Two in one: merging photoactivated chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy to fight cancer
Kirill M Kuznetsov1, Kevin Cariou1, Gilles Gasser1
1Chimie ParisTech, PSL University, CNRS, Institute of Chemistry for Life and Health Sciences, Laboratory for Inorganic Chemical Biology 75005 Paris France gilles.gasser@chimieparistech.psl.eu kevin.cariou@chimieparistech.psl.eu http://www.gassergroup.com/ +33 1 85 78 41 51.
Abstract:
The growing number of cancer cases requires the development of new approaches for treatment. A therapy that has attracted the special attention of scientists is photodynamic therapy (PDT) due to its spatial and temporal resolution. However, it is accepted that this treatment methodology has limited application in cases of low cellular oxygenation, which is typical of cancerous tissues. Therefore, a strategy to overcome this drawback has been to combine this therapy with photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT), which works independently of the presence of oxygen. In this perspective, we examine compounds that act as both PDT and PACT agents and summarize their photophysical and biological characteristics.
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