SynthesisStrahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al]2025
5-Aminolevulinic acid as an emerging radiosensitizer for radiodynamic therapy in solid tumors: a systematic review of available data and clinical potential.
Synthesis in Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al], 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- 5-ALA in Oncology: Current Clinical Applications, Biological Limitations, and Emerging Translational Strategies.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Fluorescence-guided surgery combined with intraoperative photodynamic therapy for recurrent atypical and anaplastic intracranial meningiomas: a prospective feasibility study.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Talaporfin Sodium as a Clinically Translatable Radiosensitizer in Radiodynamic Therapy.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Emerging uses of 5-aminolevulinic-acid-induced protoporphyrin IX in medicine: a review of multifaceted, ubiquitous, molecular diagnostic, therapeutic, and theranostic opportunities.Journal of biomedical optics · 2025Review
- Antitumor efficacy of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)-based radiodynamic therapy under single-dose X-ray irradiation in colon cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Combination chemotherapy potentiates 5-aminolevulic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy killing of patient-derived glioma stem-like cellsNeuro-oncology advancesArticle
- Radiodynamic Therapy Using Local Administration of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid forIn vivo (Athens, Greece)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background5‑Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a keto-carbon amino acid frequently used in glioma surgery for fluorescence-guided resection. Additionally, cytotoxic properties of 5‑ALA can be induced via stimulation with laser light in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Preclinical in vitro and in vivo trials have also demonstrated this effect to be inducible by photon irradiation as used in radiation treatment. This makes 5‑ALA a potential sensitizer for radiation therapy whose capabilities and limitations have not yet been fully evaluated. In this article, we present results from a systematic literature review regarding the evidence of 5‑ALA's radiosensitizing properties and the context of its use. We discuss these findings in terms of the underlying mechanisms, their limitations, and the questions to be addressed in future clinical trials.
methodsA systematic review in the PubMed database was performed via a specifically designed search term, including all search results that featured the combination of 5‑ALA with ionizing radiation. The last date of search was November 13, 2024. Risk of bias among study data was assessed individually according to the study setup after full-text analysis. The results were synthesized based on the underlying tumor entity.
resultsA total of 31 articles were included that examined the combination of 5‑ALA with radiotherapy (RT) in glioma (n = 12), melanoma (n = 6), breast (n = 3), lung (n = 2), prostate (n = 4), and colorectal (n = 1) cancer as well as in sarcoma (n = 2) and primary CNS lymphoma (n = 1). The radiosensitizing effect of 5‑ALA varies among these entities, with glioma and melanoma presenting the strongest body of evidence.
conclusionThese results imply a basis for 5‑ALA as a possible radiosensitizer for RT, but several questions remain unanswered, as limitations arise from the fact that data are predominantly based on in vitro or rodent in vivo trials, with only two ongoing clinical trials and one case report involving human patients. Moreover, trial setups varied in terms of ALA dose and application timing.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.