Early detection of lung cancer by means of hematoporphyrin derivative fluorescence and laser photoradiation.

In recent years hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD), a mixture of porphyrin compounds that have an increased affinity for malignant tissue, has been used as an endobronchial tumor indicator to facilitate the bronchoscopic localization of early squamous cell carcinoma of the central tracheobronchial tree. In this article the authors describe four different bronchoscopic fluorescence detection systems that have facilitated the bronchoscopic localization of HpD-labeled early squamous cell carcinoma of the trachea and central bronchi.