Sensitive Photodynamic Detection of Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma and Specific Leukemic Cell Death Induced by Photodynamic Therapy: Current Status in Hematopoietic Malignancies

Abstract

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), an aggressive type of T-cell malignancy, is caused by the human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-1) infections. The outcomes, following therapeutic interventions for ATL, have not been satisfactory. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) exerts selective cytotoxic activity against malignant cells, as it is considered a minimally invasive therapeutic procedure. In PDT, photosensitizing agent administration is followed by irradiation at an absorbance wavelength of the sensitizer in the presence of oxygen, with ultimate direct tumor cell death, microvasculature injury, and induced local inflammatory reaction. This review provides an overview of the present status and state-of-the-art ATL treatments. It also focuses on the photodynamic detection (PDD) of hematopoietic malignancies and the recent progress of 5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-PDT/PDD, which can efficiently induce ATL leukemic cell-specific death with minor influence on normal lymphocytes. Further consideration of the ALA-PDT/PDD system along with the circulatory system regarding the clinical application in ATL and others will be discussed. ALA-PDT/PDD can be promising as a novel treatment modality that overcomes unmet medical needs with the optimization of PDT parameters to increase the effectiveness of the tumor-killing activity and enhance the innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune responses by the optimized immunogenic cell death.

Immunogenic Cell Death in Hematological Malignancy Therapy

“…The CD47 agonist peptide PKHB1, hyaluronic acid nanoparticles, Withania somnifera, and photodynamic therapy can all be used to induce ICD in lymphocytic leukemia cells. [154][155][156][157] But, more efficient ICD inducers need to be explored.…”

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in Oncology

“…Sensitive Photodynamic Detection of Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma and Specific Leukemic Cell Death Induced by Photodynamic Therapy: Current Status in Hematopoietic Malignancies: Oka et al demonstrated in this article that ALA-PDT is very effective in selectively eliminating in vitro Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATL) cells while preserving the normal ones [ 11 ]. These findings support the use of orally administered 5-ALA, and then visible light exposure of ATL cells and normal lymphocytes in peripheral blood using the extracorporeal circulation system.…”

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of In Vitro Anti-Human Cancer Experiments Investigating the Use of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid (5-ALA) for Photodynamic Therapy

“…Clinical anti-cancer applications of 5-ALA-PDT have been widely reported for several organs, such as the brain [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], skin [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], pharynx [ 24 ], blood and lymph [ 25 ], esophagus [ 26 ], urethra and prostate [ 27 ], and uterus [ 28 ]. In addition, 97 clinical trials of 5-ALA PDT for cancer treatment have been registered in the U.S. National Library of Medicine (ClinicalTrials.gov) as of 10 March 2021.…”