A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis of Methyl Aminolevulinate Photodynamic Therapy Consultation at the Hospital de Braga

Abstract

Introduction: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well-established treatment for actinic keratosis (AK), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and Bowen’s disease (BD). The object of this study was to describe the results of a retrospective analysis of patients treated with methyl aminolevulinate PDT (MAL-PDT) with red light, over the past decade at the Hospital de Braga (Braga, Portugal). Methods: This study is based on the retrospective analysis of the clinical records of patients treated with MAL-PDT from January 2003 to December 2013. Results: More than 550 patients with mean age of 72 years were treated with MAL-PDT. About two-thirds of these patients were female. In terms of diagnostics, 67% of the patient population were affected with AK, 27% presented with BCC, and 4% had BD. With an average follow-up of 5.5 years, 99.5% of the lesions had cleared. The recurrence of lesions occurred during the first year of follow-up, mostly large BCC localized on the trunk. Conclusion: This study showed the excellence of MAL-PDT for treating AK, BCC, and BD, with a low recurrence rate.