Peroral famciclovir in the treatment of experimental ultraviolet radiation-induced herpes simplex labialis: A double-blind, dose-ranging, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial

Three doses of famciclovir were tested for treatment of experimental ultrav iolet radiation (UVR)-induced herpes labialis. Patients received 125, 250, or 500 mg of famciclovir or placebo 3 times a day for 5 days beginning 48 h after WR exposure, a model of early episodic intervention. Of 248 patients irradiated, 102 developed lesions while on treatment. There were no signif icant differences between groups in the number of lesions. The mean maximal lesion size was reduced in a dose-proportional manner: 139, 105, 77, and 5 5 mm(2) for the placebo and 125-, 250-, and 500-mg famciclovir groups, resp ectively (P = .040, linear regression). Median time to healing was faster i n the 500-mg famciclovir group than in the placebo group, both by investiga tor (4 vs. 6 days, 33% reduction, P = .010) and patient assessment (3.0 vs. 5.8 days, 48% reduction, P = .008) analyses. These findings suggest that e valuation of higher drug doses for herpes labialis treatment is warranted.