Switching From Conventional Photodynamic Therapy to Daylight Photodynamic Therapy For Actinic Keratoses: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Actinic keratosis is a precursor lesion to the most common nonmelanoma skin cancer. Conventional photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been shown to be effective, but the procedure is time-consuming, can be very painful, and requires infrastructure.

These shortcomings led to the emergence of daylight PDT. To obtain a global estimate of efficacy, we undertook a systematic literature review and performed a meta-analysis of the available evidence on the efficacy and safety of daylight PDT as compared to conventional PDT in the treatment of actinic keratosis and/or field cancerization.

The conclusion is that the difference in efficacy is clinically negligible (global estimate of the mean response rate difference, -3.69%; 95% CI, -6.54% to -0.84%). The adverse effects of daylight PDT are mild and localized (79% of patients report no discomfort), and patients report less pain (P<.001).

Daylight PDT gives good to excellent cosmetic results in more than 90% of patients, and patient satisfaction is greater (P<.001).

CITA DEL ARTÍCULO Actas Dermosifiliogr. 2017 Jan 4. pii: S0001-7310(16)30350-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ad.2016.09.020