Topical treatment of actinic keratoses with potassium dobesilate 5% cream. A preliminary open-label study

BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) is involved in skin tumorigenesis: it promotes cell viability, induces angiogenesis and stimulates invasiveness. Dobesilate is a drug that blocks the activity of FGF. The primary objective was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of potassium dobesilate 5% cream in the treatment of actinic keratoses. METHODS: Potassium dobesilate 5% cream was applied twice daily for 16 weeks to actinic keratosis lesions in 30 patients. The lesions were evaluated clinically at an initial baseline visit, at intermediate visits, and at 16 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: The use of potassium dobesilate 5% cream for 16 weeks induced complete regression in 70% of evaluated actinic keratoses, corresponding to grade I, II and III clinical variants, and a partial response (at least 75% reduction of lesions) in 20% of the cases. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary trial shows that potassium dobesilate exerts anti-tumorigenic effects and may play a useful role in the chemoprevention of skin cancers.