Treatment with drugs that become active when exposed to light. These drugs kill cancer cells.
This comprises a photosensitizing agent (one activated by light), which accumulates in malignant tissue, and a source of light that activates the photosensitizer, triggering it to generate highly reactive oxygen compounds that destroy malignant cells. One such photosensitizer is temoporfin. Photodynamic therapy is used to treat various types of malignancy; a recognized complication is photosensitivity, when a patient may suffer burns after transient exposure to sunlight. Photodynamic therapy is increasingly used and photosensitivity reactions may also become more common.
In ophthalmology, the use of laser-activated photosensitizing drugs to treat a variety of tumors and nonmalignant conditions such as age-related macular degeneration.
A therapeutic approach for addressing tumors involves the administration of a photosensitive dye into the bloodstream or the skin, with the purpose of selectively targeting the tumors. The dye exhibits a preferential uptake by the tumor cells. Subsequently, a specific wavelength of light is directed towards the affected region, facilitating the destruction of the tumors through targeted photodynamic therapy.