Long-term Efficacy of Topical Fluorouracil Cream, 5%, for Treating Actinic Keratosis A Randomized Clinical Trial JAMA DERMATOLOGY Pomerantz, H., Hogan, D., Eilers, D., Swetter, S. M., Chen, S. C., Jacob, S. E., Warshaw, E. M., Stricklin, G., Dellavalle, R. P., Sidhu-Malik, N., Konnikov, N., Werth, V. P., Keri, J., Lew, R., Weinstock, M. A. 2015; 151 (9): 952-960

Abstract

Topical fluorouracil was demonstrated to be effective in reducing the number of actinic keratoses (AKs) for up to 6 months, but no randomized trials studied its long-term efficacy.To evaluate the long-term efficacy of a single course of fluorouracil cream, 5%, for AK treatment.The Veterans Affairs Keratinocyte Carcinoma Chemoprevention (VAKCC) trial was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial with patients from dermatology clinics at 12 VA medical centers recruited from 2009 to 2011 and followed up until 2013. Our study population comprised 932 veterans with 2 or more keratinocyte carcinomas in the 5 years prior to enrollment. The mean follow-up duration was 2.6 years in both treatment and control groups.Participants applied either topical fluorouracil cream, 5% (n?=?468), or vehicle control cream (n?=?464) to the face and ears twice daily for up to 4 weeks.This study reports on AK counts and treatments, which were secondary outcomes of the VAKCC trial. Actinic keratoses on the face and ears were counted by study dermatologists at enrollment and at study visits every 6 months. The number of spot treatments for AKs on the face and ears at semiannual study visits and in between study visits was recorded.The number of AKs on the face and ears per participant was not different between the fluorouracil and control groups at randomization (11.1 vs 10.6, P?>?.10). After randomization, the fluorouracil group had fewer AKs compared with the control group at 6 months (3.0 vs 8.1, P?

View details for DOI 10.1001/jamadermatol.2015.0502

View details for PubMedID 25950503