Interstitial Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) for the Treatment of Patients with Locally Advanced or Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer

Preliminary experience suggests that porfimer sodium (Photofrin®) mediated interstitial photodynamic therapy (I-PDT) may hold promise for patients with locally advanced and recurrent head and neck cancer (HNC). Gal Shafirstein, DSc, MSc, BSc, Director of Photodynamic Therapy Clinical Research at Roswell Park, describes a new NCI/NIH funded Phase 1/2 clinical study (NCT03727061) that is now open to evaluate the safety and efficacy of adjuvant Photofrin® mediated I-PDT in patients with locally advanced or recurrent HNC who failed to respond to standard therapy and are not amenable to standard curative treatment. The video begins with background on I-PDT and rationale for the study, with the description of the study beginning around the 9:00 minute mark.