Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques
Open Access

Review Article

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

Patrycja Nowak-Sliwinska^1,2*, Andrea Weiss¹ , Michel Sickenberg^1,3, Arjan W Griffioen² and Hubert van den Bergh^1*

¹Medical Photonics Group, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

²Angiogenesis Laboratory, Department of Medical Oncology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands

³Save Sight, Lausanne, Switzerland

*Corresponding Author:

Patrycja Nowak-Sliwinska
Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 6935169
Fax: +41 21 6935110
E-mail: patrycja.nowak-sliwinska@epfl.ch

*Corresponding Author:

Hubert van den Bergh
Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 6935169
Fax: +41 21 6935110
E-mail: hubert.vandenbergh@epfl.ch

Received date: August 13, 2013; Accepted date: September 20, 2013; Published date: September 23, 2013

Citation: Nowak-Sliwinska P, Weiss A, Sickenberg M, Griffioen AW, van den Bergh H (2013) The Role of Photodynamic Therapy in Non-malignant and Malignant Eye Disorders. J Anal Bioanal Tech S1:007. doi: 10.4172/2155-9872.S1-007

Copyright: © 2013 Nowak-Sliwinska P, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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.

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