History of photodynamic therapy in Great Britain

Although the concept photodynamic therapy has been recognised for over a century, it is only over the last 25 years that it has been used in Great Britain. The first applications in the UK were in 1981 by John Carruth, who treated patients with advanced ENT and skin cancers. The following year, he and Stephen Bown set up the British Medical Laser Association (BMLA). Since that time, the use of PDT in the UK has slowly expanded in all fields of medicine and surgery. In 1986, Bown set up the National Medical Laser Centre (NMLC) and later collaborated with Liverpool gastroenterologist, Neville Krasner, in animal studies on rat colon. In 1997, Keyvan Moghissi founded the Yorkshire Laser Centre (YLC) and began treating patients with advanced inoperable bronchial and oesophageal cancers. Stan Brown in Leeds set up the Centre for Photobiology and Photodynamic Therapy at the University of Leeds, working in close collaboration with the Yorkshire Cancer Research Centre. Other pioneers include Hugh Barr in Gloucester, Colin Hopper in London, Grant Fullarton in Glasgow and Roger Ackroyd, Malcolm Reed and Nicky Brown in Sheffield. PDT has now been used in the UK in the treatment of skin, oral, ENT, oesophageal, lung, bladder and gynaecological malignancies.