Effect of hematoporphyrin and red light on AH-130 solid tumors in rats

Using Light for Therapy of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)

: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant form of primary brain tumour with extremely poor prognosis. The current standard of care for newly diagnosed GBM includes maximal surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy. The introduction of this protocol has improved overall survival, however recurrence is essentially inevitable. The key reason for that is that the surgical treatment fails to eradicate GBM cells completely, and adjacent parenchyma remains infiltrated by scattered GBM cells which become the source of recurrence. This stimulates interest to any supplementary methods which could help to destroy residual GBM cells and fight the infiltration. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) relies on photo-toxic effects induced by specific molecules (photosensitisers) upon absorption of photons from a light source. Such toxic effects are not specific to a particular molecular fingerprint of GBM, but rather depend on selective accumulation of the photosensitiser inside tumour cells or, perhaps their greater sensitivity to the effects, triggered by light. This gives hope that it might be possible to preferentially damage infiltrating GBM cells within the areas which cannot be surgically removed and further improve the chances of survival if an efficient photosensitiser and hardware for light delivery into the brain tissue are developed. So far, clinical trials with PDT were performed with one specific type of photosensitiser, protoporphyrin IX, which tends to accumulate in the cytoplasm of the GBM cells. In this review we discuss the idea that other types of molecules which build up in mitochondria could be explored as photosensitisers and used for PDT of these aggressive brain tumours.

Synergistic effect of ultrasound and hematoporphyrin on sarcoma 180

The antitumor effects of combined use of ultrasound (US) and a photosensitizer, hematoporphyrin (Hp), were determined in mice bearing sarcoma 180. In order to find the optimum timing of the US irradiation after the administration of Hp, the Hp concentrations in the tumor and in the plasma were determined and were analyzed pharmacokinetically. Antitumor effects were evaluated by measuring the tumor size and the tumor weight. Hp alone showed no antitumor effect but US alone showed a slight antitumor effect. The combined treatment with US and Hp showed marked synergistic effects on sarcoma 180 (inhibition ratio was 74% of the control). From these results, the enhancement of antitumor effect is thought to be caused by the sensitization of tumor cells to US mediated by Hp.

Evidence for a major role of plasma lipoproteins as hematoporphyrin carriers in vivo

Hematoporphyrin (5 mg/ml), administered intravenously to tumor-bearing patients, becomes associated with different serum proteins, including lipoproteins (mainly HDL), globulin and albumin. No residual porphyrin is bound to the two latter classes of proteins after 48 h, whereas the complexation with the lipoproteins appears to be particularly stable probably owing to the hydrophobic nature of hematoporphyrin. The late persistence of hematoporphyrin in serum is due to the binding to the VLDL fraction with special regard to its cholesterol moiety. The importance of hematoporphyrin transport by lipoproteins for the photodynamic therapy of tumors is briefly discussed.