GUANGZHOU YOU-HAO HOSPITAL ONCOLOGY CENTRE

GUANGZHOU YOU-HAO HOSPITAL ONCOLOGY CENTRE

廣州友好醫院腫瘤综合治療中心

Treatments Offered.

PHOTO DYNAMIC TREATMENT (PDT)

PDT is a new generation tumor treatment approved by the FDA and other European medical authorities. It is also called

photosensitization therapy or photochemical therapy. This is the only photomotor therapy system that is

authenticated by the FDA of the USA and several other national authorities. It has been successfully used in the clinic and

found to have very significant therapeutic effects.

Principle of treatment

PDT uses an agent which is a photosensitizer and this is given to the patient orally or intravenously.

After circulating in the blood to the whole body, it selectively accumulates in cancer tissue.

A photodynamic equipment is then used to emit a laser beam at a

long wavelength of 630nm targeting the tumor tissue. The photosensitizer concentrated in the cancer

cells are then activated as a result and releases a highly energized, free radical form of

oxygen known as singlet oxygen. The singlet oxygen destroys the cancer cells from the inside while leaving normal tissues largely unaffected.

Benefits of the treatment

In comparison with conventional treatments such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery,

PDT is far superior for the following reasons:

Accurate curative effect: PDT is a targeting therapy through the use of the photosensitizing agent.

The agent is activated by the long wave laser from the outside and eliminates the cancer cells

through the release of free radicals and other substances which are targeted to the cancer cells.

At the same time it helps to strengthen the body’s immune system resulting in higher resistance

to tumor growth and recurrence. The curative effect of this therapy is much more obvious in early stage patients.

Minimum trauma caused: Since no surgical operation is involved, there is no resultant injury or wound. This treatment

uses fine optical fibre lens, endoscopy, ultrasonography , CT and other interventive technologies to

generate the laser and lead it to the

cancer for activating the photosensitizer.

Low toxicity: The sensitizer accumulated in the cancer cells will only be activated to kill the

cancer cells when it is taken at a sufficient

level of concentration and the light used is strong enough at the lighted area.

The normal tissue contains only a very low level of the

sensitizer and has no laser light irradiated on it. Therefore PDT does no harm to the rest of the body.

The immune system, blood circulation system, organs and tissues within the body are not affected during PDT. This is totally different from

radiotherapy and chemotherapy which result in serious side effects