The treatment approved by NICE combines a technique called photodynamic therapy (PDT) with a drug called Visudyne.
Photodynamic therapy involves the injection of a light-sensitive medicine called verteporfin into a vein in the arm.
In a statement, NICE said it had not yet issued guidance on the use of photodynamic therapy.
Photodynamic therapy may not be the magic bullet for cancer, but even a little light relief is welcome.
Photodynamic acne treatments appeal to patients because they are topical and don't involve introducing medicine to the entire body.
WSJ: As More Adults Get Acne, New Photodynmic Treatments Use Light
The prospects for photodynamic therapy, however, extend beyond the eyes and the skin.
The technique, known as 'photodynamic diagnosis', is already used to diagnose and treat other types of cancers, for example, certain skin cancers.
Although several light and laser therapies have FDA approval as medical devices to treat acne, no true photodynamic acne therapy, combining photosensitizer and light, has been approved.
WSJ: As More Adults Get Acne, New Photodynmic Treatments Use Light
It also may overcome limitations of photodynamic therapy that has restricted acceptance and surgery that may not be an option if not all carcinogenic tissue can be removed.
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In a procedure known as photodynamic treatment, which has been studied for years, certain pharmaceutical ingredients that are sensitive to light can kill acne when turned on by specific light wavelengths.
WSJ: As More Adults Get Acne, New Photodynmic Treatments Use Light
The Macular Disease Society (MDS) said that over the last two years nearly 1, 000 people had retained some sight - which they would almost certainly otherwise have lost - as a result of receiving photodynamic therapy.
Generally, people who have mild acne can be treated with topical treatments, and those with moderate acne through a combination of topical and systemic treatments such as isotretinoin, says David Pariser, dermatology professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk and principal investigator of clinical trials with Oslo-based specialty drug maker Photocure, which is developing a photodynamic treatment for moderate-to-severe acne.
WSJ: As More Adults Get Acne, New Photodynmic Treatments Use Light
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