Eficacy of calcipotriol in the treatment of seborrheic keratosis: a pilot study

Background: Seborrheic keratosis is a common benign tumor and many modalities are used to treat it. No convincing data favors the therapeutic effect of calcipotriol on seborrheic keratosis. We aimed to assess the efficacy of calcipotriol in the treatment of this tumor. Method: Eligible patients aged over 40 years with seborrheic keratosis (size: 5-15mm) were instructed to apply 50μg/g calcipotriol ointment twice a day for 12 weeks. The size of the tumor was measured at baseline and after the 12-week period. The size change and improvement were assessed. Result: Thirty out of fifty screened patients were eligible for the study and completed the 12-week course of the study. The mean baseline size of the tumors was 9.30±2.95 mm that decreased to the mean size of 2.02±1.94 mm (P<0.05). The mean percent of improvement was 80.46±17.66% and 6 patients demonstrated 100% improvement. The mean percent of improvement revealed no difference between male and female participants. An intermediate negative correlation existed between the tumor size and the improvement. No serious side effects were reported by patients. Conclusion: Our study concluded that calcipotriol might be effective and safe in the treatment of seborrheic keratosis tumors with slightly better outcomes in smaller tumors. Controlled studies with larger sample sizes should be performed in order to find the effect of calcipotriol on this dermatologic entity.