The use of porphyrins for localization and photodynamic therapy of neoplastic disease has been the topic of several international symposia, reviews and books during the preceeding five years. The literature on this topic has continued to grow, as have numbers of presentations at national and international meetings relating to photobiology, chemistry, and lasers. In this volume, it is the intention of the editor to provide both information on current research projects, and detailed methodology used in such investigations. A bibliography on the subjects of porphyrin localization and therapy is included. The manuscripts contained in this volume are based on reports given at a Porphyrin Photosensitization Workshop which was held in Philadel phia, July 6-7, 1984. This Workshop was supported by NIH grant CA 36746, together with funds from the Fogarty International Center. Authors were requested to update their contributions to provide a summary of progress to mid 1985. Manuscripts containing material not presented in Philadelphia are also included, notably a series of articles describ ing current clinical and pre-clinical results from China. Since the Philadelphia Workshop, a meeting was held in Alghero, Sardinia (May, 1985), and additional conferences are now being planned; this attests to the continued interest in photodynamic therapy involving porphyrin photo sensitization.

The first edition of The Science of Photobiology was published in 1977, and was the first textbook to cover all of the major areas of photobiology. The science of photobiology is currently divided into 14 subspecialty areas by the American Society for Photobiology. In this edition, however, the topics of phototechnology and spectroscopy have been com bined in a new chapter entitled "Photophysics." The other subspecialty areas remain the same, i.e., Photochemistry, Photosensitization, UV Radiation Effects, Environmental Photobiology, Photomedicine, Circadian Rhythms, Extraretinal Photoreception, Vision, Photomorphogenesis, Photomovement, Photosynthesis, and Bioluminescence. This book has been written as a textbook to introduce the science of photobiology to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The chapters are written to provide a broad overview of each topic. They are designed to contain the amount of information that might be presented in a one-to two-hour general lecture. The references are not meant to be exhaustive, but key references are included to give students an entry into the literature. Frequently a more recent reference that reviews the literature will be cited rather than the first paper by the author making the original discovery. The chapters are not meant to be a repository of facts for research workers in the field, but rather are concerned with demon strating the importance of each specialty area of photobiology, and documenting its relevance to current and/or future problems of man.

Photosensitization of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines covers the scentific background to porphyrins and phthalocyanines, and applications of the compounds, especially for the application for photosensitization. It also has a review of advances in research and applications in this field.