Photodynamic therapy for esophageal tumors

Between 1982 and 1987, 40 patients with esophageal tumors (19 adenocarcinomas, 19 squamous carcinomas, and two melanomas) in whom conventional treatments were unsuccessful were treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT) after injection with either hematoporphyrin derivative or dihematoporphyrin ether. Patients underwent endoscopy again two to three days and one month after PDT and as needed when symptoms recurred. At one month, the average minimal diameter opening of 28 assessable tumors increased from 6 to 9 mm. Of the 35 patients who could be evaluated one month after PDT, the average improvement in food intake was from a liquid to a soft diet. Average survival time (from time of first treatment) was 7.7 months (n = 17) for adenocarcinoma, 5.8 months (n = 12) for squamous cell carcinoma, and 25 months (n = 2) for melanoma. Two patients with stage I adenocarcinoma were alive with no evidence of disease at 11 and 23 months. One patient with stage I squamous cell cancer died 18 months after PDT, with recurrence of tumor above the treated area noted eight months after treatment. One patient with stage I melanoma died of a synchronous colon cancer 31 months after PDT, with no evidence of residual melanoma.