Application of photodynamic therapy in cancer: challenges and advancements

Although great achievements have been made in the past decades medicine, cancer remains a worldwide public health issue. Surgery is usually accompanied by shortcomings such as residual lesions and poor treatment effects, successive appearance of other methods, radiotherapy chemotherapy, has not changed postoperative recurrence rate, toxicity, side effects. However, advent photodynamic therapy greatly improved this situation. Photodynamic an emerging tumor diagnosis technology with good application prospects, uses specific wavelength light to excite photosensitizer generate reactive oxygen species, damage blood vessels promote cell apoptosis, exerting antitumor effect. become new clinical anti-tumor due its clear efficacy, few easy use combination therapies. In review, we summarized main mechanism, current challenges, advancements therapy.