Treatment of the facial basal cell carcinoma with the use of photodynamic therapy: A case report

Abstract

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common skin cancer. It accounts for approx. 80% of human skin cancers and belongs to the group of non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC). The highest incidence of this cancer is visible in older people, over 65 years of age. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinically approved method with a selective cytotoxic activity. It is used in the treatment of superficial forms of BCC, precancerous conditions (hyperkeratosis, actinic keratosis) and non-cancerous diseases (acne vulgaris, infection with herpes simplex virus - HSV, leukoplakia, lichen planus). The aim of the study was to apply PDT to a patient with a clinical diagnosis and histopathologically confirmed BCC. The patient, male, aged 82, reported to the Department of Oral Surgery at Wroclaw Medical University with BCC of dimensions 0.5 × 1.5 cm, present for 13 years in the area of the right mandibular angle, after previous surgical treatment. Photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) and PDT were employed using a semiconductor laser. 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) was used as a photosensitizer. The PDD and PDT procedures were applied at 2-week intervals for 3 months. Control visits after 3, 6 and 12 months did not show local recurrence. Photodynamic therapy is a highly useful, independent method of treating superficial forms of BCC.