The teams at University College Hospital in London have already completed over 1,500 PDT procedures for head and neck cancer. While there is NICE approval for PDT to be used in this area, we now wish to extend the trial use of PDT for throat (larynx) cancers. Some PDT procedures on the larynx have historically taken place at UCH and other hospitals around the world for cancers that have extended from the oral cavity down into the throat. The results have, in the main, been very positive. The intention now is to do a new study, going through the full Phase 1, 2 and 3 stages, to categorically confirm the health benefits of PDT for cancers in this area of the body.

At the time of writing, no decision has been taken on the drug to be used. The intention is to pre-test a number of options, and then to select the one that the medical teams believe will give the best possible outcome. The cancers covered under this trial would typically be those in the throat surrounding the voice box and in the soft tissue areas extending towards the mouth (oral cavity).

There is currently no intention to stop using PDT treatments that are approved using the Foscan drug for the head and neck. The future, proposed trial, may well opt to use a different drug. This new trial will be conducted jointly in the UK, Europe and North America.

The start date for any trial is likely to be in the summer of 2015.

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