Topical 5% 5-fluorouracil in the treatment of multifocal basal cell carcinoma of the face: A novel chemotherapeutic approach

ABSTRACT

To determine the safety and efficacy of topical 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 5% ointment in treatment of non-syndromic multifocal basal cell carcinoma. A 55-year-old male patient, with 8 hours of daily sun exposure, having histologically proven and radiologically non-syndromic, multifocal basal cell carcinoma with involvement of 6 sites on the face, was treated with topical 5-FU 5% ointment twice daily over all sites except the site involving lid margin to prevent corneal toxicity. Left lid lesion underwent wide surgical excision with 5-mm clear margins and reconstruction with nasal septal mucoperichondrium and local skin mobilization. Pharmacologic effects first appeared at 4 weeks and by 8 weeks, the lesions had scabbed and had fallen off with no induration but residual mild perilesional erythema. Patient had post-op histopathological clear margins and recovered uneventfully. No recurrence in 6 months. A topical 5-FU 5% ointment represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of BCC from invasive and disfiguring options (surgery and chemoradiotherapy) to cheap, convenient, effective, non-invasive, non-disfiguring topical chemotherapy. Topical 5% 5-FU is a safe and effective modality of treatment of superficial spreading multifocal basal carcinoma, especially lesions larger than 10 mm, where margins cannot be identified clearly and recurrent lesions.

KEYWORDS:

• 5-fluorouracil ointment
• basal cell carcinoma
• multifocal BCC
• superficial spreading BCC
• topical chemotherapy

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article. All the authors were involved in the concept and design of the study, data acquisition, data analysis and interpretation, drafting manuscript, technical support and final review of the manuscript.