Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic diagnosis of cancer are widely used in clinical fields. These are performed using photosensitizers. Many metalloporphyrin-related compounds have been developed as photosensitizers for use in PDT, and these tumor localization ability have been improved in recent research. Moreover, the precursor of porphyrin 5-aminolevulinic acid is used in fluorescence diagnosis using its tumor localization ability. In this review, these applications of photosensitizers in cancer therapy and diagnosis are summarized.

Keywords: Photodynamic therapy, phthalocyanine, aminolevulinic acid, immunoconjugate, photodynamic diagnosis, tumor marker, porphyrin 5-aminolevulinic acid, ophthalmic tumors, fluorescence diagnosis, target tissues, photosensitizer, hematoporphyrin derivative, tumor tissue occurs, hemoglobin, photodynamic treatment