Using iron chelating agents to enhance dermatological PDT

Topical protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) induced photodynamic therapy (PDT) of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) produces good clinical outcomes with excellent cosmesis as long as the disease remains superficial. Efficacy for nodular BCC however appears inferior to standard treatment unless repeat treatments are performed. Enhancement is therefore required and is possible by employing iron chelating agents to temporarily increase PPIX accumulation above the levels normally obtained using aminolevulinic acid (ALA) or the methyl ester of ALA (MAL) alone. In vitro studies investigated the effect of the novel iron chelator, CP94 on necrotic or apoptotic cell death in cultured human skin fibroblasts and epidermal carcinoma cells incubated with MAL. Furthermore, following a dose escalating safety study conducted with ALA in patients, an additional twelve nodular BCCs were recruited for topical treatment with standard MAL-PDT +/- increasing doses of CP94. Six weeks later following clinical assessment, the whole treatment site was excised for histological analysis. CP94 produced greater cell death in vitro when administered in conjunction with MAL than this porphyrin precursor could produce when administered alone. Clinically, PDT treatment using Metvix + CP94 was a simple and safe modification associated with a trend of reduced tumor thickness with increasing CP94 dose.© (2009) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.