Photodynamic Therapy A rapidly aging population combined with dramatic reductions in provincial health care dollars has created an urgent need for cost-effective diagnostic and treatment procedures. In 1996, an estimated 129,200 new cases of cancer were diagnosed. Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths. The Cancer Society forecast that 11,000 men and 6,000 women would die of lung cancer in 1996. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer with at least 124 men per 100,000 in 1996.
Arthritis is also a significant drain on the health care system and the overall economy.
In wet AMD, a web of abnormal blood vessels grows under the central area of the retina. The vessels leak fluid and scar the retina causing a loss of visual acuity and eventual blindness. In PDT, 'light-sensitive drugs' are combined with exposure to a light source, which activates the drug and produces a form of oxygen that destroys only diseased cells. QLT anticipates having 450 patients participate in an 18 centre clinical trial with the study being completed by the end of 1998. To date, more than 300 PDT-related brain surgeries have been successfully performed around the world on patients previously treated with conventional therapies such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.