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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Therapy Testing in a Spheroid-based 3D Cell Culture Model for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: April 20, 2018
Photodynamic therapy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Seiji Hosokawa1, Satoru Takebayashi1, Goro Takahashi1
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Background:
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive treatment for malignant tumors. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of PDT in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
Methods:
Thirty-three patients with HNSCC were treated with porfimer sodium-mediated PDT followed by intraoperative light activation at 630 nm via fiber optic microlens delivered after 48 hours of injection.
Results:
The complete response (CR) rate was 72.7%, while the efficacy (CR + partial response) rate was 97.0%. The rate of good local control (i.e., CR without recurrence after PDT) achieved after the initial PDT (82.6%) was significantly higher than that achieved after the second or third PDT (10%); this rate remained at 62.1% without functional disturbance and disfigurement even after excluding four previously untreated patients. The final local control rate following PDT plus additional therapies was 73.8%.
Conclusions:
PDT is an effective therapy to treat HNSCC, and leads to an improved quality of life in patients with residual or recurrent disease. Lasers Surg. Med. 50:420-426, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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