A drug treatment which dramatically boosts the effectiveness of laser cancer treatment has been developed by Open University researchers working with the National Medical Laser Centre.
Laser light combined with a photosensitizer drug is widely used to attack skin, breast and neck cancer cells, a treament known as photodynamic therapy (PDT). But many cancer cells contain antioxidants which partially protect them against PDT.
The research team, led by Dr Jon Golding, Lecturer in Health Sciences at The Open University, used antioxidant inhibitor drugs to overcome the antioxidant defences of breast cancer cells, resulting in a significantly improved cell kill.
"Because we are able to target cancerous cells more effectively, we expect an improved prognosis for cancer suffers," he said. "We selected antioxidant inhibitor drugs that are already clinically licensed, so it should speed up the adoption of these important findings into clinical practice."
Their study, Antioxidant Inhibitors Potentiate the Cytotoxicity of Photodynamic Therapy, is published in the PDT journal, Photochemistry and Photobiology.
