Abstract
In the liver, hematoporphyrin derivatives (HpD), which are commonly used in photodynamic therapy (PDT), accumulate in normal tissues sa well sa in tumor tissues. Therefore,PDT has been considered to be contraindicated for hepatic tumor. This seems to be the main reason for the present lack of basic investigation on this issue. In this connection, we carried out a basic study on the possibility of PDT for the treatment of hepatoma, using PH-1126, a photosensitizer which is soon excreted from normal hepatic tissues, but accumulates in high quantities in the tumor. Using rabbit VX2 hepatic cancer model, we have been reported the suggestion of promising position of PDT in the treatment of hepatoma. Using YAG-OPO laser, usefullness of adjuvant therapy with PDT was conducted on four groups, tumorectomy one week after inplantation VX2 cells (group1), tumorectomy two weeks after (group2), PDT one week after (group3), PDT one week after and tumorectomy two weeks after (group4). The animals were sacrificed 4 weeks after the initiation of PDT to determine the therapeutic effect. A no-treatment group served sa a control. Judging from the hepatic tumor size, significant inhibition of proliferation of the tumor was suggested in PDT, in which necrotic area frequently appeared, compared with the control group. As for the rate of metastasis to the lung and liver, significant inhibition of metastasis was observed in groups 1 and 4 in comparison with the conrol group. From the above results, especially lung and liver metastatic inhibition, it is suggested that PDT may be an effective adjuvant therapy for hepatic cancer.
