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Prince of Wales and celebs line up to highlight PDT as a pioneering new cancer treatment

His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales recently gave PDT the Royal Seal of approval by visiting a group of patients at University College Hospital (UCH) London who successfully received the treatment for a variety of cancers. UCH is one of a number of hospitals in the UK embracing PDT: others include Leeds, Truro, Swansea, Manchester, Goole and Dundee.

PDT is minimally invasive, can be used when other treatments have failed, is repeatable and as it does not act systemically, has none of the side effects commonly associated with chemical treatments. It has also been approved by NICE for treating skin, oesophageal, lung and head & neck cancers nationwide. Yet, despite this, PDT’s availability is restricted because many eligible patients are simply not being told it is a treatment option, or it is being withheld.

John Switters, a senior manager with the British Red Cross and one of 12 patients being treated in the first major clinical study for pancreatic cancer at UCLH said. “I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to benefit from this exciting new therapy. The other treatments available for pancreatic cancer are very limited in their benefit to patients. Survival past 12 months for chemotherapy patients is limited to a lucky 5%. Compared to chemotherapy, the PDT treatment was quick, easy and had far fewer side-effects – and the good news is that my tumour has shrunk from a first low dose treatment. I feel that receiving more PDT is probably my only chance of beating my cancer, but as it stands today, the rules of the trial make it impossible and I am enduring my weekly chemotherapy that is devastating me and my family. I am pleading for the chance to be re-treated.”

Colin Hopper, senior maxillofacial surgeon at University UCH and a member of PhotoBiotics Ltd Scientific Advisory Board, has performed over 1,200 PDT procedures on patients with head and neck cancers. “PDT in this disease can be effective even when patients have failed conventional chemo- and radio therapies. We need alternative treatments that can be used in addition to surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, especially when these have failed or would have a major impact on speech and swallowing. The key thing for many patients is in avoiding loss of function as a result of treatment, whether it is for the prostate, lungs or pre-cancer in the oesophagus.”

The Department of Health have concluded a two-year study of all PDT evidence, which is hoped will recommend increasing the availability of PDT services to the public on the NHS and encouraging the support of new research. Meanwhile, trials are underway in the UK for vulval, penile, prostate, pancreatic and bile duct cancers, along with a research programme to treat early lung cancers. A preliminary trial is planned to investigate the effect of PDT on breast cancer.

Besides British Royalty, celebrity supporters of PDT in the UK include Manchester United football manager, Sir Alex Ferguson; TV broadcaster, Sir David Frost; rock legends Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey; snooker ace Ronnie O’Sullivan, and game-show host and DJ, Chris Tarrant. They are all helping the charity Killing Cancer to raise money for and awareness of PDT. Said Frost, “We owe it to the next generation to invest in the development of PDT. It would be the patients’ choice, compared to the current mainstream treatments, and if the early successes can be repeated across other types of cancer, it would be a huge step forward.”

PhotoBiotics chairman, Dr Till Medinger commented, “We welcome this growing recognition of PDT’s benefits and the support for its wider availability, even in its current form. This confirms our belief that PhotoBiotics’ unique targeted PDT technology, which already demonstrates significantly increased performance while losing none of the side effect advantages, will prove to be a major clinical breakthrough in the treatment of cancer and other diseases.”