Porfimer sodium
Porfimer sodium, sold as Photofrin, is a photosensitizer used in photodynamic therapy and radiation therapy and for palliative treatment of obstructing endobronchial non-small cell lung carcinoma and obstructing esophageal cancer.
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| Routes of administration | Intravenous |
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| Bioavailability | NA |
| Protein binding | ~90% |
| Elimination half-life | 21.5 days (mean) |
| Excretion | Fecal |
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| Formula | C68H74N8O11 (for n=0) |
| Molar mass | 1179.36 g/mol (for n=0) g·mol−1 |
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Porfimer is a mixture of oligomers formed by ether and ester linkages of up to eight porphyrin units.[1] In practice, a red light source emitting at 630 nm is used to excite the Porfimer oligomers.[2]
Porfimer is Haematoporphyrin Derivative (HpD) (See PDT).
Approvals and indications
It was approved in Canada in 1993 for the treatment of bladder cancer.[2] It was approved in Japan in 1994 (for early stage lung cancer?).[2] It was approved by the U.S. FDA in December 1995 for esophageal cancer, and in 1998, it was approved for the treatment of early non-small cell lung cancer.[2]
In August 2003 the FDA approved its use for Barrett's esophagus.[3]
References
- "Porfimer injection Prescribing information" (PDF).
- "Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) for Lung Cancers". 2006. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - "FDA Patient Safety News: Show #20, October 2003". October 2003. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
