In collaboration with Prof. Yoram Salomon of the Institute’s Department of Biological Regulation, Prof. Scherz has designed a new approach to cancer therapy, termed Vascular Targeted Photodynamic Therapy (VTP), in which illumination of tumors after the infusion of novel compounds derived from chlorophylls, the molecules that drive photosynthesis, causes cell death and tumor collapse. This method has recently completed phase III clinical trials for treatment of localized prostate cancer with several hundred patients in both the treatment and control arms. High efficacy with minimal morbidity has been observed and final results are expected by January 2016. In collaboration with researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), he found that this therapy provided systemic antitumor immunity. Four new clinical studies are currently under way to explore VTP’s efficacy in urinary, breast, esophageal and more advanced prostate cancers.