Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. In excess of 260,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, and with one of the lowest five year survival rates of all cancers. Limitations of current treatments include cytotoxicity, drug resistance, and often a necessity for reconstructive surgery. The morbidity rate associated with conventional oral cancer treatments is also high. Hence, development of novel, minimally invasive, targeted treatments, which is the focus of this study, are clearly warranted.Many tumour cells breakdown glucose by a process known as glycolysis to generate energy for cell division and growth. Using an in vivo oral cancer tumour model the effect of specific inhibitors of glycolysis on tumour cell viability will be examined. Also the usefulness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of oral cancer will be examined. PDT involves the administration of photosensitizer followed by local illumination with visible light at a specific wavelength. In the presence of oxygen molecules, the light illumination of the photosensitizer leads to a series of reactions that generate cytotoxic species, which can kill cancerous cells. Clinically photosensitizers can achieve cancer ablation by either targeting the tumour itself or by targeting the blood vessels, which supply the tumour. Key to the research in this proposal is that the effectiveness of PDT as a treatment depends on the availability of oxygen during irradiation. Without oxygen, PDT will have no antitumor effect. We propose to use PDT to induce specific tumour cell death by targeting blood vessels supplying the tumour.
