Simulation of Intraoperative PDT of Glioblastoma using Monte Carlo Radiative Transport

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive brain cancer diagnosed in around 4/100,000 people (1). The disease has a median survival rate of 14.6 months when treated with the current standard of care (2). It has been observed that over 80% of recurrences originate within the resection cavity and so, with the recent FDA approval of the photosensitiser 5-ALA, interest in treating the cavity with PDT intraoperatively has increased (2). Preliminary results of a recent clinical trial for intraoperative PDT at Lille University Hospital show a median survival rate of 23.1 months, an improvement of over 8 months (1). Using a similar surgical setup to this trial, a Monte Carlo simulation is produced to calculate the penetration depth of light and extent of PDT within a 3D voxelised brain model containing a mathematically modelled glioblastoma multiforme (3).