Fotodynamic therapy for superficial BCC

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to give an update because I couldn't find much when I was looking online.

I was diagnosed this summer with superficial BCC. They removed it with photodynamic therapy (2 rounds) in August and September.

1. First round of PDT:

• They used a laser to slice off the spot. I had anesthesia on the spot for this, so it didn't hurt.
• They put a cream on it and covered it. I had to wait for three hours (I could go back home or run some errands; there was a patch on it to protect it from the sun).
• After the three hours, they did the light therapy. For me, this did not hurt at all, even though I was prepared for it to hurt. I hardly felt anything. This took about 8 minutes.

After the first PDT, the patch was red and scaly. I had to cover it until it healed, which took about a week. After that week, I could use sunscreen and Cytoplast.

2. Second round of PDT:

• They did not use the laser a second time around; they just scraped it a bit.
• They put the same cream on it again, and I again had to wait 3 hours.
• After the three hours, they did the light therapy again. Again, this did not hurt at all for me.

The spot was again a bit red, but much less than the first time. I think it healed in about two days, and after that, I applied the cytoplast+ sunscreen again.

The spot was quite visible for some time, but now, one month after the second round, it is just light pink and not as noticeable. Normally, it will not leave a mark and will heal completely. Maybe I will have a small spot from the biopsy though... I am still using Cytoplast every day!

Hope this helps... I think it is quite unusual that it did not hurt at all (the light therapy), but it's possible...