Photodynamic Therapy
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Hi Jennifer,
When you say used I assume that you mean can someone have PDT and undergo chemo at the same time? If so, I go back to my dads experiences at the time and he was told that it was one of the other, the PDT or chemo. But, we were told that if he went with the PDT then chemo may be tried at a later date. So he took the PDT but as things turned out a year after it he was unable to have the chemo due to the bile duct getting blocked so the chemo would not be able to leave his body.
But, that was back in 2008 and things may have changed since then. I’m not sure to be honest if one can have PDT and have chemo at the same time or closely after or vice versa now. But, I can’t see why not and things will have changed and progressed hopefully since 2008 regarding the use of this treatment. If anyone has any other thoughts or insight then I am sure that they will jump in here. You have to take into account that PDT for CC is still quite experimental, it was back in 2008 and still is today in my opinion. Much still needs to be looked at regarding this and hopefully more research will be done here. I hope that some of that is useful for you.
Hugs,
Gavin
Thanks everyone I really do appreciate the input from everyone!!
Gavin do you know if PDT can be used with Chemo?
Thanks,
JenniferThank you Marion, stealing in this instance is good me thinks! And thanks for that searching link too Eli, very useful indeed!
eli…you are a master internet searcher. Thanks for checking in on us and for always helping out.
Hugs,
MarionThis google search returns all forum posts that mention PDT:
http://www.google.com/#q=site%3Acholangiocarcinoma.org+PDT
I get 16 pages of links to the forum posts.
Hi Biscuit,
Thanks for bringing up the topic of PDT and my dad had this as his treatment after his diagnosis of inoperable CC. I wrote quite a bit about his experiences and after effects of PDT at the time and this post may be of interest to you –
http://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=1940
Surgery was not an option for my dad and he basically had the choice of 2 treatments, chemo or PDT. He wanted a quality of life for the time that he had left so he went with the PDT instead of the chemo as the side effects of PDT were not as rough as the chemo. At the time, PDT was I think being trialed through various hospitals in the UK and our local hospital here in Dundee was one of them. Also, my dads GI specialist was quite heavily involved into PDT research so he went with that option. He also had a metal stent inserted for bile drainage.
Did it work for my dad? Tough to say really but it slowed down the progression of his tumour and bought him many more months I would say so yes, it worked in one way but didn’t eradicate the cancer. But in all fairness, we were told that this was a palliatve measure so I guess it worked well for him really.
The side effects stated about the sensitivity of the body, skins, eyes etc to direct light must NOT be understimated at all. I can’t stress that point enough to anyone!!!! It took my dad much longer to get over the stated time for side effects, 4-6 weeks was not nearly enough for him. He had gotten over much of them by the 6 week period, but for him to be completely free of the side effects it took well over a few months.
All of the being siad though about side effects, apart from the light sensitivity he never had any other side effects that we would put down to the PDT. Sure he got pains in the side every now and again, got tired and stuff but we could put that down to the effects of the cancer itself just as so many others could as well. As to whether PDT is better than chemo as a treatment, I can’t answer that at all and I won’t try to. But I guess he got what he wanted from it regarding quality of life etc over the chemo. But then again, people react differently to the side effects of chemo.
If I can help in any way about my dads experiences with PDT then just ask and I’ll do what I can to help in answering them from his perspective and experiences.
Best wishes,
Gavin
buscuit….this link addresses PDT treatments:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/photodynamic
But I am pretty sure for our Gavin to come around real soon and share his thoughts with you.
Hugs,
MarionHaven’t heard of it, but it sounds good! I’d love to know where the study was done, and which hospitals are using it.
I was just wondering if anyone has heard of this:
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a new therapy that selectively destroys tumor tissue. A photosensitizer is administered and selectively retained by the target tumor tissue. The photosensitizer is nontoxic in its native state, however, after activation by a light at a particular wavelength, the photosensitizer becomes cytotoxic and produces local tissue destruction. The only relevant side effect seen to date is phototoxicity, which lasts often for 4-6 weeks after drug administration.Animal and human pilot studies have shown a reduction of up to 60% of tumor volume after administration of PDT with hematoporphyrin. One trial using biliary PDT in patients with unresectable cholangiocarcinoma (Bismuth types III and IV tumors), who failed endoprostheses placement, has resulted in significant improvements in serum bilirubin levels and quality of life scores, with a 30-day mortality of 0% and median survival time of 439 days. Other trials investigating the effect of PDT in patients with unresectable hilar carcinoma who were treated with endoprostheses placement showed a six-month survival rate of 91%. Ninety-six percent of patients improved in terms of cholestasis, performance and quality of life. No adverse side effects were reported.
PDT appears to be a promising therapeutic approach for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma, and combines the two aims of treating cholestasis and reducing tumor growth. The apparent benefit in survival time, however, needs to be confirmed with randomized, controlled trials.
Any views on this??
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