Actinic keratosis prevention – A double-blind, half-face interventional study with a topical treatment

Actinic keratosis (AK) is a chronic and recurrent disease and in this double-blind, half face, placebo controlled study we attempt to examine the efficacy of a topical treatment containing 2,4,6-octatrienoic acid and anthraquinone knipholone for the prevention of new AK lesion formations. New lesion onset was detected with  methyl-5-aminolevulinic acid and Wood’s lamp after 6 months of treatment (T1) and 12 months after treatment end (T2). Absence of new lesion at T1, was 86.11% in active treatment side while 77.78% in placebo side.  At T2 the percentage was higher in skin treated with active product  (83.33% of subjects) compared to placebo (63.89% of subjects). Taking into consideration the number of new lesions during the study period, at T1 the new AK lesions were not statistically significantly influenced by the treatments, while at T2, AK lesions were detected in 30.55% of placebo-treated area while in the contralateral part the lesions were 13.89%.  The reduction induced by active treatment was statistically significant. The product containing 2,4,6-octatrienoicienoic acid and anthraquinone knipholone is effective in reducing new AK lesion formation in subjects with a history of AKs.