Possibilities of photodynamic therapy for Vulvar cancer

The article presents new results of experimental and clinical research on the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for vulvar cancer. The purpose of the study is to develop new treatment modality for vulvar cancer and evaluate its efficiency. In the study such photosensitizers as Photohem, Photosens and Photolon were used. PDT was administered to 20 vulvar cancer patients, aged between 32 and 83 years, with confirmed morphologic diagnosis «squama cell keratinous carcinoma». Three patients had stage I of the disease, 15 patients - stage II, one patient - stage III and one patient - stage IV. In 16 patients (80%) the disease was first diagnosed, 4 patients had recurrent cancer following combined treatment. All patients with first diagnosed vulvar cancer underwent external beam radiation therapy using static treatment plans following the photodynamic treatment. Radiation therapy was delivered to regional metastatic lesions with single dose of 2 Gy and total dose of 50-60 Gy. One year overall survival was 65.7%, two-year survivl was 44.2% and five-year survival - 36.2%. According to obtained results the efficiency of PDT for vulvar cancer depends on a clinical stage of the disease, extent of tumor spread, tumor morphological structure, a patient’s somatic status. Results of the study suggest that photodynamic therapy can be a treatment modality for vulvar cancer, and further research on possibilities of PDT for the disease is necessary.