[Photosensitized inactivation of HeLa tumor cells by phthalocyanines]

The combined effect of tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (TSPC, 1.0 microM) or chloroaluminum phthalocyanine (CAPC, 1.0 microM) and copper vapour laser radiation (lambda = 670 nm) causes a dose dependent decrease in the survival rate of HeLa cells at exponential and stationary growth phases estimated by the trypan blue exclusion test or colony-forming ability test. TSPC is two times and CAPC seven times more effective, with regard to lethality, than the known photosensitizer, a hematoporphyrin derivative.