Safety Study Using Photodynamic Therapy Light Therapy for Patients With Chest Wall Progression of Breast Cancer and Satellite Metastases of Melanoma

Overview

This research is intended to explore a new approach to therapy when breast cancer recurs in the skin. The treatment, known as continuous low-irradiance photodynamic therapy, or CLIPT, has shown great promise in animal studies. The investigators goal is to evaluate CLIPT in people, using a novel light delivery system, to assess its side effects and the benefit it has in treating cancer. The investigators goal is to develop a safe, effective therapy that can be given in the doctor's office or possibly at home.

The goal of this research is to conduct a Phase I clinical study to assess the toxicity, safety and feasibility of a novel cancer treatment, Continuous Low Irradiance Photodynamic Therapy (CLIPT). This research will provide translation of recent promising preclinical work to human subjects with recurrent breast cancer. BACKGROUND: Patients who develop post-mastectomy chest wall skin recurrence and fail conventional radiation therapy have few therapeutic options that can result in durable control. High-irradiance photodynamic therapy (PDT) has shown efficacy in patients with chest-wall progression of breast cancer that have failed radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy. However its clinical application has been severely limited as currently employed methods of PDT result in virtually 100% of patients develop skin necrosis, large areas of full-thickness ulceration, slow healing and chronic wound pain. In the rat and rabbit-brain tumor models, reducing the laser irradiance and increasing the exposure time to achieve a similar total fluence (fluence = irradiance x time) to standard PDT, avoids tissue necrosis while inducing apoptosis in the tumor but not normal tissue. HYPOTHESIS: Low dose-rate (low irradiance) PDT may reduce or eliminate skin toxicity and enables treatment of skin/subcutaneous chest wall metastases in skin previously subjected to ionizing radiation. SPECIFIC AIMS: 1\) determine the fluence of CLIPT resulting in toxicity (maximum tolerated dose), defined as ulceration or necrosis of previously irradiated skin (non-tumor bearing skin within the prior ionizing radiation field) or normal skin, 2) evaluate the feasibility, ergonomics and safety of performing CLIPT via a proprietary electronically targetable fiber-optic "patch" placed directly on tumor-bearing, surrounding uninvolved previously irradiated skin and normal integument 3) study the tumor-bearing integument for clinical response to therapy by measuring complete, partial and no response to CLIPT. STUDY DESIGN: We will perform a standard dose (laser fluence) escalation trial (holding drug level constant) in human subjects with post-mastectomy skin recurrences that have failed ionizing radiation therapy and assess toxicity in previously irradiated and normal integument. POTENTIAL OUTCOMES \& BENEFITS: Therapeutic options for post-mastectomy cutaneous recurrences failing conventional radiotherapy are limited. If the pre-clinical results are replicated in human subjects, Phase II studies to evaluate CLIPT would be warranted. The long-term goal is to develop an unobtrusive, large-area CLIPT system in the form of a fiber-optically woven "garment" that can be worn by the patient outside the hospital setting for repeated and extended periods without causing skin breakdown or pain.