J Appl Biomed 20:98-105, 2022 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2022.013

Photodynamic therapy in breast cancer treatment

Joanna Gustalik¹, David Aebisher², Dorota Bartusik-Aebisher^{3, *}

¹ Department of Pathomorphology, Medical College of The University of Rzeszów, University of Rzeszów, Poland

² Department of Photomedicine and Physical Chemistry, Medical College of The University of Rzeszów, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów Poland

³ Department of Biochemistry and General Chemistry, Medical College of The University of Rzeszów, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland

Breast cancer is a serious public problem in modern society. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is increasingly used in modern medicine. Currently, PDT is an innovative method of treating breast cancer. Irreversible damage to neoplastic tissues is associated with the use of physicochemical processes. Generating cytotoxic reactive oxygen species [singlet oxygen (1O2)] is leading to tumor cell death. At the same time, valuable information can be extracted from breast cancer cells. Photogenerated 1O2 is the major factor responsible for cell necrosis during PDT. 1O2 can react rapidly intracellularly with all organic substances. The use of photodynamic therapy on tissues in vitro creates conditions for testing various types of solutions and implementing them in in vivo treatment. This article is a review of recent advances in PDT for treatment of breast cancer. PDT is a novel cancer diagnostic and cancer treatment therapy. Therefore, an understanding of the possibility to generate a toxic form of 1O2 is necessary. The knowledge gained from the basics of PDT in vitro can be useful in biomedical applications in vivo. The current literature mentions PDT in the treatment of cancers located very deep within the human body. Therefore, the development of agents used to deliver 1O2 to the deep cancerous tissue is a new challenge which can have an efficient impact on this discipline. This review covers the literature between 2000-2022.

Keywords: Breast cancer tissues; Intracellular; Photodynamic therapy; Reactive oxygen species; Treatment

Grants and funding:

Dorota Bartusik-Aebisher acknowledges support from the National Center of Science NCN (New drug delivery systems-MRI study, Grant OPUS-13 number 2017/25/B/ST4/02481).

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Received: June 16, 2020; Revised: March 7, 2022; Accepted: September 23, 2022; Prepublished online: October 4, 2022; Published: October 5, 2022  Show citation