Photodynamic applications in superficial bladder cancer: facts and hopes!

As a disease characterized by a polymorphic and fluctuant nature in its evolution, superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder remains a perpetual therapeutic challenge. This raises a great interest in the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic photodynamic applications. This article describes recent facts in the field of bladder cancer photodiagnosis and gives a survey on ongoing research in photodynamic therapy. Fluorescence cystoscopy induced by different aminolevulinic acid compounds (e.g., ALA-HAL) is well accepted in the urological community as a user-friendly new diagnostic tool in the endoscopic management of bladder tumors and CIS. Photodynamic therapy based on the same photosensitizing agents remains experimental, but recent results raise hopes of new therapeutic directions.