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

SummaryBackgroundPhotodynamic 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.ObjectiveThe 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.MethodsForty-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 = 630 nm; intensity 100 mW/cm2) for 30 min. 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.ResultsAt 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.ConclusionsIn 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.