Combined Cisplatinum and Laser Thermal Therapy for Palliation of Recurrent Head and Neck Tumors

Abstract

In recent years endoscopically controlled laser-induced thermal therapy (LITT) has been increasingly accepted as a minimally invasive method for palliation of advanced or recurrent head and neck or gastrointestinal cancer. Previous studies have shown that adjuvant chemotherapy can potentiate endoscopic laser thermal ablation of obstructing tumors leading to improved palliation in advanced cancer patients. Eight patients with recurrent head and neck tumors volunteered to enroll as part of an ongoing phase II LITT clinical trial, and also elected to be treated with systemic chemotherapy (cisplatin, 80 mg/m2) followed 24 h later by palliative laser thermal ablation. Laser treatments were repeated in patients with residual disease or recurrence for a total of 27 LITT sessions. Four of the 8 patients treated with laser thermal chemotherapy remained alive after a median follow-up of 12 months. Of the 12 tumor sites treated, complete responses were located in the oral cavity (3), oropharynx (1), hypopharynx (1), maxillary sinus (1), and median survival for these patients was 9.5 months. This initial experience with cisplatinum-based laser chemotherapy indicates both safety and therapeutic potential for palliation of advanced head and neck cancer but this must be confirmed by longer follow-up in a larger cohort of patients.

Combination of Sonodynamic and Photodynamic Therapy against Cancer Would Be Effective through Using a Regulated Size of Nanoparticles

“…[19–22] PDT, using a photosensitizer and laser emission, has been applied quite successfully in Japan for the last 15 years against the early cancers of esophagus, lung, stomach and cervix of the uterus. For the head and neck cancer also it has shown a good promise [23–26]. PDT is also very much safe in respect of adverse effects to the other biological parts around the cancer region.…”

Intratumor cisplatin nephrotoxicity in combined laser‐induced thermal therapy for cancer treatment

“…Seven men and two women were enrolled and the median age was 62.3 years (52-82 years). Overall, pain and tumor regrowth were the major complaints (three patients), followed by concerns of bleeding (2) and anxiety (1). Secondary symptoms included dyspnea, oozing/malodorous and one patient complained of arm rigidity with tumor regrowth in the neck.…”

Nd:YAG laser therapy for palliation of recurrent squamous cell carcinomas in the oral cavity

“…These undertreated areas in the periphery previously were sites of tumor recurrence, which may be prevented by local chemotherapy with heat-sensitive anti-cancer drugs. Cisplatin is a promising drug for use in conjunction with photo-thermal laser therapy because its cytotoxicity is enhanced at elevated temperatures [24,25]. Further efforts to develop laser treatment methods should provide less invasive and more effective therapy for patients with recurrent tumors.…”