Table 11.
Initial response and recurrence of SCCs after photodynamic therapy
| Study | No of SCCs | Initial assessment after treatment | Proportion (95% CI) with apparent complete response | Proportion (95%CI) of SCCs with recurrence after apparent complete response | Duration of follow-up | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topical photosenstitiser | ||||||
| Baptista 2006 | 4 | 1 month | 0.25 (0.01 to 0.80) | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.98), n=1 | Median 38 months | — |
| Calzavara-Pinton 1995 | 6 nodular, 12 superficial | 1 month | 0.5 (0.12 to 0.88), 0.83 (0.52 to 0.98) | 0.50 (0.01 to 0.99), n=2; 0.00 (0.00 to 0.71), n=3 | 29 months (24-36). | Residual tumour in 1 of 2 biopsied apparently responsive nodular SCCs, and in 1 of 8 biopsied responsive superficial SCCs |
| Calzavara-Pinton 2008 | 40 microinvasive, 31 invasive | 3 months | 0.8 (0.64 to 0.91), 0.45 (0.27 to 0.64) | 0.28 (0.14 to 0.47), n=32; 0.43 (0.18 to 0.71), n=14 | ≤24 months | — |
| Fink-Puches 1998 | 35 | 2-4 weeks | 0.54 (0.37 to 0.71) | 0.69 (0.41 to 0.89), n=16 | Median 8 months (range 3-47) | — |
| Fritsch 1998 | 36 | Not specified | 0.75 (0.58 to 0.88) | — | — | — |
| Haddad 2004 | 43 | 21 days | 0.74 (0.59 to 0.86) | — | — | — |
| Harth 1998 | 5 | Not specified | 0.8 (0.28 to 0.99) | — | — | — |
| Kennedy 1990 | 2 “elevated,” 6 “early invasive” | 2–3 months | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.84), 1.0 (0.54 to 1.0) | — | — | — |
| Lui 1995 | 2 | 3 months | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.84) | — | — | — |
| Wolf 1993 | 6 | 4 and/or 8 weeks | 0.83 (0.36 to 1.0) | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.52), n=5 | 7 months (range 3-12) | |
| Ziokolwski 2004 | 11 (no glycolic acid), 12 (plus glycolic acid) | Not specified | 0.64 (0.31 to 0.89), 1.0 (0.74 to 1.0) | — | “Complete response” at 12 months | “Complete response” defined as no clinically visible or 5-ALA fluorescence detectable tumour after 12 months of observation |
| Systemic photosensitiser | ||||||
| Feyh 1990 | 5 | 2 months | 1.0 (0.48 to 1.0) | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.52), n=5 | Maximum 14 months | — |
| Kubler 1999 | 9 | 3 months | 1.0 (0.66 to 1.0) | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.34), n=9 | Mean 20 months (range 8-24) | — |
| Pennington 1988 | 32 | 6 weeks | 0.81 (0.64 to 0.93) | 0.5 (0.32 to 0.68), n=32 | 6 months | Authors found no correlation between recurrence and presence of residual tumour on histology at initial assessment, and abandoned trial in view of results |