Fluorouracil cream, 5%, shows long-term efficacy in treatment, prevention of actinic keratosis

After a single course of treatment, topical fluorouracil cream, 5%, effectively reduced actinic keratosis counts and the long-term need for spot treatment in a high-risk population, according to recently published study results.Researchers studied 932 veterans who were recruited from 12 Veterans Affairs medical centers from 2009 to 2011 and had two or more keratinocyte carcinomas during the 5 years prior to enrollment. Four hundred and sixty-eight patients were randomly assigned to topical fluorouracil cream, 5%, and 464 were randomly assigned to vehicle cream (control), which was applied to the face and ears twice daily for up to 4 weeks, or a total of 56 doses. Mean follow-up was approximately 2.6 years across the two groups.