Potentiation of photodynamic therapy in mice with recombinant human tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

The tumoricidal response of subcutaneously growing SMT-F adenocarcinoma implanted into syngeneic DBA/2 mice to Photofrin II-sensitized photodynamic therapy (PDT) was statistically significantly enhanced by the addition of a single dose of intravenously administered recombinant human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (rHuTNF-alpha). The interaction appeared to be approximately additive, i.e. tumor response to PDT plus rHuTNF-alpha was about the same as that observed by doubling the PDT dose. Conversely, rHuTNF-alpha did not significantly potentiate the cutaneous phototoxicity in mouse feet due to PDT. These data suggest that combination therapy should be considered for improving tumor response while retaining treatment selectivity in human malignancies.