Topical photodynamic therapy in the treatment of basal cell carcinoma in Singaporean Chinese patients

Topical photodynamic therapy has been used for the treatment of superficial and nodular basal cell carcinomas, with varying cure rates. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of topical photodynamic therapy in the treatment of superficial and nodular basal cell carcinomas in Asian patients treated at the National Skin Centre, Singapore. A retrospective analysis of Asian patients with histologically confirmed basal cell carcinomas and treated with photodynamic therapy was performed. Eight Chinese patients, with an equal gender distribution and mean age of 83.4 years were included. Five of eight basal cell carcinomas were superficial while the remaining three were nodular. The basal cell carcinomas were located in the head and neck in seven patients. The overall clearance rate at 3 months was 87.5% while the clearance rate for superficial and nodular basal cell carcinomas was 100% and 66.6% respectively at 3 months. At 12 months, the overall clearance rate was 85. 7%. This is a retrospective analysis with small patient numbers. In this small series of eight Asian patients, topical photodynamic therapy has been shown to be effective and generally well-tolerated in the treatment of basal cell carcinomas, particularly of the superficial subtype. However, larger studies are needed to evaluate its overall efficacy in Asian patients.