International Society for Photodynamic Therapy (I-PDT)

The International Society for Photodynamic Therapy (I-PDT) was founded in 2004 by Professor Lasse R. Braathen (Founding President [Switzerland]), Professor Rolf-Markus Szeimies (Founding Vice-President [Germany]), and Professor Colin Morton (Founding Secretary General [UK ]).

The aim of the Society is to promote the evidence-based use of PDT in dermatology and to be a forum for exchange of knowledge and scientific data, as well as clinical use/techniques. The board of I-PDT invited a number of well-known clinicians and scientists to a launch meeting in Rome, on Saturday, January 29th, 2005. The following distinguished colleagues were present, in alphabetical order: Nicole Basset-Séguin (France), Robert Bissonnette (Canada), Peter Foley (Australia), David Pariser (USA), Rik Roelandts (Belgium), and Ann-Marie Wennberg (Sweden), together with the founding members of the board (see above). At the meeting, the executive committee of I-PDT was established with the above-mentioned members, and the aims of the Society and the working procedures were discussed.

An important issue was also the Society's future activities (i.e. publications, courses and congresses). It was decided to explore the possibility of holding a meeting as an adjunct to another dermatology congress on the American continent.

During the meeting, the EC-based members gave lectures on the latest developments in PDT, including: epidemiology of non-melanoma skin cancer; therapy options; PDT as cancer prevention in immunocompromised individuals and cancer-prone areas; fluorescence diagnosis with the latest technical equipment and its clinical indications; evidence-based PDT for actinic keratosis, basocellular carcinoma, Bowen's disease and thin squamous cell carcinomas; and pain management and adverse events.

I-PDT plans to publish a ‘state of the art' article which, in principle, will be written like an evidence-based guideline. It is our hope to be able to finish the manuscript later this year.

PDT in dermatology is not only in use in Europe and in the USA , but is now starting to be used increasingly also in other parts of the world.

We hope that I-PDT will be able to contribute to the enhancement of the quality and expertise of PDT in the medical community of the world, with the ultimate aim of offering a better treatment for our patients.

Rod Robinson
Publisher
Eurocommunica Ltd

(article first published by Eurocommunica Publications in Clinical Photodynamics in Dermatology, an international newsletter for PDT and FD in clinical practice)