Please cite this article in press as: Gamal-Eldeen AM, et al. Photodynamic therapeutic role of indocya- nine green in tumor-associated inflammation in skin cancer. Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pdpdt.2014.03.002 ARTICLE IN PRESS +Model PDPDT-544; No. of Pages 11 Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy (2014) xxx, xxx—xxx Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect jou rn al hom epage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pdpdt Photodynamic therapeutic role of indocyanine green in tumor-associated inflammation in skin cancer Amira M. Gamal-Eldeen a,b,* , Lamiaa M. Fouad c , Sherien M. El-Daly d , Enas A. El-Hussieny e , Ezzeddin S. El Denshary f a Cancer Biology Laboratory, Center of Excellence for Advanced Sciences, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt b Department of Biochemistry, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt c Pharmaceutical Technical Examination, Egyptian Patent Office, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Cairo, Egypt d Department of Medical Biochemistry, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt e Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt f Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt KEYWORDS Photodynamic therapy; Indocyanine green; 5-Lipoxygenase; Cyclooxygenase-2; Tumor necrosis factor-; Proliferating cell nuclear antigen Summary Background: Indocyanine green (ICG) is a promising water-soluble photosensitizer for photody- namic therapy (PDT) of tumors. It was reported to have promising phototoxic effect on different cell lines. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of ICG as an efficient PS agent for skin cancer induced in mice. Methods: Skin squamous cell carcinoma was induced in female CD-1 mice by 7,12- dimethylbenzanthracene and 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate followed by an ICG/PDT treatment. The laser irradiation for PDT was adjusted to cover the whole body of the mice to make sure that the treatment protocol will be delivered to multiple tumors. Results: The treatment of skin cancer by ICG/PDT using intravenously injected ICG initiated tumor cell death and significantly decreased cell proliferation as indicated by the reduction in proliferating cell nuclear antigen positivity. A significant reduction in the inflammatory media- tors; tumor necrosis factor-, nitric oxide and 5-lipoxygenase was reported, however the level of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) was significantly elevated after ICG/PDT treatment. Conclusion: The proposed ICG/PDT treatment modality showed a significant anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activity against skin cancer accompanied with COX-2 elevation. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author at: NRC, Dokki, 12622 Cairo, Egypt. Tel.: +20 1006053903; fax: +20 233370931. E-mail address: aeldeen7@yahoo.com (A.M. Gamal-Eldeen). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pdpdt.2014.03.002 1572-1000/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.