The history of PDT in Norway Part II. Recent advances in general PDT and ALA-PDT.

Generation of singlet oxygen and estimation of its lifetime, the oxygen effect, the subcellular localization of photosensitizers and their photodegradation during photodynamic therapy (PDT), the effects of PDT on DNA and chromosomes were described in the first part of our review. In this review we discuss PDT in combination with other treatments (hyperthermia, ionizing radiation, electrotherapy, chemotherapeutic drugs) or with other agents; cell interactions and bystander effects in PDT; the influence of PDT on the cytoskeleton; a novel technology, named photochemical internalisation (PCI), for light-induced delivery of macromolecules and 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) PDT. Lipophilic derivatives of ALA, instead of ALA itself, were proposed for induction of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) in the treatment of superficial lesions. Based on this research a Norwegian company PhotoCure ASA was founded in 1993 with the aim to commercialise photodynamic technologies developed at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Northern Europe. The company has two products on the market: Metvix(®) for treatment of basal cell carcinomas and actinic keratoses, and Hexvix(®) for fluorescence diagnosis of bladder cancer. New ALA derivatives for fluorescence diagnosis and treatment of early-stage cancers in internal organs, e.g. colon cancer, are currently being investigated.