title: The interpretation of clinical studies on the photodynamic treatment of actinic keratosis.
abstract: Actinic keratosis is one of the most commonly treated skin conditions. A number of studies have recently been published on the treatment of this ailment using photodynamic therapy. The authors of this letter are concerned about the interpretation of some of these studies and would like to outline possible misinterpretations which may arise due to an incomplete analysis of the study reports available. Clearly, the "ideal" therapy for actinic keratosis should be a carefully chosen compromise between undesired side-effects and therapeutic efficacy and needs to be based on a consideration of all of the relevant clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, Mainz, Germany. kelleher@uni-mainz.de
authors.forename: Debra K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kelleher
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Piazena
mesh_terms: D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D055623:Keratosis, Actinic / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid