Reactive Oxygen Species Explicit Dosimetry for Photofrin‐mediated Pleural Photodynamic Therapy

Abstract Explicit dosimetry of treatment light fluence and implicit dosimetry of photosensitizer photobleaching are commonly used methods to guide dose delivery during clinical PDT. Tissue oxygen, however, is not routinely monitored intraoperatively even though it is one of the three major components of treatment. Quantitative information about in vivo tissue oxygenation during PDT is desirable, because it enables reactive oxygen species explicit dosimetry (ROSED) for prediction of treatment outcome based on PDT‐induced changes in tumor oxygen level. Here, we demonstrate ROSED in a clinical setting, Photofrin‐mediated pleural photodynamic therapy, by utilizing tumor blood flow information measured by diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS). A DCS contact probe was sutured to the pleural cavity wall after surgical resection of pleural mesothelioma tumor to monitor tissue blood flow (blood flow index) during intraoperative PDT treatment. Isotropic detectors were used to measure treatment light fluence and photosensitizer concentration. Blood‐flow‐derived tumor oxygen concentration, estimated by applying a preclinically determined conversion factor of 1.5 × 10 9 μMs cm −2 to the blood flow index, was used in the ROSED model to calculate the total reacted reactive oxygen species [ROS]rx. Seven patients and 12 different pleural sites were assessed and large inter‐ and intrapatient heterogeneities in [ROS]rx were observed although an identical light dose of 60 J cm −2 was prescribed to all patients.