Developing strategies to predict photodynamic therapy outcome: the role of melanoma microenvironment

• Published in: Tumor Biology Vol. 36; no. 12; pp. 9127 - 9136
• Main Authors: Vera, Renzo Emanuel, Lamberti, María Julia, Rivarola, Viviana Alicia, Rumie Vittar, Natalia Belén
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Apoptosis - drug effects; Apoptosis - radiation effects; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer Research; Clinical outcomes; Health risk assessment; Humans; Melanoma; Melanoma - pathology; Melanoma - therapy; Photochemotherapy; Photodynamic therapy; Photosensitizing Agents - therapeutic use; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Review; Spheroids, Cellular; Treatment Outcome; Tumor Microenvironment - genetics; Monolayer; Photodynamic therapy; Tumor microenvironment; Spheroids; Melanoma
• ISSN: 1010-4283; 1423-0380
• DOI: 10.1007/s13277-015-4059-x

Melanoma is among the most aggressive and treatment-resistant human skin cancer. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a minimally invasive therapeutic modality, is a promising approach to treating melanoma. It combines a non-toxic photoactivatable drug called photosensitizer with harmless visible light to generate reactive oxygen species which mediate the antitumor effects. The aim of this review was to compile the available data about PDT on melanoma. Our comparative analysis revealed a disconnection between several hypotheses generated by in vitro therapeutic studies and in vivo and clinical assays. This fact led us to highlight new preclinical experimental platforms that mimic the complexity of tumor biology. The tumor and its stromal microenvironment have a dynamic and reciprocal interaction that plays a critical role in tumor resistance, and these interactions can be exploited for novel therapeutic targets. In this sense, we review two strategies used by photodynamic researchers: (a) developing 3D culture systems which mimic tumor architecture and (b) heterotypic cultures that resemble tumor microenvironment to favor therapeutic regimen design. After this comprehensive review of the literature, we suggest that new complementary preclinical models are required to better optimize the clinical outcome of PDT on skin melanoma.