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Calcipotriol‐assisted vs. conventional MAL‐PDT in actinic keratosis
Author(s) -
Torezan L.,
Grinblat B.,
Haedersdal M.,
Valente N.,
FestaNeto C.,
Szeimies R.M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/bjd.17162
Subject(s) - actinic keratosis , photodynamic therapy , medicine , calcipotriol , dermatology , scalp , keratosis , skin cancer , basal cell , lesion , cancer , surgery , chemistry , organic chemistry , psoriasis
Summary Actinic keratosis (AK) is a common pre‐malignant lesion (affected patch) of the skin that affects many people worldwide, especially fair skin type people. It is more common after the age of 40 and in sun‐exposed areas of the body. It can progress into a type of skin cancer named squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). For this reason, an adequate treatment of each AK lesion is recommended. This study aimed to treat these lesions with photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is a well‐established option. Normally, topical PDT is a treatment that combines a drug (applied to the lesions) and illumination with light (blue or red). The final result is the massive killing of the cancer cells that will bring high cure rates to these patients. However, AKs on the scalp are sometimes hard to treat and the efficacy levels are lower when compared to facial lesions. Therefore, we aimed to find if the combination of PDT with a well‐known drug named Calcipotriol would bring any benefit to the patients. So we compared: one half of the scalp with CAL and PDT and the other half with PDT alone. Patients were then followed (monitored) for 3 months. We found that the combination was safe and more effective for AK treatment, especially when the lesions were thicker. Side effects were more common, but well‐tolerated by the patients. This is the first study of CAL and PDT for AKs.