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Cancers
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Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy for Cancer Treatment: 2nd Edition
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Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy for Cancer Treatment: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2026 | Viewed by 1486

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Molecular Imaging Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Interests: molecular imaging; photo-immunotherapy; molecular probe chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a newly developed, molecularly targeted cancer phototherapy involving conjugating a near-infrared silica-phthalocyanine dye, IRDye700DX (IR700), to monoclonal-antibody (mAb)-targeting cell-surface molecules. NIR-PIT targeting EGFR using cetuximab-IR700 conjugates is now undergoing a global Phase 3 clinical trial in late-stage head and neck squamous cell cancer patients, and was approved for clinical use under health insurance in Japan in September 2020. NIR-PIT is different from conventional photodynamic therapy (PDT) in photochemistry and cytotoxic mechanisms, resulting in a superior safety profile in preclinical and clinical studies.

This is the 2nd edition of the Special Issue which welcomes research articles and review papers that focus on a wide scope of NIR-PIT-related science, from basic photochemistry to preclinical and clinical NIR-PIT studies. You are welcome to read the publications in the 1st edition at Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy for Cancer Treatment.

Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • NIR-PIT
  • phototherapy
  • monoclonal antibody
  • imaging biomarker
  • immunotherapy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 747 KB  
Article
Outcomes of Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: A Single-Center Retrospective Study
by Hiroaki Tahara, Tsutomu Ueda, Takayoshi Hattori, Minoru Hattori, Yuki Sato, Nobuyuki Chikuie, Takayuki Taruya, Takao Hamamoto, Takashi Ishino and Sachio Takeno
Cancers 2026, 18(3), 350; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18030350 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 935
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) represents a treatment approach for patients with locally advanced or recurrent head and neck cancers who are unsuitable for surgery post-standard therapy. Since its introduction in Japan in January 2021, NIR-PIT has been available exclusively under the national health [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) represents a treatment approach for patients with locally advanced or recurrent head and neck cancers who are unsuitable for surgery post-standard therapy. Since its introduction in Japan in January 2021, NIR-PIT has been available exclusively under the national health insurance system, resulting in limited real-world clinical practice data. This study evaluated the association between NIR-PIT and overall survival (OS) in clinical practice. Methods: This single-center retrospective study included 45 patients with head and neck cancer who were not amenable to surgical resection owing to advanced local disease or regional recurrence without distant metastasis and who underwent NIR-PIT or systemic pharmacotherapy between January 2021 and April 2025. The primary endpoint was OS. Results: Twenty-two and 23 patients received NIR-PIT and pharmacotherapy, respectively. In the NIR-PIT group, irradiation was delivered to primary tumors in 20 patients, cervical lymph node lesions in one, and both primary and lymph node lesions in one. The median OS was 35 and 8 months, with median follow-up of 40 and 49 months in the NIR-PIT and pharmacotherapy groups, respectively. Among the NIR-PIT-eligible patients, 22 and 10 were treated with NIR-PIT and pharmacotherapy, respectively. The median OS was 35 and 8 months, with median follow-up of 40 and 24 months in the NIR-PIT and pharmacotherapy groups, respectively. Conclusions: NIR-PIT was independently associated with improved OS in patients with unresectable recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer without distant metastasis. Prospective multicenter studies are warranted to validate these findings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy for Cancer Treatment: 2nd Edition)
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