E. V. Filonenko's research while affiliated with National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and other places

Photodynamic therapy is an effective method for treating superficial forms of malignant neoplasms, characterized by a minimal risk of damage to normal tissues. In this study, we presented our experience of treating cancer of the oral mucosa using photodynamic therapy, and analyzed the immediate and long-term results of treatment. 38 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity mucosa, with a depth of invasion no more than 7 mm, were included in the study. All patients underwent photodynamic therapy with chlorine e6 based photosensitizer. Photosensitizers were administered intravenously 3 hours before irradiation, at a dosage of 1 mg/kg of the patient’s weight. Photodynamic therapy was performed with the following parameters: P – 1.0 W, Ps – 0.31 W/cm2, E – 300 J/cm2. The area of one irradiation field ranged 1.0-2.0 cm2. Treatment effect was evaluated by RECIST 1.1. Overall survival, cancer-specific survival, and disease-free survival were calculated using Kaplan-Meier curves. Evaluation of adverse events was made by .TCAE 5.0 criteria. At 35 (92.1%) out of 38 cases, complete regression was observed after photodynamic therapy. Among them in 3 out of 35 patients relapse was diagnosed in 11.5 to 43.2 months. The total number of patients who didn’t respond to treatment was 6 (15.8%). Follow-up period was 4.2-87.3 months. (mean 42.9). 34 (89.5%) out of 38 patients are alive, 1 (2.6%) died from progression, and three died from other causes. The 5-year overall survival rate was 82.1%, cancer-specific survival rate was 97.0%, and disease-free survival rate was 81.1%. Among the factors significantly (p < 0.05) influencing relapse-free survival: depth of invasion < 5 mm (p – 0.013) and the presence of leukoplakia (p – 0.007). When assessing cancer-specific survival, factors worsening the prognosis were: age >70 years (p – 0.034) and the presence of leukoplakia (p – 0.007). Photodynamic therapy is an alternative treatment method of oral cancer superficial lesions, in case of proper assessment of primary lesion and in case of possibility of full irradiation of the tumor. Moreover, after using photodynamic therapy, the underlying connective-muscular structures are preserved, which promotes rapid healing with minimal scarring, the functions of the affected organ remain intact, and cosmetic defects do not form.

The article provides an example of successful treatment of a patient with basal cell skin cancer of the lower eyelid of the right eye, stage IB cT2aN0M0, with the presence of concomitant pathology – a decrease in the activity of plasma factor XII of blood coagulation (Hageman disease). The patient’s medical history is associated with long-term ineffective treatment of the tumor with Curaderm ointment. After diagnosis and further examination at the Moscow Research Institute named after. P.A. Herzen, at the Center for Laser and Photodynamic Diagnostics and Therapy of Tumors, the patient underwent organ-preserving treatment using photodynamic therapy. 1 course of photodynamic therapy with the photosensitizer chlorin e6 was carried out. Complete tumor regression was obtained; relapse-free follow-up period was 1 year

Skin tumors occupy the first place in terms of incidence in the structure of oncological neoplasms. The WHO estimates that 60,000 people die each year from malignant neoplasms of the skin: 48,000 from melanoma and 12,000 from skin cancer. Timely diagnosis of skin cancer makes it possible to achieve a cure for cancer patients with long periods of relapse-free follow-up after the completion of specialized treatment. The introduction of high-tech optical methods for diagnosing skin neoplasms into clinical practice has significantly increased the specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy of diagnostics. The review is devoted to a discussion of such methods for diagnosing skin neoplasms as fluorescent diagnostics, digital dermatoscopy, SIA-scopy, and confocal microscopy. The features of the application of each of the methods are discussed, the results of the most significant Russian and foreign studies in this field are presented, as well as our own results of the practical application of a number of high-tech optical diagnostic methods at the P.A. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Center

Bowen’s disease is a form of non-invasive (in situ) squamous cell skin cancer localized in the non-genital area. Russian and European clinical guidelines include photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the standard of care for patients with Bowen’s disease. In the present review, the efficacy and safety profile of different PDT regimens for Bowen’s disease are analyzed according to the available literature data. PDT can be used to treat large Bowen’s disease lesions localized in areas of the body characterized by severe healing and in cases where surgery is not feasible. Analysis of the results of studies shows that PDT is superior in efficacy and cosmetic results to traditional local treatments such as 5-fluorouracil or cryotherapy. In all analyzed studies in patients with Bowen’s disease, PDT achieved a significant clinical effect. Complete regression of pathologic foci was achieved in 67-100% of patients. In studies evaluating the recurrence rate of Bowen’s disease after PDT, this value ranged from 2-28% with the range of 6-18% in most of the studies. Most often, 5-aminolevulinic acid and its methyl ester are used for PDT in Bowen’s disease. According to some researchers, aminolevulinic acid allows to achieve a more long-term positive clinical effect with a lower incidence of painful reactions during treatment

Acne is one of the most common skin conditions in the world. A number of studies have shown that photodynamic therapy (PDT) is safe and effective for both inflammatory and non-inflammatory acne and can significantly improve skin conditions in this disease. The effectiveness of PDT against acne is mainly due to a decrease in the amount of sebum produced by the sebaceous glands due to a decrease in their activity as a result of direct photodynamic damage to the sebaceous glands, eradication of Cutibacterium acnes, and a decrease in the level of hyperkeratosis. Compared with systemic drug therapy, PDT treatment of severe acne has the following advantages: fast results, high efficiency, high selectivity, no systemic adverse reactions and drug resistance, and low recurrence rate. Most often for PDT in patients with acne, drugs based on 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) and its methyl ester (ME-ALA) are used. At the moment, there are no unified recommendations on PDT regimens for the treatment of this skin pathology. Various studies demonstrate the high efficiency of PDT with a wide range of doses of 5-ALA (3-20%) and ME-ALA (4-16%), light doses (15-120 J/cm2 ), and exposure time (30-90 min). The general trend in studies by different authors is that gentle low-intensity PDT regimens for acne demonstrate the same high efficiency with a significant reduction in pain during irradiation and local skin reactions (erythrema, edema, and hyperpigmentation).

Extramammary Paget's disease is a slow-growing cutaneous intraepithelial adenocarcinoma of the apocrine glands in the anogenital and axillary regions. The disease is extremely rare, affects predominantly postmenopausal women, and has nonspecific clinical caracteristics, so that it can take 210 years from the first clinical signs to diagnosis. The vulva and the perianal region are the most affected zones. Extramammary Pagets disease is clinically manifested as well-defined erythematous plaques with secondary changes, such as scaling, ulceration and even bleeding. Differential diagnosis is made between primary and secondary forms of Extramammary Pagets disease, candidiasis, contact dermatitis, Crohn's disease, eczema, erosive lichen planus, hydradenitis suppurativa, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, sclerosing lichen, psoriasis, squamous cell carcinoma in situ, amelanotic melanoma and mycosis fungoide. Treatment mainly includes the surgical component, as well as the use of photodynamic therapy, cytostatic agents, and, depending on the stage, systemic chemotherapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of psoriasis remains the subject of much debate. There is no consensus in the scientific community about effective and safe PDT regimens for psoriasis. Described in the published materials doses and concentrations of photosensitizers for psoriasis, as well as light doses, differ by dozens of times. The purpose of this review is to analyze the efficacy and safety profile of various PDT regimens for psoriasis. Some studies demonstrate 100% effectiveness of the method in certain modes (complete or partial clearance of psoriasis foci after PDT). In particular, such efficiency was obtained with the application of 20% 5-ALA (light dose 15 J/cm2) and 0.1% methylene blue (light dose 15 J/ cm2). The main factor limiting the use of PDT in psoriasis, and in some cases even being the reason for treatment interruption, is severe pain during the irradiation procedure. This requires careful development of PDT regimens in patients with psoriasis.

Extramammary Paget's disease is a rare neoplasm of apocrine gland-bearing areas of the skin. One of the most common localizations of such a tumor is the perianal area. Surgery is the most frequently reported therapy. However, it is invasive and complicated by a high recurrence rate. An alternative to surgical treatment may be non-invasive photodynamic therapy. We describe in this article the case of a 69-year-old patient with extramammary Paget's disease (a large tumor in the perianal area 22 × 18 cm) successfully treated with chlorin e6 photodynamic therapy.

Fluorescent diagnostics is a promising method for diagnosing non-melanocytic skin tumors, which makes it possible to identify clinically undetectable skin cancer foci and clarify the margin of the tumor lesion. The main drugs for ‹uorescent diagnostics are drugs based on 5-aminolevulinic acid and its methyl ester. Sensitivity indicators of ‹uorescent diagnostics in basal cell, squamous cell carcinoma and extramammary Paget’s disease reach 79.0-100.0%, speci city – 55.6-100%. But the effectiveness of this method may be reduced due to hyperkeratinization, keratinization, and the presence of necrotic tissue on the surface of tumor foci. Comparative studies of the results of ‹uorescent diagnostics and histological mapping during tumor removal using Mohs micrographic surgery showed approximately equal results in the determining of the tumor edges by these methods, which indicates that safe and technically easily performed ‹uorescent diagnostics can serve as a good alternative to Mohs micrographic surgery, one of the most accurate, but rather labor-intensive and technically complex method for determining the margin of skin cancer foci.

We report the experience of radical treatment by photodynamic therapy of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity with serious side diseases. Completed treatment of two patients with serious side diseases (HIV infection with associated pulmonary hypertension of high degree and cardiac pathology) suffered from cancer of oral cavity. Extensive surgical treatment and/or aggressive course of chemoradiation therapy were not indicated to them due to concomitant pathology. Both patients were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity, with appropriate stage Ist. сT1N0M0. Patients received treatment by photodynamic therapy with chorine photosensitizer in dose 1 mg/kg. Options of photodynamic were: output power – 1.5W, power density – 0.31 W/cm ² , light dose – 300 J/cm ² . After one time session of photodynamic therapy, in both cases full response was diagnosed (according to RECIST 1.1). In one case the second session of photodynamic therapy was performed due to concomitant disease of oral cavity – multiply lesions of leukoplakia and after was diagnosed full remission of all lesions. Major adverse event was pain during the first 5-7 days after treatment, curable by painkillers. Follow-up (IQR) was 12 and 18 month respectively with no evidence of progression. It is available to avoid extensive surgical treatment and aggressive course of chemoradiation therapy (as an alternative) with the use of photodynamic therapy. Photodynamic therapy is minimally invasive method of radical treatment of localized squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity with minimal adverse events, and could be especially relevant in patients with serious concomitant diseases.