Tumour marking properties of different haematoporphyrins and tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine-A comparison

Several photosensitizers were screened for their tumour-marking ability using laserinduced fluorescence in Wistar/Furth rats bearing subcutaneous adenocarcinomas inoculated in muscle. Of the studied photosensitizers, dihaematoporphyrin ether appeared to exhibit the best tumour-demarcation properties. Polyhaematoporphyrin ester and tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine were almost as good although the fluorescence yield was much lower. Monomeric haematoporphyrin also showed some tumour-marking qualities. By forming fluorescence intensity ratios, information from both the blue and the red spectral regions were used to provide the highest tumour-to-muscle contrast. Two excitation wavelengths were used, of which 337 nm rather than 405 nm excitation light seemed to yield a better tumour demarcation, due to a greater difference in the superimposing autofluorescence between tumour and surrounding tissue. The study included measurements on many inner organs in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the drugs and various kinds of tissue.