Case-based experience in the use of 5-fluorouracil cream 0.5% as monotherapy and in conjunction with glycolic acid peels for the treatment of actinic keratosis

Abstract

Actinic keratosis, commonly indicative of photodamage, requires treatment secondary to the risk of progression to squamous cell carcinoma. A number of effective treatments for actinic keratosis are available, including topical and lesion-directed therapies. While lesion-directed therapies such as cryotherapy are appropriate for isolated lesions, topical 5-fluorouracil is an effective modality for the treatment of multiple facial actinic keratoses. 5-Fluorouracil, available in a number of formulations, offers patients the benefit of treating subclinical lesions and may help to improve the overall appearance of the skin. In many cases, combination therapy is a better treatment option than monotherapy. The cases presented here demonstrate the use of topical 5-fluorouracil cream 0.5% as monotherapy and in conjunction with glycolic acid peels to treat facial actinic keratoses in two patients with extensive histories of prior actinic keratosis and skin cancer.

Key Words::

• Actinic keratosis
• 5-fluorouracil
• glycolates
• glycolic acid peel
• squamous cell carcinoma

Acknowledgements

Editorial support for this article was provided by Peloton Advantage LLC. This article is funded by Dermik Laboratories, a business of sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC. The opinions expressed in the current article are those of the author. The author received no honorarium or other form of financial support related to the development of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest: David Goldberg has no conflicts of interest to report.