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Richard E. Hayden, MD, and coworkers of Washington University, St Louis, have been exploring, in the laboratory, the role of photodynamic therapy in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma. At the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Washington, DC, Sept 25-29, 1988, they reported that they have been utilizing a hamster cheek pouch squamous cell carcinoma model induced with dimethylbenzanthracene, and comparing the in vivo effectiveness of dihematoporphyrin ether (DHE), heretofore the standard photosensitizer, with a newer group of compounds: the verdins. They feel that the hamster cheek pouch model is a good one in that it utilizes an immunocompetent host. They point out, however, the labor intensiveness of actually inducing the tumors.
The verdins have a theoretic superiority in that they are activated at light wavelengths of approximately 700 nm, a somewhat longer wavelength than that used to activate DHE. This would be expected