Is Photodynamic Therapy a Cost-Effective Treatment Option?

Caetano P. Sabino, BSc, PhD Student, Clinical Analysis, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, explains if photodynamic therapy a cost-effective treatment option.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability):

“[Photodynamic therapy] is very cost-effective. The dyes that we use as photosensitizers, for example [the one that we used], was methylene blue. It is a regular dye that is used on a day-to-day basis in microbiology labs for staining purposes [to help in] seeing bacteria under light microscopes. It is really cheap since we use it in much lower concentrations. And, light sources, nowadays, are very cheap and they are getting cheaper and cheaper. The LEDs are dropping their costs, due to their energy-efficiency and their illumination [capabilities]. In the same manner, we can use these technologies for photodynamic therapy treatments.”