Analysis of photosensitivity in Japanese cancer-bearing patients receiving photodynamic therapy with porfimer sodium (Photofrin).

A major disadvantage of a new cancer treatment, porfimer sodium (Photofrin)-mediated photodynamic therapy (PF-PDT), is photosensitivity for several weeks after cessation of the treatment. To characterize persistent sensitivity to visible light following PF-PDT, phototestings were performed in 59 Japanese cancer-bearing patients with a slide projector lamp 3 weeks or more after the treatment. The duration of photosensitivity was analyzed in relation to the patients' sex, skin phototype (SPT), site of tumor and liver function. There was no correlation of the photosensitivity persistency with the site of cancers and the function of liver. However, female subjects needed significantly longer recovery periods than male subjects from potential photosensitivity after PF-PDT. Patients with SPT2 were significantly more sensitive than patients with SPT3 and 4. These results suggest that the prolonged photosensitivity occurs after PF-PDT especially in female patients and in cases with a lighter SPT. Such patients should be carefully followed up for post-PDT photosensitivity.

Teratogenic activity of pyrimethamine in Göttingen minipig.

Pyrimethamine (PY) was mixed with mashed feed and given to the Göttingen miniature pig (G-mini) during gestional days 11-35. Major malformations such as cleft palate, club-foot and micrognathia were observed in 11 out of 16 newborns from 3 pregnant sows which received 3.6 mg/kg/day. Two sows of a high-dose group (7.2 mg/kg) showed severe anemia and low appetite during the experiment and did not give birth. No malformation was found in 22 newborns of low-dose groups (0.9 and 1.8 mg/kg). Among 130 offspring which died before weaning out of 505 from 47 farrows in a breeding farm, major teratoses such as cleft palate were found in 8 newborns.