Comparison of the efficacy of cryotherapy and 0.1% Acnalen gel vs. cryotherapy and placebo in the treatment of actinic keratoses

Objective: To compare efficiency of cryotherapy followed by Acnalen gel 0.1% with cryotherapy plus placebo in the treatment of AKs (Actinic Keratosis). Methodology: One hundred outpatients who had a clinical diagnosis of actinic keratoses on face or scalp with at least five lesions were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized into two groups: cryotherapy plus placebo and cryotherapy plus Acnalen 0.1% gel for a period of 100 days. Lesion counts were assessed at baseline, and 40, 70 and 100 days after cryotherapy. Results: Mean baseline number of lesions for cryotherapy plus Acnalen gel group and cryotherapy plus placebo group were 7.54±3.66 and 7.20 ± 3.60. In Acnalen group mean number of lesions reduced to 3.44±2.71(54.79±3.8% ) and in placebo group reduced to 3.68±2.97 (48.60±4.5% ) (P=0.62). Conclusions: Our results suggested that cryotherapy and Acnalen 0.1% gel during 100 days cannot be more helpful than cryotherapy alone in the treatment of clinical AKs.