ABSTRACT
In 2010, approximately 275,000 new gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies were reported in the United States, representing about 18% of all new cancers, but accounting for nearly a quarter of the cancer deaths (Jemal et al. 2011). Surgery remains the best chance of cure for most of these cancers; however, at the time of diagnosis, most patients with GI cancers will not be candidates for curative surgery. For these patients, palliation of cancer-related symptoms and prolongation of life become the focus. Along with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been used primarily as a palliative tool in advanced GI cancers. Since the 1980s, PDT has been used to treat obstructing cancers of the esophagus and other organs as well as to destroy early cancers and precancerous tissue. Over the past 30 years, the use of PDT for esophageal cancers and precancerous Barrett’s esophagus has declined; however, interest has risen for its use in the biliary tract and other GI cancers.
