Porfimer sodium, sold as Photofrin, is a photosensitizer used in photodynamic therapy and radiation therapy and for palliative treatment of obstructing endobronchial non-small cell lung carcinoma and obstructing esophageal cancer.
Porfimer is a mixture of oligomers formed by ether and ester linkages of up to eight porphyrin units.[1] In practice, a red light source emitting at 630 nm is used to excite the Porfimer oligomers.[2]
Porfimer is Haematoporphyrin Derivative (HpD) (See PDT).
Approvals and indications
It was approved in Canada in 1993 for the treatment of bladder cancer.[2] It was approved in Japan in 1994 (for early stage lung cancer?).[2] It was approved by the U.S. FDA in December 1995 for esophageal cancer, and in 1998, it was approved for the treatment of early non-small cell lung cancer.[2]
In August 2003 the FDA approved its use for Barrett's esophagus.[3]
References
- ^ "Porfimer injection Prescribing information" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d Usuda J, Kato H, Okunaka T, Furukawa K, Tsutsui H, Yamada K, et al. (June 2006). "Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for lung cancers". Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 1 (5): 489–93. doi:10.1016/S1556-0864(15)31616-6. PMID 17409904.
- ^ "FDA Patient Safety News: Show #20, October 2003". October 2003. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
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