Photodynamic Therapy Using Porfimer Sodium in Treating Patients With Recurrent Mouth or Throat Dysplasia or Recurrent In Situ Cancer or Stage I Cancer of the Mouth or Throat

Photodynamic Therapy With Photofrin® for Treatment of Dysplasia, Carcinoma In Situ and Stage I Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity and the Larynx: A Pilot Study

RATIONALE: Photodynamic therapy uses a drug that becomes active when it is exposed to a certain kind of light. When the drug is active, tumor cells are killed. Photodynamic therapy using porfimer sodium may be effective against mouth or throat dysplasia and cancer of the mouth and throat.

PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying how well photodynamic therapy using porfimer sodium works in treating patients with recurrent mouth or throat dysplasia, recurrent in situ cancer of the mouth or throat, or stage I cancer of the mouth or throat.

OBJECTIVES:

• To determine the response of patients with recurrent dysplasia, squamous cell carcinoma in situ, or stage I squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or the larynx treated with photodynamic therapy using porfimer sodium.
• To identify the local toxicity of this treatment in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients receive porfimer sodium subcutaneously followed by photodynamic therapy (PDT) comprising laser light delivered by a single or a diffuser (i.e., for broad areas of dysplasia) fiberoptic lens fiber. Patients with incompletely treated or missed sites of disease may receive another dose of laser light on day 5 without additional porfimer sodium. Patients with multicentric disease may undergo additional PDT at least 4-6 weeks after the initial treatment.

After completion of study therapy, patients are followed for 1-2 months.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Biopsy confirmed oral cavity or larynx lesion with mild-to-severe dysplasia OR in situ or stage I (T1, N0) squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or larynx
• Recurrent disease

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status 0-2
• WBC ≥ 4,000/mm^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
• Total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
• Creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
• Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• SGOT ≤ 3 times ULN
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must practice effective contraception
• No porphyria or hypersensitivity to porphyrin or porphyrin-like compounds

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Any type of prior therapy allowed
• More than 4 weeks since prior and no concurrent chemotherapy or radiotherapy