It must be kept in mind, however, that each of the 5 medications also carry their own risks, on top of prednisone.The twin aims of treating membranous nephropathy are first to induce a remission of the nephrotic syndrome and second to prevent the development of end-stage kidney failure. A meta-analysis of four randomized controlled trials comparing treatments of membranous nephropathy showed that regimes comprising chlorambucil or cyclophosphamide, either alone or with steroids, were more effective than symptomatic treatment or treatment with steroids alone in inducing remission of the nephrotic syndrome. Prognosis
About a third of untreated patients have spontaneous remission, another third progress to require dialysis and the last third continue to have proteinuria, without progression of kidney failure. Terminology
The closely related terms membranous nephropathy (MN) and membranous glomerulopathy both refer to a similar constellation but without the assumption of inflammation. Membranous nephritis (in which inflammation is implied, but the glomerulus not explicitly mentioned) is less common, but the phrase is occasionally encountered. These conditions are usually considered together. By contrast, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis has a similar name, but is considered a separate condition with a distinctly different causality. Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis involves the basement membrane and mesangium, while membranous glomerulonephritis involves the basement membrane but not the mesangium. (Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis has the alternate name "mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis", to emphasize its mesangial character.) References


== External links ==
Porfimer sodium, sold as Photofrin, is a photosensitizer used in photodynamic therapy and radiation therapy and for palliative treatment of obstructing endobronchial non-small cell lung carcinoma and obstructing esophageal cancer. Porfimer is a mixture of oligomers formed by ether and ester linkages of up to eight porphyrin units. In practice, a red light source emitting at 630 nm is used to excite the Porfimer oligomers.Porfimer is Haematoporphyrin Derivative (HpD) (See PDT). Approvals and indications
It was approved in Canada in 1993 for the treatment of bladder cancer. It was approved in Japan in 1994 (for early stage lung cancer?). It was approved by the U.S. FDA in December 1995 for esophageal cancer, and in 1998, it was approved for the treatment of early non-small cell lung cancer.In August 2003 the FDA approved its use for Barretts esophagus. References
External links
Photofrin 
Photofrin marketing info 
Side effects of PDT with Photofrin
History of Photofrin