 Press ReleasesSummer 2004 Messenger - Yorkshire Cancer Research Newsletter Putting Cancer Under a Bright Light For the past 15 years Yorkshire Cancer Research has been funding a world-leading team on an exciting line of research into a Cancer treatment called Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). The research led by Professor Stan Brown, head of the University of Leeds Centre for Photobiology and Photodynamic Therapy, has been so successful that commercial backers are already funding the work to advance the medical benefits of PDT research. PDT is a treatment that combines a light source and a photosensitising agent (a drug that is harmless until activated by light) to destroy cancer cells. Its application in terms of cancer treatment represents a novel method by which cancerous and pre-cancerous tissue may be destroyed without harming surrounding healthy tissue. The principle behind PDT is simple. Patients are passed into the body to deliver light to the tumour. PDT allows for precision targeting. The selectivity available through PDT is a major benefit to cancer patients since the treatment is used only in the affected area, rather than the 'full body' toxic treatment of chemotherapy. The team's research work at the centre in Leeds, the largest such centre in Europe, has been focused on the use of lasers in the delivery of PDT. "Some lasers are able to kill cancer cells with heat; vaporizing or cutting out tumours, but they can also kill surrounding healthy tissue," says Professor Brown. "However, in photodynamic therapy, the laser's concentrated beam of light is used to activate the drug to produce a reaction that kills the cancer cells without harming the adjacent tissue. PDT is therefore able to target cancer very specifically."Clinical trials have shown that PDT can be as effective as surgery or radiation therapy in treating certain kinds of cancers, such as skin cancer, and has potentially fewer side effects. Another possible advantage is that therapy can be repeated several times at the same site if necessary. In most cases treatment with photodynamic therapy lasts a few hours and patients go home the same day. The most common forms of cancer treated with PDT are skin, head and neck, and the lining of the mouth, lung, oesophagus, stomach and bladder. As PDT is still relatively new, it is envisaged that it could be used for an increasing number of treatments. "Patients can also receive other forms of treatment, such as surgery or radiation, if their cancer does not respond to this therapy. It does not eliminate any options - another benefit of PDT," Professor Brown says. Photodynamic therapy represents a dramatic new opportunity to improve the targeting of therapies. Professor Brown says, "The discoveries we have made and the benefits to cancer patients are now broadly proven. Making new treatments widely available is the next challenge and it is one that we hope to meet by attracting funding for the development work undertaken by Photopharmica, a company set up specifically to attract commercial funding for this pioneering research work." As Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Brown will be able to develop his ideas with the backing of a full team of experts."In addition to being one of the leading authorities in the world on PDT, the Leeds team has attracted some of the most expert scientists in the field," says Dr Nick Varey, Vice-Chairman of Yorkshire Cancer Research. "Professor Brown has changed the way that the medical field is approaching PDT around the world, raising the level of interest in the potentially astonishing applications that this technique will have in the future. It's exciting, leading-edge technology and Yorkshire Cancer Research has been instrumental in funding it from the start." More than 500 patients have already benefited from the Leeds Centre's techniques in trials using drugs already available on the market. Professor Brown concludes, "The current worldwide trend is moving towards prevention, early screening and early treatment of cancer. Photodynamic technology is particularly well suited to these applications." > menu |
