Photodynamic therapy for treating malignant skin tumors in young people

Objective : to study the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for non-melanoma malignant skin neoplasms with photosensitizer (PS) Photolon in young patients. Material and methods . 59 patients, aged 19–44, with verified diagnosis were treated with PDT technique: basal cell skin cancer (BCSC) – 51 patient; squamous cell skin cancer (SCSC) – 8 patients. Photolon dose was 0.8–1.3 mg/kg. The applied light dose was from 100 to 400 J/cm 2 depending on the clinical and histological form of tumor focus and the contrast index of PS – tumor / healthy skin calculated by findings of fluorescent diagnostics. Results . 6 months after PDT, 84.7% patients with non-melanoma skin cancer cT1-4N0M0 had a complete regression; 11.9% – partial; 3.4% – stabilization. There was a good cosmetic effect as well. It has been revealed that PDT effectiveness in BCSC is higher than that in squamous cell skin cancer; complete regressions was seen in 92.2 and 37.5%, respectively. Relapses during the follow-up period (from 6 months to 10 years) were registered in 8.7% of cases. Conclusion. PDT with Photolon is an effective technique for treating non-melanoma skin cancer with low risk of developing anatomical and functional disorders. It may be a method of choice for treating young people with malignant skin neoplasms.