John Libbey Eurotext




Topical methyl aminolaevulinate photodynamic therapy versus cryotherapy for superficial basal cell carcinoma: a 5 year randomized trial
European Journal of Dermatology. Volume 18, Number 5, 547-53, September-October 2008, Therapy
Free Article
Author(s) : Nicole Basset-Seguin, Sally H Ibbotson, Lennart Emtestam, Mikael Tarstedt, Colin Morton, Marianne Maroti, Piergiacomo Calzavara-Pinton, Sandeep Varma, Rik Roelandts, Peter Wolf
Summary : This multicentre, randomized study compared photodynamic therapy using topical methyl aminolaevulinate (MAL PDT), a non-invasive modality, with cryotherapy for treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma. Sixty patients with 114 lesions were treated with MAL cream (160 mg/g) applied for 3 hours before illumination (570-670 nm, light dose 75 J/cm) (1 session), and 58 with 105 lesions received cryotherapy (2 freeze-thaw cycles). Patients with an incomplete response at 3 months received 2 further MAL PDT sessions (n \= 20) or repeat cryotherapy (n \= 16). 100 lesions treated with MAL PDT and 93 lesions treated with cryotherapy were in complete response at 3 months after the last treatment and evaluable for recurrence over 5 years. There was no difference in 5-year recurrence rates with either treatment (20% with cryotherapy vs. 22% with MAL PDT, p \= 0.86). However, more patients had an excellent cosmetic outcome with MAL PDT (60% vs. 16% with cryotherapy, p \= 0.00078). These results provide support for the use of MAL PDT as a non-invasive, selective treatment alternative for primary superficial basal cell carcinoma.
Keywords : methyl aminolaevulinate, photodynamic therapy, superficial basal cell carcinoma

Topical methyl aminolaevulinate photodynamic therapy versus cryotherapy for superficial basal cell carcinoma: a 5 year randomized trial