Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects

In Radiotherapy, dosimetry and treatment planning are highly advanced for ionizing radiation.*Radiation dose is accurately defined and the relationship between it and*clinical response is well understood. For photodynamic therapy (PDT), the definition of PDT*dose is unclear and how it correlates with clinical response has yet to be precisely defined.*Present-day clinical protocols for PDT of non-melenoma skin cancer (NMSC) are relatively*straight-forward: a photosensitizer is administered, a period of time elapses before shining*light and then light with a specific fluence rate illuminates the patient. The same protocol is*applied to an entire patient population and as a result, PDT of NMSC is conducted without*detailed customized planning that takes into account patient to patient variability as practiced*in radiotherapy. Our research goal is to work on in vivo measurement of optical properties and*functional parameters such as oxygen levels together with measuring the temporal and*spatial photosensitizer concentration uptake. With these quantitative metrics, the hope is that*we will be able to model and predict the response of individual patients to PDT.. Better*dosimetry will advance the development and utilization of PDT similar to radiation therapy*where the field is very quantitative and evidence-based. Ultimately patient-specific planning of*PDT treatment will increase NMSC clinical outcomes.