Topical photodynamic therapy with methylaminolevulinate for the treatment of actinic keratosis and reduction of photodamage in organ transplant recipients: a case-series of 16 patients.

BACKGROUND

Organ transplant recipients (OTR) are at high risk of developing cutaneous neoplasms. Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been used for the treatment of actinic keratosis (AK) in OTR.

AIMS: The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of PDT with methylaminolevulinate (MAL) in the treatment of facial AK in OTR. As a secondary objective, we wanted to evaluate the usefulness of topical PDT in the reduction of photodamage in OTR.

METHODS

A prospective, single center, single arm study was made. 16 OTR were included. Topical PDT was applied for 1 or 2 cycles depending on the patient's characteristics. An evaluation of AK was made at visits pre-treatment, at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks. Photodamage was measured with multispectral image technique (SkinCare).

RESULTS

A complete response rate of 100% was achieved for AK in all patients; it persisted without change at 12 and 24 weeks of follow-up. 62.5% of patients improved their photodamage as measured by SkinCare®, but this result was not statistically significant (P = 0.12). All patients had high level of satisfaction at the end of the therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

MAL-PDT is an effective therapy for the treatment of AK in OTRs. It can reduce photodamage in this group of patients, but these results were not statistically significant.