title: Methyl-aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy for the treatment of actinic cheilitis: a retrospective evaluation of 29 patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Multiple treatment modalities have been proposed for actinic cheilitis (AC), and topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) has recently been included among these modalities. We report our experience with PDT using methyl-aminolevulinate (MAL) in AC.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective analysis of 29 patients who had undergone MAL-PDT for treatment of AC: 4 patients received one single session and 25 patients two consecutive weekly sessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 3 months, 21 patients (72%) obtained a complete clinical response, which was sustained over a follow-up period of 6-36 months (mean, 20 months) in 20 patients. Cosmetic outcome was generally rated as good or very good. Transient local adverse events related to the procedure were common and mild to moderate in the majority of cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our preliminary experience suggests that MAL-PDT may be considered a valid modality for the treatment of AC, although long-term follow-up studies in large patient series are required to obtain precise data about clinical and histological recurrences.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Service, AUSL Lecce, Gagliano del Capo, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fai
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cassano
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Vena
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002613:Cheilitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; C475457:methyl 5-aminolevulinate; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid