A Promising Tool For Acne

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I found the article below in the March 2002 issue of Skin and Allergy

News. I seem to remember that someone on the list (maybe a year or

two ago) was part of a trial in London using a similar device. He

said it cleared his rosacea as well as his acne.

Take care,

Matija

Ongoing trial

Blue-Light Therapy a Promising Tool for Acne

Bruce Jancin

Denver Bureau

MUNICH — Acne therapy using high-intensity narrow-band blue light is

a " new, interesting, and promising " investigational technique, Dr.

Alan R. Shalita said at the 10th Congress of the European Academy of

Dermatology and Venereology.

This novel therapeutic approach takes advantage of the discovery that

Propionibacterium acnes, the microorganism that plays a major

pathogenic role in inflammatory acne, produces porphyrins as part of

its normal life cycle.

Visible light in the blue range directed at these porphyrins exerts a

photodestructive effect. Dr. Shalita's own preliminary clinical

studies demonstrated that half a dozen treatment sessions using blue

light resulted in a 90% reduction in the P. acnes population in

treated areas, and in turn, a marked decrease in acne lesions.

He is a participating investigator in an ongoing nine-nation clinical

trial involving assessment of the ClearLight, a high-intensity, UV-

free, 407- to 420-nm blue light developed by Lumenis. The trial is

sponsored by Lumenis.

More than 75% of 191 acne patients treated with 10-minute-long

phototherapy sessions twice weekly for 4 weeks have shown good to

excellent response, defined as a 50% or greater improvement in acne

lesions, said Dr. Shalita, professor and chairman of the department

of dermatology at the State University of New York, Brooklyn.

" That's the maximum that one usually gets with any topical therapy, "

he said. " Patients are better but not completely clear. "

Further improvement was documented after treatment ended. After

completing the trial protocol, there was a mean 74% reduction in

inflammatory lesions. Eight weeks later, inflammatory lesions were

down by 81%. The improvement has been maintained out to 12 months in

the subset of patients followed that long.

Dr. Shalita said he and his fellow investigators have seen absolutely

no treatment-related hyperpigmentation or any other side effects in

black or white patients. Patients describe a slight warming sensation

during treatment, and that's about it. " There's no UV in this blue

light. "

The ClearLight device remains investigational both in the U.S. and

Europe. The mechanism by which it works probably also explains why

many acne patients notice their skin improves during summer.

After raising the question of whether the world really needs another

new acne therapy, Dr. Shalita answered affirmatively, pointing to the

large, packed lecture hall as a demonstration of the heightened

interest level. Dermatologists are well aware that existing therapies

have their shortcomings. Antimicrobial resistance among P. acnes is

growing. Topical medications are often irritating. Isotretinoin is

expensive, can have serious side effects, and usually takes 3-4

months of therapy to get results.

Key questions that remain unanswered include how long patients can

maintain their improvement without follow-up sessions, as well as

precisely what form maintenance therapy should take. One possibility

worth exploring is whether the initial month of blue-light therapy

ought to be followed with maintenance topical therapy using a

retinoid or other medication, Dr. Shalita observed.