[Photodynamic therapy in treatment of lung cancer]

The effectiveness of photodynamic therapy was studied in 20 patients with different stages of lung cancer. We used the photosensitizer--PHOTOHEM and gold vapor laser (Auran). Photodynamic therapy was combined with high-energy laser photodestruction of tumors in 7 patients. In late (IIIb and IV) cancers the application of photodynamic therapy has significantly reduced the tumor tissue of bronchial obstruction in 9 out of 12 (75%) patients with improvement of the respiratory function, disappearance of atelectases. Photodynamic therapy was less effective in bronchoscopic signs of infiltrative tumor growth, typical for its peribronchial form. In the early stages of cancer the application of photodynamic therapy allowed complete removal of the tumor. However, 2 out of 8 patients showed signs of residual tumor growth within 1-3 months which disappeared due to repeated treatments with photodynamic therapy.