Dermatologic SurgeryIntralesional methotrexate treatment for keratoacanthoma tumors: A retrospective study and review of the literature
Section snippets
Methods
After institutional review board approval, patient data at a hospital-based public university from 1991 to 2006 were retrospectively examined. Eighteen cases of KA injected with intralesional MTX were identified at our institution. Our standard practice for injection is as follows: using a 30-gauge needle, 0.3 to 2.0 mL of MTX in a concentration of either 12.5 or 25 mg/mL is injected at each treatment session. Small KAs are injected at a single central point at the base of the lesion whereas
Results
In all, 38 cases of KA treated with intralesional MTX were identified: 20 cases from the published literature and 18 cases from our institution (Table I). At our institution, 18 patients with an average age of 72.5 years and an average tumor diameter of 2.1 cm were treated with 1 to 3 total injection sessions (mean 2.0 injection sessions). The average cumulative dose of intralesional MTX was 38.2 mg with injections spaced 12 to 38 days (mean 22 days) apart. A complete response was achieved in
Discussion
MTX has an appealing mechanism of action for the potential treatment of rapidly growing tumors, as it inhibits DNA synthesis in actively dividing cells. A folic acid analog, MTX irreversibly binds to dihydrofolate reductase, thereby blocking the formation of tetrahydrofolate and subsequently preventing the downstream synthesis of the purine nucleotide thymidine.25
In our pooled analysis of intralesional MTX for the treatment of KA, none of the patients treated experienced clinically apparent
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