Photodynamic therapy for prostate cancer

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a sophisticated and powerful technique that can be used for cancer treatment, for example prostate cancer. It is a technique that enables the destruction of a target tissue via the administration of an inactive, light-sensitive agent (a "photosensitizer") and the local application of light, in the presence of oxygen. The photosensitizer absorbs light (generated by a laser) and transfers this energy to the surrounding tissues, triggering cell destruction.

Tookad (WST09, Palladium bacteriopheophorbide) is a new-generation photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy that can be used to treat relatively large solid tumors, such as localized prostate cancer. Tookad is the fruit of the collaboration between scientists of the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel, and the pharmaceutical development teams of STEBA BIOTECH N.V. in Holland and France.

In vivo the most prominent feature of Tookad is its fast clearance, while exclusively staying within the vascular network. Because of these properties, a Tookad-mediated PDT procedure causes extensive vascular damage, ultimately leading to tissue necrosis. Due to these unique vascular restricted effects of Tookad, the Tookad-mediated PDT procedure is also referred to as "Vascular-Targeted Photodynamic therapy", "VT-PDT" or "VTP".

The VTP procedure using Tookad has been tested in several clinical trials for the treatment of localized prostate cancer:

• For the treatment of localized prostate cancers that relapse after external-beam radiotherapy;
• For "first-line" treatment (treatment of previously untreated localized prostate cancers).

This site provides information on:

• Prostate cancer;
• Tookad and its use in the treatment of localized prostate cancer;
• Currently ongoing clinical trials seeking patients with localized prostate cancer, for the rigorously controlled clinical testing of the effectiveness of Tookad in this condition.

At present there is one study using vascular targeted PDT for prostate cancer. It is being run at University College London Hospitals Trust. Here you can read about our current studies, download a patient information leaflet or contact the research teams to enquire about participating in the studies.