Antitumor immune reaction elicited by photodynamic therapy

摘要

Abstract: This work examines why photodynamic therapy (PDT) is capable of eliciting a strong immune reaction against treated solid tumors. It is postulated that this phenomenon originates from the basic charter of the insult inflicted by the photodynamic treatment, which is dominated by singlet oxygen-mediated oxidative stress. The early event associated with this initial impact, which is of major relevance for the development of immune response, is the generation of photo-oxidative lesions responsible for the activation of cellular signal transduction pathways and consequent induction of stress proteins. Importantly, these lesions, as well as other types of PDT mediated oxidative injury, have a strong pro-inflammatory character. It is suggested that the antitumor immune response is primed and propagated by the PDT-induced inflammatory process. Of critical importance for the immune recognition of treated tumor is the generation of large amounts of cancer cell debris that occurs rapidly following PDT treatment. !52