Photodynamic therapy with 5-aminolevulinate patch for the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinomas.

ABSTRACT

5-Aminolevulinate (ALA) patches with red light (630-nm light source and a total light dose of 37 J/cm2 ) is an effective treatment indicated by food and drug administration (FDA) and european medicines agency (EMA) only for grade I to II actinic keratosis located on the scalp and face. Currently, there are no efficacy data on their use in the treatment of other types of epithelial neoplasms. We analyzed the efficacy of ALA patches in seven superficial basal cell carcinomas (sBCCs) that occurred in four patients. All lesions were treated with topical ALA patches. A complete response of all sBCCs was achieved at week 24 after treatment. Our study suggests that ALA patches for sBCCs have good efficacy rates and excellent safety profile.