New Treatment for Actinic Keratoses that Possibly Lowers Odds of Getting Skin Cancer

Each year in the United States, 1 million people are diagnosed with skin cancer. More than 5 million people in the United States are living with actinic keratoses, which is a precursor of skin cancer. Actinic keratoses is a skin condition that makes thick and crusty lesions on the skin. It is caused by being outside in the sun for extended periods of time and not using sunscreen that block UVA and UVB rays. 7000 people die annually from skin cancer and other complications caused by skin cancer. Doctors have developed a new therapy that keeps cancer from spreading in some patients that involves an interesting combination of blue light and Levulinic acid.

Doctors are trying to stop the actinic keratoses from developing into squamous cell skin cancer. Specialists apply a Levulinic acid to the lesions to make them sensitive to light. A blue light activates the acid and destroys the lesions. 18 hours later, a second treatment may be necessary to finish the procedure or until the lesions are completely destroyed.

Although this therapy is effective most of the time, it treats only 85 percent of precancerous growth and is not a cure. Being exposed to the sun will mean more lesions will form and more treatment will be necessary.

I thought this article was interesting since there is skin cancer in my family. If there are treatments that involve light to activate chemicals to destroy lesions in the skin, it may be possible to use the same concept to treat skin cancer itself and not just precancerous cells.

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/New-treatment-Found-To-Help-Skin-Cancer-2497-1/