Topical treatment of multiple actinic keratoses of the face with arotinoid methyl sulfone (Ro 14-9706) cream versus tretinoin cream: a double-blind, comparative study

In a double-blind, randomized, within-patient comparative study, the efficacy and tolerability of Ro 14-9706 (an arotinoid methyl sulfone) in the treatment of actinic keratoses was compared with that of tretinoin (all-trans-retinoic acid). A total of 25 patients with more than three lesions on each side of the face completed the study. All patients applied each agent twice daily for 16 weeks as a 0.05% cream to opposite sides of the face. The number of actinic keratoses in each treatment area was counted before treatment and at weekly intervals. The mean percent decrease in the number of actinic keratoses was 37.8% for areas treated with Ro 14-9706 and 30.3% for areas treated with tretinoin. Each of these decreases was significantly different from baseline (p less than 0.01), but not from each other. Ro 14-9706 was better tolerated; local inflammation was slight or absent in most patients, whereas tretinoin caused severe erythema in 50% and severe scaling in 23% of patients.