Photodynamic Therapy: Looking at Treatment of Early-Stage Oral Cancer in a New Light
Gal Shafirstein, DSc Published: Tuesday, Oct 24, 2017
Member and Professor of Oncology,
Department of Cell Stress Biology
Director, Photodynamic Therapy Clinical Research
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Buffalo, New York Although surgery and radiotherapy are standard treatment modalities for grade T1/T2 oral cavity cancer (OCC), both approaches have well-documented limitations, including their association with adverse effects that lower quality of life (QoL) for patients.
Surgery for these tumors often requires removal of functional tissue, which can affect speech and swallowing, and the risk of local recurrence following surgery is as high as 20%.1-3 The adverse events (AEs) associated with radiation therapy, such as xerostomia, chronic dental decay, and risk of mandibular osteonecrosis, remain long after the patient is “cured.”4 The long-term nature of these AEs is of particular significance for younger patients, in whom the incidence of OCC is rising and who may have more at stake in terms of QoL.4,5
For these reasons, it is important to consider alternative frontline therapies with less impact on QoL, such as photodynamic therapy (PDT), which has emerged as an attractive option for treating patients with early-stage OCC.
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Although surgery and radiotherapy are standard treatment modalities for grade T1/T2 oral cavity cancer (OCC), both approaches have well-documented limitations, including their association with adverse effects that lower quality of life (QoL) for patients.
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