Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility of adjuvant intraoperative photodynamic therapy in the treatment of large, infiltrating, recurrent carcinomas of the head and neck.
Design: A nonrandomized trial involving 5 patients treated with intraoperative adjuvant photodynamic therapy with 29-month follow-up.
Setting: A tertiary care referral center in a private practice setting.
Patients: Five patients with massive, recurrent, infiltrating squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck and skull base.
Intervention: Photodynamic therapy was used as an adjuvant intraoperative treatment after resection of tumors.
Main outcome measure: Time of survival after treatment without recurrence of disease.
Results: Four of the 5 patients have remained free of recurrent disease without complications up to 24 months after treatment.
Conclusion: Adjuvant intraoperative photodynamic therapy may improve cure rates in patients with recurrent head and neck malignancies by providing larger tumor-free margins of resection, while preserving normal structures.