Efficacy of photodynamic therapy with topical 5-aminolevulinic acid using intense pulsed light for Bowen's disease.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with topical 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is reported to be an effective and safe treatment for superficial non-melanoma skin cancers. We have developed an photodynamic therapy with topical delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA-PDT) protocol using intense pulsed light (IPL) for treating Bowen's disease (BD). Three patients diagnosed with BD by skin biopsy were recruited in this study. They received IPL treatment after 3 h of occlusive dressing with application of ALA. This protocol was repeated every 2 weeks for a total of five sessions. The treated areas did not show any signs of BD for more than 1 year; therefore, it appeared that the affected areas showed improvement in all the patients. No patients withdrew from the study because of side-effects. ALA-PDT with IPL as a light source is well tolerated by patients and is beneficial for treating BD.