Photodynamic therapy (PDT) using hematoporphyrin derivative and argon-dye laser has been performed on 146 cases with lung cancer in the Department of Surgery, Tokyo Medical College Hospital since 1980.
The indication of this therapy was as follows: 1) early stage of central type lung cancer, 2) multiple lung cancer, and 3) preoperative therapy in combination with surgery.
Fifty-five cases were in stage I, 11 cases were in stage II and 8 cases were in stages III and IV. Histopathology showed squamous cell carcinoma in 115, adenocarcinoma in 15, large cell carcinoma in 6 and small cell carcinoma in 7. The efficiency and the limitation of this therapy in each indication were evaluated in this paper.
We also described the newly-developed excimer laser system for diagnosis and treatment of the cancer.
