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Selective photothermal interaction using dye-assisted non-invasive laser irradiation has limitations when treating deeper tumors or when the overlying skin is heavily pigmented. We developed an interstitial laser irradiation method to induce the desired photothermal effects. An 805-nm near-infrared laser with a cylindrical diffuser was used to treat rat mammary tumors by placing the active tip of the fiber inside the target tumors. Three different power settings (1.0 to 1.5 watts) were applied to treat animal tumors with an irradiation duration of 10 minutes. The temperature distributions of the treated tumors were measured by a 7.1-Tesla magnetic resonance imager using proton resonance frequency (PRF) method. Three-dimensional temperature profiles were reconstructed and assessed using PRF. This is the first time a 7.1-Tesla magnetic resonance imager has been used to monitor interstitial laser irradiation via PRF. This study provides a basic understanding of the photothermal interaction needed to control the thermal damage inside tumor using interstitial laser irradiation. It also shows that PRF can be used effectively in monitoring photothermal interaction. Our long-term goal is to develop a PRF-guided laser therapy for cancer treatment.

Laser immunotherapy (LIT) was developed to treat metastatic cancers using a combination of laser irradiation and immunological stimulation. The original design of LIT employs a non-invasive, selective laser photothermal interaction, using an in situ light-absorbing dye. However, this non-invasive treatment mode faces challenges in treating deep, large tumors. Furthermore, it has difficulties in the cases of highly pigmented skin overlying target tumors. To overcome these limitations, interstitial laser immunotherapy (ILIT) was proposed. In ILIT, a cylindrical, side-fire fiber diffuser is placed inside the target tumor to induce thermal damage. To enhance the interstitial irradiation induced photothermal interaction, an immunological modifier, glycated chitosan (GC), is injected into the tumor after the laser treatment. In this study, a cylindrical diffuser with an active length of 1 cm was used to treat tumors of 1 to 1.5 cm in size. Different laser powers (1 to 3 watts) and different irradiation durations (10 to 30 minutes) were used to test the thermal effects of ILIT. Different doses of the GC (1.0%, 0.1 to 0.6 ml per rat) were used to determine the immunological effects of ILIT. Our results show that the animal survival depends on both laser dose and GC dose. A dose of 0.2 ml per tumor appeared to result in the highest survival rate under interstitial laser irradiation with 2.5 watts and 20 minutes. While the results in this study are not conclusive, they indicate that interstitial laser irradiation can be combined with immunotherapy to treat metastatic cancers. Furthermore, our results suggest that an optimal combination of laser dose and GC dose could be obtained for future clinical protocols using interstitial laser immunotherapy.

Topical application of a potent immunological modulator, imiquimod, followed by laser irradiation has been used for the treatment of late-stage melanoma patients. This novel approach, laser-assisted laser immunotherapy (LIT), targets the root course of melanoma, a highly metastatic cancer. We started a phase I clinical trial in 2006 with promising initial outcomes. The laser-imiquimod combination showed significant palliative effects for these patients with multiple treatment cycles. For the returning patients, we found that the recurrent tumors were less aggressive than usually seen in untreated patients. The current protocol uses a light-absorbing dye for selective laser photothermal interaction with a non-invasive treatment mode. It has limitations for patient treatment, particularly for large, deeper tumors, and for patients with dark pigmented skins. This study provides some information on the treated patients (both stage IV and stage IV) during the past several years. We also discuss the future directions of LIT, particularly in the area of photothermal treatment mode with a new approach of interstitial irradiation. The current results in melanoma treatment using LIT indicate that the combination of photothermal therapy and immunological stimulation may hold the key for the treatment of late-stage, metastatic cancers, not only for cutaneous cancers such as melanoma and breast cancer, but also for deep and internal tumors using different operations modes such as interstitial laser irradiation.