Photodynamic therapy of malignant brain tumors (literature review

Primary brain malignancies are among the 17 most common tumor types worldwide, and about 77 % of them are glial tumors. An integrated approach to the treatment of these pathologies, including total resection of tumor tissue and postoperative chemotherapy and radiation therapy, is aimed at prolonging the patient’s life as much as possible. However, even when using the «gold standard» in treatment, the average life expectancy of patients with glioblastoma is 14.6 months, and of patients with diffuse astrocytoma — 50.5 months. The use of selective methods of influencing tumor cells, including photodynamic therapy, is a current trend in neuro-oncology. Several controlled studies have demonstrated a statistically significant effect of photodynamic therapy in increasing the life expectancy of patients with high-grade gliomas compared with conventional treatment. This review is devoted to the analysis of the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy and fluorescence-guided resection in the treatment of high-grade glial tumors for further search for ways to improve these treatment methods in order to enhance the radicality of tumor removal and increase the duration and quality of life of patients.