Abstract
Argon-dye laser photoirradiation therapy following i. v. injection of hematoporphyrin derivative injection (HpD-PRT) is receiving increasing attention as a selective cancer-destroying method. We have applied HpD-PRT to treat cases of malignant head and neck tumors. The method consisted of irradiating the lesion with the laser beam transmitted via a quartz fiber 48 hours after i. v. injection of HpD. The standard light dosage was 200-500 mw/cm2 for about 20 minutes. The cases were all male patients and consisted of 2 cases each of laryngeal cancer, meso pharyngeal cancer and cancer of the tongue.
Summary of Result:
1.The cancerous tissues showed extreme damaged in all the cases with no damage to normal tissues. 2.The edema immediately after the therapy was extreme so that it was found that a preliminary tracheotomy is necessary before treatment of lesions in the neighborhood of laryngeal region. 3.It is easy to apply the therapy to lesions in the oral cavity or in the soft pallate,but to lesions in the laryngeal region, where the morphological construction is so complicated, having many concave and convex surfaces and involving many reflex movements or storage of salive, it is not possible to obtain sufficient and homogeneous photoradiation of the total lesion with present instrumentation. 4.Deep-seated lesions are not controllable, but this therapy was found suitable for treatment of superficial lesions and cases of carcinoma in situ in the oral cavity, etc.
