[Photodynamic therapy in combined treatment of stage III non-small cell lung carcinoma]

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of combined treatment of locally advanced lung cancer with the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery with the use of pre- and intraoperative photodynamic therapy. 20 patients with IIIa (n=7) and IIIb (n=13) stage of non-small cell lung carcinoma were included. At the time of diagnosis the surgical treatment was decided to abstain because of the trachea invasion in 9 patients, wide mediastinal invasion in 2 patients and contralateral mediastinal lymph nodes metastases in 2 patients; pneumonectomy was not possible due to the poor respiratory function in 7 patients. Neoadjuvant therapy included 3 courses of chemotherapy and endobronchial photodynamic therapy. During the operation, along with the lung resection (pneumonectomy - 15, lobectomy - 5), photodynamic therapy of the resection margins were carried out. No adjuvant treatment was done. Preoperative treatment led to partial regress of the disease in all cases; the goal of surgery was the complete tumor removal. No complications of the photodynamic therapy were observed. 18 surgical interventions were radical and two non-complete microscopically (R1). Postoperative morbidity was 20%, one patient died due to massive gastrointestinal bleeding. The average follow-up period was 18 months: 19 patients were alive, of them 18 with no signs of the disease recurrence. The first experience of the combined use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery with pre- and intraoperative photodynamic therapy demonstrates safety and efficacy of the suggested treatment tactics.