Date of Award
8-2024
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Physics, Applied
First Advisor
Jonathan Celli
Second Advisor
Mohamed Gharbi
Third Advisor
Akira Stone
Abstract
The capability of curcumin and its analogs to inhibit various processes involved in cancer development and progression has been extensively studied. Curcumin is also a photoactive compound, which can be activated with blue light to initiate photochemistry. Motivated by this and its inherent anti-cancer properties, we examined the practicality of using a commercially available nano-cumin formulation as a photosensitizer for the photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment of oral cancers. Despite the significant limitation of curcumin in only absorbing blue light, which lies outside the optical window and suffers from poor penetration depths, we meticulously investigated its potential. Our systematic examination using optical phantoms that mimic the scattering and absorption of human tissues has provided robust evidence. We measured fluorescence photobleaching as a reporter of the depth of photodynamic action of the curcumin-photosensitized phantoms. We observed that the extent of photobleaching after PDT varies with the constitution of scattering components in the Phantoms. Photobleaching depths of 5-10 mm were measured depending on the phantom composition. Similarly, with hemoglobin as a light-absorbing component in the phantom, the Photobleaching depth of 3-4 mm was reported, ensuring Curcumin PDT could be an alternative Therapy to treat oral lesions of thickness up to 4 mm.
Recommended Citation
Pokhrel, Sudip, "Nano Curcumin as a Photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy Treatment of Oral Lesions" (2024). Graduate Masters Theses. 862.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses/862
Comments
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