Cancer therapy singlet oxygen

The most important application for singlet oxygen generators (SOGs), namely the anti-cancer treatment known as photodynamic therapy (PDT), is described elsewhere in this series (see Chapter 9.22). However, SOGs are also being evaluated in other areas, such as hard surface disinfectants, soaps and washing powders,73 and insecticides.74,75... 

Singlet Oxygen and Photodynamic Therapy for Cancer Treatment... 

Singlet oxygen is used in the treatment of cancer by photosensitization (photodynamic therapy). This involves treatment with certain porphyrin derivatives which localize preferentially in the tumour, fol-... 

For the past 15 years we and many others have been investigating the application of photosensitization to the treatment of a wide variety of cancers in man. Several reviews of the clinical results have been published [1-4]. While this treatment has been referred to by many descriptions, the most commonly employed is photodynamic therapy (PDT), although the involvement of the type II photodynamic process in vivo, that is, generation of singlet oxygen by energy transfer from the sensitizer to oxygen, is inferred rather than proven (see below). 

Sensitizers can be employed for agricultural purposes as herbicides and insecticides, or for medical purposes as antibacterial and antiviral agents. Moreover, sensitizer-based methods serve as tools for the analysis of the interaction faces of polymer complejKs and the sequence-selective photocleavage of double-stranded DNA. The ways in which photosensitized reactions are utilized are illustrated by the following typical examples. The first case relates to the photochemotherapy of cancer cells in superficial solid tumors [48]. The sophotodynamic therapy, PDT, is based on the selective incorporation of a photosensitizer into tumor cells, followed by exposure to light (commonly at A=600 nm). Cytotoxic products, namely singlet oxygen, O, and superoxide radical anions,... 

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