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Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology and Oncology

ISSN for PRINT: 0731-8898

Institutional price:	$672.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2006, Volume25

546 pages

Issue price - $344.00

Facilitated Delivery of ALA to Inaccessible Regions via Bioadhesive Patch Systems

Paul A. McCarron
School of Pharmacy, Queens University Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Rd, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK

Li-Wei Ma
Department of Radiation Biophysics, Institute for Cancer Research, Rikshospital-Radiumhospital HF and Plasma/Room Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Petras Juzenas
The Norwegian Cancer Society; Department of Radiation Biology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, N-0310 Oslo, Norway

Vladimir Lani
Department of Radiation Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, NO-0310 Montebello, Oslo, Norway

A. David Woolfson
School of Pharmacy, The Queen's University of Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK

Agnieszka A. Zawislak
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Group of Hospitals, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK

Johan Moan
Department of Radiation Biophysics, Institute for Cancer Research, Rikshospital-Radiumhospital HF and Plasma/Room Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

ABSTRACT

5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is now being increasingly used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodiagnosis (PDD) of lesions of the oral cavity, esophagus, and female genital tract. Clearly, topically applied creams and solutions are not the most suitable drug delivery systems for such moist and irregularly shaped areas, where shear forces may be high. As a result, such areas of the body are currently relatively inaccessible to efficient topical delivery of ALA. The use of a bioadhesive patch for topical delivery of ALA to the lower female genital tract and now, for the first time, to the human lip, is described. Use of the patch, containing 38 mg ALA cm⁻², allowed successful PDT of vulval intraepithelial neoplasia lesions and induced protoporphyrin IX production in Herpes simplex lesions of the lip.