Despite being benign CNS tumours, meningiomas are not always curable and the 
likelihood of recurrence depends upon the completeness of initial removal. 
Adjuvant therapy for incompletely resected meningiomas is generally 
unsatisfactory and such lesions continue to pose difficult management problems. 
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been employed in the management of recurrent 
cerebral gliomas but its activity against meningiomas has not been specifically 
studied. An in vitro study of the effects of PDT against a variety of 
meningiomas was therefore conducted. It was found that PDT using 
haematoporphyrin derivative as a photosensitizing drug showed dose-dependent 
activity against a variety of histological subtypes of meningioma. The activity 
of PDT against meningiomas should be investigated further and may eventually 
provide a useful form of adjuvant therapy for incompletely resected lesions.