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Mesothelioma Treatment | Articles & Abstracts
Therapy Studies > Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)
The Procedure
The following explanation of photodynamic therapy is brought to you by MBG Technologies, Inc. and its affiliate Ci-Tec. They are the makers of the LumaCare™ lamp, a light source specialized for photodynamic therapy.
"Photodynamic therapy is one of the most promising new fields of medicine for the treatment of diseases and disorders of tissues. It involves the use of photoreactive drugs that are absorbed exclusively by diseased tissues while not affecting the surrounding healthy tissue.
"The drugs are applied on the skin and penetrate through to the targeted diseased tissue, or they are injected into the blood stream, from which the affected area absorbs the drug.
"Once the drugs are in place, the LumaCare™ lamp is used to irradiate the tissues with a fixed frequency light source unique to each drug and disease. The drug absorbs the light, which stimulates the drug to destroy only the diseased tissues in which the drug has been absorbed.
- Light-activated drug is applied topically or injected intravenously.
- Drug accumulates in the affected tissue.
- Low power light is delivered through the LumaCare™ device and focused on the affected tissue.
- Light activates photoreactive drug, releasing agents that destroy only affected cells.
"The vast majority of photodynamic therapy applications utilize light waves in the 350-800 nanometer range--waves from the visible portion of the light spectrum. These wavelengths are preferred because they can penetrate up to 3 centimeters (over 1 1/8 inch) deep into human tissues. This means that targeted tissue beneath the skins surface can be irradiated by light that is simply shined on the skin, avoiding any need for surgical procedures."
