Er:YAG ablative fractional laser-primed photodynamic therapy with methyl aminolevulinate as an alternative treatment option for patients with thin nodular basal cell carcinoma: 12-month follow-up results of a randomized, prospective, comparative trial

Background: Surgical excision is conventionally regarded as the treatment of choice for nodular basal cell carcinoma (nBCC), and methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy (MAL-PDT) has relatively low efficacy for nBCC. However, Er:YAG ablative fractional laser (AFL)-primed MAL-PDT (Er:YAG AFL-PDT) may offer enhanced efficacy for nBCC, especially thin nBCC (thickness ≤2 mm).

Objective: We compared Er:YAG AFL-PDT with conventional MAL-PDT for thin facial nBCC in Korean patients.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients (42 lesions) with primary, histologically proven thin nBCCs were randomized to Er:YAG AFL-PDT (single session, n = 20) or conventional MAL-PDT (two sessions, 7 days apart, n = 19). Efficacy, recurrence rate, cosmetic outcomes and safety were assessed 1 week, 3 months and 12 months after the last treatment.

Results: Three months after the final treatment, overall complete response rates were 84.2% with Er:YAG AFL-PDT and 50% with MAL-PDT (P = 0.026). The recurrence rate was significantly lower with Er:YAG AFL-PDT (6.3%) than with MAL-PDT (55.6%) at 12 months (P = 0.006). Er:YAG AFL-PDT and MAL-PDT did not differ significantly with respect to cosmetic outcomes or safety.

Conclusions: Er:YAG AFL-PDT can be used as an alternative treatment option for patients who have thin nBCC and are not suitable for surgical treatment.