Scaly Papular Lesions: Treatment and Clinical Course of Actinic Keratosis
January 2018
in “
Elsevier eBooks
”
TLDR Topical imiquimod is as effective as 5-fluorouracil for treating actinic keratosis, with about a 5% risk of it turning into squamous cell carcinoma.
The document from 2018 discusses the treatment and clinical course of actinic keratosis (AK), highlighting that topical imiquimod, used two to three times weekly for 16 weeks, is comparably effective to topical 5-fluorouracil in treating AK, despite being more expensive. It addresses the debated risk of AK progressing to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), suggesting that while studies show a wide risk range of 0.025% to 20%, it is reasonable to inform patients of an approximate 5% risk. The document also includes patient images, one of which illustrates hypertrophic AK that may necessitate a biopsy to exclude SCC, and another showing necrosis of AKs following treatment with topical 5-fluorouracil.
