Efficacy of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of Bowen's disease: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in Bowen's Disease (BD), with further summary of the data from all randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: Relevant data were extracted after conducting a literature search via PubMed, Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wanfang databases, from inception until 31 July 2019. Meta-analyses of the data were performed using RevMan V.5.3. A total of 392 published RCTs related to the efficacy of PDT in BD treatment were identified. The papers were screened for duplicates and excluded based on title and abstract. Subsequently, 85 full-text articles were thoroughly reviewed and finally, data from 446 patients with 1147 skin lesions across 12 eligible studies were collated. Results: Our findings revealed significant differences between the efficacies of PDT and other treatments, where a higher lesion reduction rate was observed after the first treatment session following PDT (P < 0.00001, Z = 4.98). PDT was found to be more effective than 5-fluorouracil (P < 0.00001, Z = 4.42) and cryotherapy (P = 0.008, Z = 2.67). However, there were no significant differences in recurrence rates following treatments with PDT, cryotherapy, and 5-fluorouracil. Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis confirms and collates data from all RCTs pertaining to the efficacy of PDT for BD treatment. Our study has reiterated that PDT is more effective than 5-fluorouracil and cryotherapy for the treatment of BD.