[Photodynamic therapy in the treatment of carcinoma of the urinary bladder and prevention of its recurrence].

Sixty-eight patients with carcinoma of the urinary bladder were treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT). The results demonstrated that the tumors of 1-2 cm in diameter had best results, the tumors of 2-4 cm in diameter should be irradiated repeatedly or with intensified energy density, whereas those above 4 cm in diameter or those that had infiltrated deep muscular layer or neck of the bladder showed poor results. In this group, the total effective rate is 91%, the 5 year cure rate is 71.1%, and the 5 year recurrence rate is only 27.9%. In addition, we used preventive photodynamic irradiation of total bladder in 14 cases with bladder carcinoma who had undergone treatment. The 2 year recurrence rate was 7.1% (1 case), demonstrating a very promising result. The mechanism of tumor destruction with PDT action, the reasons for low recurrence rate, the advantages and disadvantages of this therapy were also discussed.