Methyl aminolevulinate-photodynamic therapy for basal cell carcinoma

Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are the most common malignant tumors of the skin. Treatment of BCCs should be chosen according to clinical type, tumor size, and location. Methyl aminolevulinate (MAL) photodynamic therapy (PDT) has the potential to become a therapy with equal effectiveness to classical therapeutic modalities with an excellent cosmesis, but without complications like scar formation, requirement for grafts, need of repetitive treatments over longer time periods, or pigmentary changes. MAL is licensed in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil for the treatment of actinic keratoses, Bowen's disease, and nodular and superficial BCC. Conclusions are drawn from extensive studies in past years using MAL-PDT for both nodular and superficial BCCs.