Pretreatment with 5-fluorouracil cream enhances the efficacy of daylight-mediated photodynamic therapy for actinic keratosis

Christoffer V. Nissen*, Ida M. Heerfordt, Stine R. Wiegell, Carsten S. Mikkelsen, Hans Christian Wulf

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with methyl aminolevulinate is reduced when treating actinic keratosis (AK) on the extremities in comparison with the face and scalp. Studies indicate that PDT efficacy can be improved by combining PDT with other treatment modalities. This randomized intra-individual study investigated whether pretreatment with topical 5% 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) enhanced the treatment efficacy of daylight-mediated PDT in 24 patients with AKs on the hands. One hand of each patient was given 7 days of pretreatment with 5-FU twice daily before daylight-PDT, whereas the other hand was treated with daylight-PDT alone. At 3-month follow-up the overall lesion response rate was significantly higher for the combination of 5-FU and daylight-PDT (62.7%) than for daylight-PDT alone (51.8%) (p = 0.001). Furthermore, pain and erythema in relation to treatment were similar in the 2 groups (p = 1.0 and p = 0.2, respectively). Combination therapy is a safe and effective method to improve daylight-PDT for acral AKs.

Original languageEnglish
JournalActa Dermato-Venereologica
Volume97
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)617-621
Number of pages5
ISSN0001-5555
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Acta Dermato-Venereologica.

Keywords

  • 5-fluorouracil
  • Actinic keratosis
  • Daylight-PDT
  • Photodynamic therapy
  • Pretreatment

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