 Press ReleasesAutumn 2004 Messenger - Yorkshire Cancer Research Leeds PDT Group The Leeds photodynamic therapy (PDT) group was founded with YCR support more than 15 years ago. YCR has continued to be the major funder of the group, which is multidisciplinary with many clinicians and scientists working together to bring this emerging approach to more and more patients. Two achievements by the Leeds group have come into particular focus during the past year. The first is a new approach to the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), a disease which is on the increase and which affects more than one in four people. The Leeds group was the first in Europe to develop a particular form of PDT using a simple drug known as ALA to treat NMSC. This approach has now spread to many hundreds of centres throughout Europe and many thousands of patients have been treated and cured. The success of this approach has ensured that it has moved into routine clinical practice and intensive research, such as was carried out in Leeds, is no longer necessary. The second achievement is the continued success of the company, Photopharmica, which was founded to commercialise the discoveries made by the Leeds PDT group. The company is now well-advanced with the development of two PDT drugs; one for treating cancer and the other for treating bacterial infections. Indeed, the first patients have now been treated and none of this would have been possible without the YCR support for the Leeds PDT group. > menu |
