Photodynamic Therapy for Malignant Brain Tumors: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) was approved to be covered by health insurance in Japan on 2013, as an additional intraoperative local treatment for invasive tumor cells after maximum safe resection of the primary malignant brain tumors. This review provides an overview of the clinical trials conducted over the last 40 years, illustrating how PDT is applied in the clinical practice in the world. Furthermore, examples from ongoing clinical trials are presented, and the author proposed the future perspectives of PDT for malignant brain tumors.