Microneedles may help light reach hard-to-treat skin cancers

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses a light-sensitive drug and a specific wavelength of light to destroy cancer cells.

The treatment has become an important option for certain skin cancers because it can target diseased tissue while limiting damage to surrounding skin.

But PDT has a fundamental challenge: both the drug and the light must reach the same area of tissue.

While drugs applied to the skin often struggle to penetrate deeply, light also loses intensity as it passes through tissue, limiting treatment to relatively shallow lesions. ...