RT Journal Article SR Electronic A1 Pizova, Klara A1 Tomankova, Katerina A1 Daskova, Adela A1 Binder, Svatopluk A1 Bajgar, Robert A1 Kolarova, Hana T1 Photodynamic therapy for enhancing antitumour immunity JF Biomedical papers YR 2012 VO 156 IS 2 SP 93 OP 102 DO 10.5507/bp.2012.056 UL https://biomed.papers.upol.cz/artkey/bio-201202-0002.php AB Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a new modality in cancer treatment. It is based on the tumour-selective accumulation of a photosensitizer followed by irradiation with light of a specific wavelength. PDT is becoming widely accepted owing to its relative specificity and selectivity along with absence of the harmful side-effects of chemo and radiotherapy. There are three known distinct mechanisms of tumour destruction following PDT, generation of reactive oxygen species which can directly kill tumour cells, tumour vascular shutdown which can independently lead to tumour destruction via lack of oxygen and nutrients and thirdly enhanced antitumour immunity. Methods: A review based on the literature acquired from the PubMed database from 1983 with a focus on the enhanced antitumour immunity effects of PTD. Results and conclusion. Tumour cell death is accompanied by the release of a large number of inflammatory mediators. These induce a non-specific inflammatory response followed by gradual adaptive antitumour immunity. Further, a combination of PDT with the immunological approach has the potential to improve PDT efficiency and increase the cure rate. This short review covers specific methods for achieving these goals.