Use of photodynamic therapy in the treatment of vocal cord carcinoma.

The photodynamic therapy of superficial vocal cord carcinoma is a promising new technique. Patients were irradiated with 630 nm light from an Aurora dye laser under general anaesthesia 72 h after a haematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) injection. So far, 32 patients have been treated for small epidermoid carcinoma of the glottis without anterior commissure. There have been no undesired effects due to the photosensitizer or the dye laser. The results show seven failures and 25 positive responses, of which three patients were treated more than 4 years ago.