Thomas J. Dougherty, Ph.D. and
Ravindra K. Pandey, Ph.D.

Porphyrin-Based Compounds for PDT and Tumor Imaging - Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective, economical treatment for skin, lung, and esophageal cancers, and many other conditions. PDT works like this: First, a specially formulated photosensitive compound is injected into the bloodstream. Cancer cells take up high concentrations of the drug and retain it long after normal body tissues have flushed it away. While the photosensitizer lingers in the targeted cells, a therapist exposes them to predetermined intense doses of red light, triggering a “cytotoxic event” in which the drug interacts with naturally occurring oxygen molecules to kill abnormal cells with little or no effect on surrounding tissues.

John R. Subjeck, Ph.D. and 
Xiang Yang Wang, Ph.D.

Cancer and Infectious Disease Vaccines - Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have been working on a novel, vaccine centered strategy for blowing the whistle on tumors and activating the body’s natural immune defenses against them. RPCI researchers have found a way to use certain naturally occurring molecules called heat shock proteins (HSPs) to alert the immune system that all may not be what it seems. Thus HSPs can bind to both cancer antigens and the specific immune cells that activate the immune system. When the HSP is binding a cancer antigen, the resulting immune response aggressively attacks that antigen on cancer cells, killing the cancer cells while leaving the rest of the body unharmed.