Abstract

The aim of this work is to study pharmacokinetics and photodynamic efficiency of aluminium phthalocyanine chloride (AlCIPc) in dimethylsulfoxide/Tween 80/water solution, after topical application on hairless mice bearing non-melanoma skin carcinomas. The concentration of photosensitizer in normal skin and tumor biopsies 1–6 hours after application was assessed by fluorescence spectroscopy of chemical extractions. The concentration of photosensitizer was 40 times higher in tumor than in normal skin even 1 h after application.

For photodynamic therapy (PDT) AlCIPc was excited by a diode laser emitting at 670 nm, 1 h after application. Seven different combinations of therapeutic parameters were chosen. The efficiency was assessed as the percentage of complete tumor remission, the tumor growth retardation and the cosmetic outcomes. The highest complete remission 60% was achieved with the combination of 75 mW/cm² with 150 J/cm². No recurrence rate was observed in any treatment parameters group and the cosmetic outcome in all completely treated tumors was excellent. The results show that the effectiveness of PDT is highly dependent on fluence rate. In addition, they are promising for further investigation of this PDT scheme in preclinical studies mainly in non-melanoma skin carcinomas up to 7mm.

© 2007 SPIE