Foscan (temoporfin) / Biolitec - LARVOL DELTA

Photodynamic Intervention using Temoporfin Triggers Ferroptotic Cell Death in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Across Varying Oxygen Gradients (EACR 2026) - "This research identifies ferroptosis as a pivotal cell death pathway in mTHPC-PDT treated HNSCC. The ability of temoporfin to maintain efficacy across different oxygen tensions underscores its potential as a versatile clinical tool. Strategic modulation of ferroptotic sensitivity may further enhance the therapeutic outcomes of PDT in patients with advanced or hypoxic head and neck tumors."

Head and Neck Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor • Squamous Cell Carcinoma • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck • GPX4

Can photodynamic therapy-conditioning influence the stemness of endometrial cancer stem cells? (EACR 2026) - "Material and Two endometrial cancer cell lines, HEC-1-A and ECC-1, were incubated with dihydroxymethyl derivative of tetraphenylchlorin (PX1) and temoporfin, at inhibitory concentration of 50% of metabolic activity, followed by an irradiation after 24 hours (PDT-conditioning)... Overall, these findings suggest that PDT-conditioning may differentially modulate CSC behaviour and stemness-associated pathways, highlighting a complex CSC response to PDT that motivates further exploration."

Cancer stem • Endometrial Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor • NANOG • SOX2

Integrative proteome-wide structural analysis and high-throughput docking identify broad-spectrum antiviral scaffolds against Zika, Yellow Fever, West Nile, Saint Louis encephalitis, and Usutu viruses. (PubMed, Front Cell Infect Microbiol) - "Among the 40 top-ranked scaffolds, several flavonoids exhibited dual-site binding to the NS5 polymerase and E glycoprotein across at least four viruses, while ribavirin and sofosbuvir engaged conserved catalytic motifs in NS3/NS5, highlighting opportunities for combination strategies. Lead compounds such as myricetin (Estimated Kd ≈ 1.9 µM), temoporfin (Estimated Kd ≈ 1.2 nM), and aurintricarboxylic acid (Estimated Kd ≈ 1.9 µM) demonstrated favorable multitarget profiles. This integrative framework prioritizes robust candidates for experimental validation and optimization of panflaviviral therapeutics."

Journal • CNS Disorders • Infectious Disease

Light Source Matching Strategies for Optimal Treatment Efficacy of HMME and m-THPC in Photodynamic Therapy of Vascular Lesions. (PubMed, Lasers Surg Med) - "Photosensitizer activation efficiency is highly wavelength-dependent, with HMME performing best at shorter wavelengths (410 nm) while m-THPC maintains considerable efficacy at longer wavelengths (653 nm). The dual-wavelength combination (410 + 653 nm) can partially overcome limitations of single wavelengths, providing references for clinical light source optimization."

Journal • Thermal Injury

Foslip-Mediated Photodynamic Treatment Reprograms Macrophages Phenotype in Tri-Culture Head and Neck Cancer Spheroids. (PubMed, Int J Nanomedicine) - "Foslip-PDT was effective in reprograming M2 macrophages to tumor-killing M1 macrophages. This study opens the way to combine direct tumor damage with TME modulation."

IO biomarker • Journal • Head and Neck Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck • CAFs • CD163 • CD80 • IL10 • MRC1 • PD-L1

Enhancing Photodynamic Therapy via Encapsulated Temoporfin by Silica Nanoparticles: A Red Blood Cell-Based Efficacy and Modeling Study. (PubMed, Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther) - "Overall, the study underscores the efficacy of silica nanoparticles as drug carrier systems for photosensitizers and supports their use in developing more refined, efficient, and biocompatible PDT approaches. This approach can be particularly useful for future cancer treatment models and can be extended to other areas of biomedicine."

Journal • Oncology

Photodynamic Therapy for Central Early-Stage Lung Cancer: A Retrospective Comparative Study of Photofrin, Chlorin e6, and Foscan. (PubMed, Respiration) - "PDT is a safe and effective treatment modality for centrally located early-stage lung cancer, achieving high rates of local tumor control. Among the evaluated photosensitizers, Chlorin e6 showed a favorable balance of efficacy and safety."

Journal • Retrospective data • Lung Cancer • Non Small Cell Lung Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Holistic and Multivalent Engineering of In Vivo Nanomedicine Reactions for Enhanced Multistage Tumor Delivery. (PubMed, ACS Nano) - "Using m-tetrahydroxyphenylchlorin (mTHPC)-based nanomedicines functionalized with multivalent maleimide (MI), we demonstrate in situ albumin capture to form a protein corona that can evade immune clearance and extend circulation...Residual MI moieties engage exofacial thiols to drive caveolae-mediated endocytosis, while intracellular disassembly triggered by cytoplasmic thiols facilitates drug release and transcytosis. This approach, extended to STING agonists, significantly improves therapeutic outcomes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and triple-negative breast cancer models, establishing ReACT as a versatile platform for overcoming delivery barriers in nanomedicine."

Journal • Preclinical • Breast Cancer • Oncology • Pancreatic Cancer • Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma • Solid Tumor • Triple Negative Breast Cancer

A Systems Biology and Drug Repositioning Approach for the Analysis of Mutual Genes Between Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. (PubMed, Biomed Res Int) - "Temoporfin, rimegepant, and eltrombopag were suggested as the top three lead candidates by the virtual screening against SRC with binding affinities of -11.1, 10.9, and -10.8 kcal/mol, respectively. These drugs are potential SRC inhibitors that warrant further experimental validation. Novel insights into the molecular genetic mechanisms of CD and IBS and new therapeutic avenues for these disorders were provided by this study."

Journal • Celiac Disease • Gastrointestinal Disorder • Immunology • BUB1B • CCNB1 • CDK1 • HER-2 • KIF11 • NCOA1 • RARG • RRM2 • STAT1 • TOP2A

Safety Profile and Therapeutic Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy for Early-Stage Endobronchial Carcinoma (ERS 2025) - "The photosensitizers used were Photofrin, Chlorin E6, and Foscan. The study included 36 patients (mean age: 65.4 ± 7.6 years; 19% female; mean FEV1: 51.6 ± 21.1%; mean DLCO: 46.2 ± 21.7%) with 61 lesions, of which 68.9% were multilocular. Fibrin exudation occurred in 90.6% of PDT procedures (n = 53), resulting in complete airway obstruction in 30.2% of cases within the treated area. One patient required prolonged mechanical ventilation due to severe fibrin exudation."

Clinical • Lung Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Bis-quaternary ammonium BODIPY derivatives: Photophysical, antimicrobial, and antitumor photodynamic applications. (PubMed, Bioorg Chem) - "Among these, brominated BODIPYs II3 and II5 exhibited high ROS generation efficiency and significant photodynamic antitumor activity against Eca-109 cells in vitro (IC50 = 0.22 μM and 0.36 μM) and in vivo, comparable to the control drug m-THPC...Furthermore, they achieved effective biofilm inhibition efficiencies of 86.74% and 85.23%, respectively, through the disruption of membrane integrity. These findings hold significant promise for pioneering new multifunctional photosensitizers that enable combined or sequential antimicrobial and antitumor photodynamic therapies."

Journal • Oncology

trans-A2B-Corroles containing an oxime moiety: Novel photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy of lung cancer. (PubMed, Eur J Med Chem) - "The lead photosensitizers, with IC50 values below 50 nM and no cytotoxicity per se, outperformed Temoporfin, the active compound in Foscan®, a clinically approved PS. This highlights oxime-functionalized trans-A2B-corroles as promising candidates for photodynamic therapy of LC. The in vivo efficacy of one oxime-corrole based PDT was also evaluated using the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane model demonstrating its potential as an effective photosensitizer in vivo."

Journal • Lung Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Exploring the impact of photodynamic therapy conditioning on endometrial cancer cells (EACR 2025) - "The results indicate that the remaining EC cells exhibited similar DT and invasion profiles after PDT. Nevertheless, temoporfin appears to potentiate the migration ability of HEC-1-A cells. FCT supports CIBB (doi:10.54499/UIDB/04539/2020; doi:10.54499/UIDP/04539/2020; doi:10.54499/LA/P/0058/2020); CQC (doi:10.54499/UIDB/00313/2020; doi:10.54499/UIDP/00313/2020; TEMA (doi:10.54499/UIDB/00481/2020), UIDP/00481/2020 (doi:10.54499/UIDP/00481/2020); Projects CarboNCT (doi:10.54499/2022.03596.PTDC) and Chem4LungCare (doi:10.54499/PTDC/QUI-QOR/0103/2021); PhD Scholarship from FCT and European Social Fund to BS (10.54499/2020.07672.BD)."

Endometrial Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Rational molecular design of two-photon activated temoporfin: a computational study for advanced photodynamic therapy. (PubMed, Phys Chem Chem Phys) - "Simulations in a biological membrane model confirmed favorable interactions and localization of the candidate PDT agents within lipid bilayers, supporting their potential for enhanced clinical applications. This study demonstrates that rational molecular design can improve both the optical properties and the drug-delivery proficiency of temoporfin, paving the way for more effective deep-tissue PDT treatments."

Journal • Oncology

Mechanistic insights into temoporfin-based photodynamic therapy: Ferroptosis as a critical regulator under normoxic and hypoxic conditions in head and neck cancer. (PubMed, J Photochem Photobiol B) - "Administration of the ferroptosis inhibitor BRD4770 under normoxic conditions reversed temoporfin-based PDT-induced reductions in glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4), increasing in light chain 3-II (LC3-II) and cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (cleaved-PARP). This study confirms that hypoxia weakens the anticancer effects of temoporfin-based PDT and that ferroptosis plays a key role in temoporfin-based PDT-mediated cancer cell inhibition."

Journal • Head and Neck Cancer • Oncology • Oral Cancer • Solid Tumor • Squamous Cell Carcinoma • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck • GPX4

Assessment of Bimodal Laser Photodynamic Therapy at Wavelenths of 410 nm and 653 nm for Oral Precancerous Lesions: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study. (PubMed, Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther) - "The dual-wavelength PDT, optimized for m-THPC, exhibits superior photodynamic characteristics and excellent biosafety. It aligns well with realistic clinical applic ation scenarios and presents as an innovative and promising therapeutic modality for the treatment of oral leukoplakia."

Journal • Preclinical • Oncology • Oral Cancer

Significant Tumor Inhibition of Trimethyl-152-[L-aspartyl]pheophorbide a in Tumor Photodynamic Therapy‡. (PubMed, ChemMedChem) - "It exhibited excellent phototoxicity higher than reference compound m-THPC when irradiated by 650 nm light in vitro, and obvious photodynamic anti-tumor effect in vivo...The observed high efficacy was rationalized by efficient introduction into the blood by facile transfer through membranes, which is supported by molecular dynamics simulation studies. This work provides a new candidate photosensitizer for anti-cancer treatment."

Journal • Oncology

The Effects of Temoporfin-Mediated Photodynamic Inactivation on Leishmania tropica Promastigotes and Molecular Docking Analysis (PubMed, Mikrobiyol Bul) - "Temoporfin ile kırmızı ışık kombinasyonu, L.tropica promastigotlarını invaziv olmayan bir tedavi olarak inaktive etme potansiyeline sahiptir. Tedavide kullanılan FDT bileşenleri olan kırmızı ışık ve temoporfinin herhangi bir sitotoksik etkisinin bulunmaması, amastigot veya hayvan modelleri üzerine yapılacak daha ileri çalışmalar için önemli bir fırsat sunmakta ve potansiyel klinik uygulamalara zemin hazırlamaktadır."

Journal

Efficacy of Canal Disinfectants Temoporfin, Carbon Nanoparticles, and Er: YAG Laser on Martens Hardness, Smear Layer Removal, and Bond Strength of Glass Fiber Posts to Canal Dentin. (PubMed, Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther) - "Push-out bond strength was highest in Group 2 (9.98 ± 0.14 MPa at the cervical level) and Group 4 (10.08 ± 0.21 MPa), while Group 1 showed a decrease in apical bond strength of (5.11 ± 0.19 MPa) CNPs and Er:YAG laser treatments, in comparison to Temoporfin and NaOCl, significantly increase dentin hardness and bond strength while reducing SL. This finding suggests that the incorporation of these innovative disinfection methods into endodontic procedures may enhance the durability and success of glass fiber post restorations."

Journal • Gastrointestinal Disorder

Exploring the GSTP1 inhibition potential of photosensitizer compounds for enhanced cancer treatment in photodynamic therapy. (PubMed, Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol) - "Among the tested photosensitizers, zinc phthalocyanine, hypericin, and temoporfin emerged as the top candidates, exhibiting binding energies of - 10.8, - 10.2, and - 9.8 kcal/mol, along with Ki values of 0.012, 0.033, and 0.064 µM, respectively. These compounds outperformed the reference inhibitor ethacrynic acid, which had a binding energy of - 6.6 kcal/mol and a Ki of 14.35 µM. These findings suggest that the dual action of these photosensitizers provides a promising strategy for combating cancer and overcoming treatment resistance."

Journal • Oncology • GSTP1

Efficient Delivering of a Photodynamic Therapy Drug into Cellular Membranes Rationalized by Molecular Dynamics. (PubMed, J Phys Chem B) - "In this article, we rationalize the behavior of a temoporfin-based PDT drug, commercialized under the name of Foscan, complexed by two β-cyclodextrin units, acting as drug carriers, in the presence of a lipid bilayer...The factors favoring penetration and dissociation have also been analyzed, together with membrane perturbation due to the interaction with the drug carrier complex. Our results confirm the suitability of this encapsulation strategy for PDT and rationalize the experimental results concerning its efficacy."

Journal

Screening of photosensitizers-ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter interactions in vitro. (PubMed, Cancer Drug Resist) - " The ABCG2 inhibitor (fumitremorgin C) and P-gp inhibitor (valspodar) effectively blocked the transport mediated by ABCG2 and P-gp of rose bengal and BPD... In summary, our study provided new knowledge that temoporfin, talaporfin sodium, methylene blue, and indocyanine green are not substrates of ABCG2, P-gp, or MRP1...Rose bengal is a substrate of ABCG2, P-gp, and MRP1. The results presented here indicate ABC transporter substrate status as a possible cause for cellular resistance to photodynamic therapy with rose bengal, redaporfin, and BPD."

Journal • Preclinical • Breast Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor • ABCB1 • ABCC1 • ABCG2

Drug repositioning identifies potential autophagy inhibitors for the LIR motif p62/SQSTM1 protein. (PubMed, Comput Biol Chem) - "The results revealed that the kanamycin, velpatasvir, verteporfin, and temoporfin significantly decreased the binding of LIR to the p62 protein. Finally, we experimentally confirmed that Kanamycin can inhibit autophagy-associated acidic vesicular formation in breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB 231 cells. These repositioned drugs may represent novel autophagy modulators in clinical management, warranting further investigation."

Journal • Breast Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor • SQSTM1

Spectroscopic insights into BSA-mediated deaggregation of m-THPC. (PubMed, Sci Rep) - "These results underscore the potential of BSA to preserve the monomeric form of m-THPC, mitigating aggregation-induced losses in singlet oxygen production. Our findings suggest that BSA-mediated delivery systems could play a crucial role in optimizing the clinical utility of hydrophobic photosensitizers like m-THPC."

Journal

High yield seedless synthesis of mini gold nanorods: partial silver decoupling allows effective nanorod elongation with tunable surface plasmon resonance beyond 1000 nm and CTAB-free functional coating for mTHPC conjugation. (PubMed, Nanoscale Adv) - "A single mild reducing agent, hydroquinone, allowed for up to ∼98% reaction yield from a gold precursor. A mechanism for elongation is proposed based on partial silver decoupling from the reaction. Finally, the particles were coated with various capping agents to allow functionalization and conjugation of mTHPC drug molecules, which are used in photodynamic treatments, and cytotoxic CTAB was removed to increase their biocompatibility."

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