Nonsurgical and minimally invasive approaches for early-stage peripheral lung cancer are needed to avoid the known morbidity of surgical resection, particularly in high-risk patients. We previously demonstrated the utility of multifunctional porphyrin-phospholipid nanoparticles (porphysomes) for fluorescence imaging and phototherapy after preferential accumulation into tumors. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of porphysome-mediated imaging and photothermal therapy using a newly developed fiberscope and thoracoscope.
