Targeted Photodynamic Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer: Recent Innovations from Fundamentals to In Vivo and Clinical Applications (2020-2025)

Abstract

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a clinically-approved medical modality to treat different types of localised conditions such as cancer, infections or skin conditions. Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a deadly cancer displaying a dramatic overall prognosis that has barely improved in decades as the majority of PC patients are diagnosed at a locally advanced or metastatic stage and cannot benefit of surgical resection which is the only curative treatment, the overall 5-year survival rate remains extremely low. Thus, finding new therapies for non-metastatic PC to improve local control as a bridge to surgical resection and improve survival outcomes remains a huge challenge. In this context, PDT could be an interesting option. This review will focus on the use of PDT with targeted photosensitisers or nanoparticles to treat PC in recent studies (2020-2025) from in vitro to in vivo experiments and clinical applications.