Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy (2006) 3, 276
Highlights of the symposium on medical physics (III International Symposium on Medical Physics) 20—23rd September 2006, Ustron, Poland
PDT in Bytom At the launch of this journal, one of the many tasks I set myself, as the Editor-in-Chief, was to visit PDT Centres and report on the history and current state of PDPDT from as many countries as I could. This may not be considered to be within the remit of the Editor-in-Chief of a scientific/medical journal but I have been concerned that, whilst the science of photobiology of PDT was spreading worldwide, its clinical aspect had not flourished sufficiently to become amongst main stream treatment. The invitation to present an overview of PDT in Oncology at the above symposium gave me an opportunity to view the PDT scenario in Poland. Like many of the readers of this journal, I knew the religious significance of Katowice but was only aware of Bytom through Alek Sieron and Mariusz Adamek, both members of the PDPDT Editorial Board. My pre-symposium schedule was to visit Professor Sieron’s laser clinic in Bytom. The range of activities undertaken by 29 medical personnel is impressive. Photodetection and PDT of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, urology, bronchus and gynaecology seemed to account for the majority of the daily activity of the centre. The symposium itself consisted of a 3 day meeting with some 50 presentations accommodated in 9 oral and 2 poster sessions. The subject matter of the papers was greatly varied. PDT, in its broader sense, was allocated three sessions.
1572-1000/$ — see front matter doi:10.1016/j.pdpdt.2006.10.001
The morning of Thursday 21st September was dedicated to science and clinical PDT. In my overview of PDT in oncology, I stressed the importance of clinical trials in order to translate science and laboratory experiments into diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients with the goal of establishing credible evidence based data of the effectiveness of PDT in a given situation, J. Capala’s presented works on the Development and characterisation of Affibody® based bioconjugates for molecular imaging and targeted therapy of HER2positive breast cancers. After the coffee break, A. Sieron and Cs. Novak chaired the session. Sieron, in his opening introductory remarks, once again invited the scientists to cooperate with clinicians to advance PDT for the benefit of patients. J. Golab presented a coherent talk on ‘‘Tumour-protective mechanisms induced by photodynamic therapy’’. F.P. Montforts showed how chlorins can be manipulated to synthesise usable photosensitiser and H. Podbeielska, presented laboratory work, which aimed to deliver photosensitiser and light in to an infected wound at the same time (a two-in-one principle). On reflection, the highlight of my trip was to visit the Bytom clinic and witnessing the enthusiasm of many young PDT workers who, under the direction of Professor Sieron have used PDT in 2000 patients and also carry out clinical research. As for the symposium it was encouraging to see that Medical Physics shared a venue and had joint meetings with PDT practitioners notwithstanding the fact that those interested in PDT would not have known this by looking at the title of the symposium. Editor-in-Chief K. Moghissi MD, FRCS
Highlights of the symposium on medical physics (III International Symposium on Medical Physics) 20—23rd September 2006, Ustron, Poland
PDT in Bytom At the launch of this journal, one of the many tasks I set myself, as the Editor-in-Chief, was to visit PDT Centres and report on the history and current state of PDPDT from as many countries as I could. This may not be considered to be within the remit of the Editor-in-Chief of a scientific/medical journal but I have been concerned that, whilst the science of photobiology of PDT was spreading worldwide, its clinical aspect had not flourished sufficiently to become amongst main stream treatment. The invitation to present an overview of PDT in Oncology at the above symposium gave me an opportunity to view the PDT scenario in Poland. Like many of the readers of this journal, I knew the religious significance of Katowice but was only aware of Bytom through Alek Sieron and Mariusz Adamek, both members of the PDPDT Editorial Board. My pre-symposium schedule was to visit Professor Sieron’s laser clinic in Bytom. The range of activities undertaken by 29 medical personnel is impressive. Photodetection and PDT of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, urology, bronchus and gynaecology seemed to account for the majority of the daily activity of the centre. The symposium itself consisted of a 3 day meeting with some 50 presentations accommodated in 9 oral and 2 poster sessions. The subject matter of the papers was greatly varied. PDT, in its broader sense, was allocated three sessions.
1572-1000/$ — see front matter doi:10.1016/j.pdpdt.2006.10.001
The morning of Thursday 21st September was dedicated to science and clinical PDT. In my overview of PDT in oncology, I stressed the importance of clinical trials in order to translate science and laboratory experiments into diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients with the goal of establishing credible evidence based data of the effectiveness of PDT in a given situation, J. Capala’s presented works on the Development and characterisation of Affibody® based bioconjugates for molecular imaging and targeted therapy of HER2positive breast cancers. After the coffee break, A. Sieron and Cs. Novak chaired the session. Sieron, in his opening introductory remarks, once again invited the scientists to cooperate with clinicians to advance PDT for the benefit of patients. J. Golab presented a coherent talk on ‘‘Tumour-protective mechanisms induced by photodynamic therapy’’. F.P. Montforts showed how chlorins can be manipulated to synthesise usable photosensitiser and H. Podbeielska, presented laboratory work, which aimed to deliver photosensitiser and light in to an infected wound at the same time (a two-in-one principle). On reflection, the highlight of my trip was to visit the Bytom clinic and witnessing the enthusiasm of many young PDT workers who, under the direction of Professor Sieron have used PDT in 2000 patients and also carry out clinical research. As for the symposium it was encouraging to see that Medical Physics shared a venue and had joint meetings with PDT practitioners notwithstanding the fact that those interested in PDT would not have known this by looking at the title of the symposium. Editor-in-Chief K. Moghissi MD, FRCS
