Porfimer sodium, sold as Photofrin, is a

photosensitizer Photosensitizers are light absorbers that alter the course of a photochemical reaction. They usually are catalysts. They can function by many mechanisms; sometimes they abstract an electron from the substrate, and sometimes they abstract a hydro ...

used in

photodynamic therapy Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a form of phototherapy involving light and a photosensitizing chemical substance used in conjunction with molecular oxygen to elicit cell death ( phototoxicity). PDT is used in treating acne, wet age-related macula ...

and

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

and for palliative treatment of obstructing endobronchial

non-small cell lung carcinoma Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or non-small-cell lung carcinoma, is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than Small-cell carcinoma#Small-cell lung cancer, small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. ...

and obstructing

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...

. Porfimer is a mixture of

oligomers In chemistry and biochemistry, an oligomer () is a molecule that consists of a few repeating units which could be derived, actually or conceptually, from smaller molecules, monomers.Quote: ''Oligomer molecule: A molecule of intermediate relativ ...

formed by ether and ester linkages of up to eight

porphyrin Porphyrins ( ) are heterocyclic, macrocyclic, organic compounds, composed of four modified pyrrole subunits interconnected at their α carbon atoms via methine bridges (). In vertebrates, an essential member of the porphyrin group is heme, w ...

units. In practice, a red light source emitting at 630 nm is used to excite the Porfimer oligomers. Porfimer is Haematoporphyrin Derivative (HpD) (See PDT).

Approvals and indications

It was approved in Canada in 1993 for the treatment of

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the bladder. These cells can grow to form a tumor, which eventually spreads, damaging the bladder and other organs. Most people with bladder cancer are diagnosed after noticing blood in thei ...

. It was approved in Japan in 1994 (for early stage lung cancer?). It was approved by the U.S. FDA in December 1995 for

, and in 1998, it was approved for the treatment of early

non-small cell lung cancer Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or non-small-cell lung carcinoma, is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitiv ...

. In August 2003 the FDA approved its use for

Barrett's esophagus Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which there is an abnormal ( metaplastic) change in the mucosal cells that line the lower part of the esophagus. The cells change from stratified squamous epithelium to simple columnar epithelium, intersper ...

References

External links

Photofrin Photofrin marketing info
{{Chemotherapeutic agents Photosensitizing agents Porphyrins