The surgical palliation of advanced head and neck cancer using photodynamic therapy.

End-stage head and neck cancer is a difficult disease to manage. The only curative treatment option remains surgery, but this is frequently not feasible. Often, however, significant palliation can be achieved with minimally invasive surgically directed treatments, such as photodynamic therapy. To avoid the morbidity of treating non-cancer areas, photodynamic therapy can now be very accurately directed by radiological imaging along pre-planned grids to document and optimise laser-guided photo-activation of the chemo-sensitiser. Rapid local tumour control often results, enabling the patient to benefit from both a higher quality and length of life.