Porfimer

Description

Porfimer sodium, a polyporphyrin derivative, is a photosensitizer introduced for the treatment of refractory lung, bladder, and esophageal cancers. Porfimer sodium treatment with photodynamic therapy inhibits or stops recurrence of superficial bladder cancer tumors. In patients with inoperable early stage lung cancer, use of porfimer sodium prior to argon dye laser treatment produced complete response in >6O% of carcinomas. It also has potential for the treatment of cervical dysplasia, atherosclerosis, and psoriasis.

Originator

Quadra Logic (Canada )

The Uses of Porfimer

Fluorescent imaging of malignancies.

Background

The purified component of hematoporphyrin derivative, it consists of a mixture of oligomeric porphyrins. It is used in photodynamic therapy (hematoporphyrin photoradiation); to treat malignant lesions with visible light and experimentally as an antiviral agent. It is the first drug to be approved in the use of photodynamic therapy in the United States.

Indications

Indicated in the treatment of esophageal cancer.

brand name

Photofrin (Axcan Scandipharm).

Pharmacokinetics

Porfimer is a photosensitizing agent used in the photodynamic therapy (PDT) of tumors. Porfimer is indicated for the palliation of patients with completely obstructing esophageal cancer, or of patients with partially obstructing esophageal cancer who cannot be satisfactorily treated with Nd:YAG laser therapy, reduction of obstruction and palliation of symptoms in patients with completely or partially obstructing endobronchial nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the treatment of microinvasive endobronchial NSCLC in patients for whom surgery and radiotherapy are not indicated. The cytotoxic and antitumor actions of porfimer are light and oxygen dependent. Tumor selectivity in treatment occurs through a combination of selective retention of porfimer and selective delivery of light.

Metabolism

Not Available