Zeitschrift für analytische und bioanalytische Techniken

Abstrakt

The Role of Photodynamic Therapy in Non-malignant and Malignant Eye Disorders

Patrycja Nowak-Sliwinska, Andrea Weiss, Michel Sickenberg, Arjan W Griffioen and Hubert van den Bergh

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has represented an important treatment modality in many ocular disorders for more than a decade. The introduction of verteporfin-PDT to the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy has rescued millions of patients from vision loss and blindness around the world. The most well-known vascular tumors in the eye treated with PDT include retinal capillary hemangioma, choroidal hemangioma, retinal vasoproliferative tumor or Wyburn-Mason syndrome. The discovery of the role of vascular endothelial cell growth factor in age-related macular degeneration and the revolution of its treatment by anti-vascular endothelial cell growth factor agents reduced the need for PDT in age-related macular degeneration; however, the use of PDT in the treatment of PCV is dramatically increasing. Furthermore, clinical results obtained with PDT, in combination with angiogenesis inhibitors, vascular disrupting agents, or/and anti-inflammatory compounds as adjuvant therapies, may well keep PDT as one the main treatment options. This review summarizes the present role and future possible improvements of ocular PDT.