{"entity":{"id":"temoporfin","kind":"drug","name":"Temoporfin","aka":["mTHPC","meta-tetra(hydroxyphenyl)chlorin"],"tldr":"Foscan is a light-activated drug used in Europe to shrink advanced head and neck cancers that have failed other treatments and cannot be operated on, irradiated or given chemotherapy, to relieve symptoms.","summary":"Temoporfin was authorised by the European Commission in October 2001 for palliative treatment of advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma failing prior therapies and unsuitable for radiotherapy, surgery or systemic chemotherapy, on open-label phase 2 studies in which a proportion of patients achieved local tumour responses and symptom relief. It is a second-generation photosensitiser with a shorter photosensitivity period than porfimer sodium (Photofrin), the first-generation agent approved in the US for oesophageal and lung cancer, but patients must still avoid bright light for about two weeks. The FDA did not approve it. Pain at the treated site, local swelling and skin photosensitivity are the main adverse effects. Marketed by biolitec.","status":"approved","asOf":"2026-09-10","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temoporfin","links":[{"label":"EPAR (EMA)","url":"https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/foscan"}],"tags":["ema-list"],"related":[],"cancers":["head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["biolitec"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["nct01415986","nct01086488","nct03003065"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"brand":"Foscan","modality":"Intravenous photosensitiser for photodynamic therapy","mechanism":"Chlorin photosensitiser that accumulates in tumour tissue and, on illumination with 652 nm laser light four days after injection, generates singlet oxygen that causes tumour necrosis and vascular shutdown.","approvals":[{"region":"EU","year":2001,"indication":"Palliative treatment of advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma failing prior therapy and unsuitable for radiotherapy, surgery or chemotherapy"}],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/temoporfin/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"}],"company":[{"id":"biolitec","kind":"company","name":"biolitec","route":"/companies/biolitec/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct01086488","kind":"trial","name":"Foscan®-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy Versus Brachytherapy in Patients With Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma","route":"/trials/nct01086488/"},{"id":"nct01415986","kind":"trial","name":"Interstitial Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) With Temoporfin for Advanced Head and Neck Cancers","route":"/trials/nct01415986/"},{"id":"nct03003065","kind":"trial","name":"Safety and Tumoricidal Effect of Low Dose Foscan PDT in Patients With Inoperable Bile Duct Cancers","route":"/trials/nct03003065/"}],"technology":[{"id":"photodynamic-therapy-lasers","kind":"technology","name":"Photodynamic therapy lasers and light sources","route":"/technologies/photodynamic-therapy-lasers/"}]}}