Photodynamic therapy for facial actinic keratosis: A clinical and histological study in Chinese patients

摘要

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising treatment modality for skin malignancies. Aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-PDT for the treatment of actinic keratosis (AK) has been well studied in Europe and North America. However, there have only been a few clinical studies that have evaluated ALA-PDT for the treatment of AK in Chinese patients. Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the therapeutic response of Chinese patients with AK lesions to photodynamic therapy (PDT), and the histologic changes associated with PDT. Methods: Forty-two patients with a total of 56 AK lesions on the face were enrolled in this study. After the application of 20% ALA under occlusion for 5 h, the lesions were illuminated by diode laser (λ = 630nm; intensity 100mW/cm~2) for 30min. All patients were reviewed at intervals of at least 2 weeks. One month after therapy, response to PDT was evaluated and treatment repeated if necessary. Results: At 1 month after PDT, a complete response was achieved in 85.71% of treated lesions. The remaining lesions received one or two additional PDT treatments, and were eventually cleared. Clinically, there was no significant scarring or pigmentary changes after therapy. Conclusions: In this small study, PDT using topical ALA was demonstrated to be a safe and effective therapy for AK lesions with excellent cosmetic outcome. It is a promising treatment that merits further study in China.