Photodynamic therapy in oesophageal carcinoma: an overview

Abstract

Over the last five years, photodynamic therapy has become increasingly regarded as a viable option for palliative treatment of advanced oesophageal carcinoma, alongside more established modalities such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. A large number of reports on the efficacy of photodynamic therapy as both a palliative and curative treatment for malignancy of the oesophagus have appeared in the 20 years since the first report on the use of this technique to treat oesophageal carcinoma, and this review aims to draw them all together to provide an overview of the current state of the field.