New Prospects for Photodynamic Therapy of Bowen’s Disease in Brazil

The main treatment options for Bowen's Disease (BD) are cryotherapy, excision, 5-fluorouracil, radiotherapy and laser. However, the effectiveness of several therapies is uncertain. Photodynamic Therapy is an effective alternative that provides better cosmetic results than the standard treatment which is specially indicated in cases of initial and thin lesions with less than two centimeter in diameter. The untreated disease can progress to invasive squamous cell carcinoma. This technique was the standard treatment of Bowen'sDisease in this study, using a pro-drug (methyl aminolevulinate, MAL, PDTPharma, Cravinhos, São Paulo, Brazil) produced in Brazil and a device (LINCE®, MMOptics, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil) approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). Were treateda total of 32 lesions. The clinical response was determined 30 days after the second PDT session. The clinical response was associated with gender and location. The protocol developed in the project PDT Brazil is an efficient alternative to the BD treatment. The conclusion of study has shown the efficacy PDT with 84% of clearance of superficial BD and low recurrence rate.