Abstract
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment for malignant tumors employing the interaction of a photosensitizer with laser light in the presence of molecular oxygen. Acontinuous wave laser, usually an argon laser-pumped dye laser, has normally been used as the excitation light source in PDT. Recently, some pulsed lasers have become available. The effectiveness of PDT using a pulsed laser varies greatly with the operating conditions, for instance, repetition rate, pulse width and pulse energy. This review describes mainly the cytotoxic efficacy when using a variety of pulsed lasers, and some factors that would contribute significantly to their therapeutic effects.
