![]() If you are applying 5-FU and have any reactions beyond those you were told to expect on your skin, call your doctor or nurse right away.ĭiclofenac (Solaraze): A gel containing the drug diclofenac is sometimes used to treat actinic keratoses. ![]() This can result in serious or even life-threatening side effects. 5-FU can also make the skin more sensitive to sunlight, so treated areas must be protected from the sun to prevent sunburn for a few weeks after use of this cream.Ī very small portion of people have a condition called DPD deficiency, which makes it hard for their bodies to break down and get rid of 5-FU. Other topical medicines can be used to help relieve this, if needed. But it does make the treated skin red and very sensitive for a few weeks. For this reason, 5-FU is generally used only for pre-cancerous conditions such as actinic keratosis and for some very superficial skin cancers.īecause the drug is only applied to the skin, it doesn’t spread throughout the body, so it doesn’t cause the same side effects as systemic chemotherapy (treatment that affects the whole body). When put directly on the skin, 5-FU kills tumor cells on or near the skin’s surface, but it can’t reach cancer cells deeper in the skin or those that have spread to other organs. It is typically applied to the skin once or twice a day for several weeks. Topical chemotherapy means that an anti-cancer medicine is put directly on the skin (usually in a cream or ointment) rather than being given by mouth or injected into a vein.ĥ-fluorouracil (5-FU): The drug most often used in topical treatment of actinic keratoses, as well as some basal and squamous cell skin cancers, is 5-FU (with brand names such as Efudex, Carac, and Fluoroplex). Topical chemotherapyĬhemotherapy uses drugs that kill cancer cells. To learn more about this technique, see Photodynamic Therapy. Another possible side effect of PDT is that it can make a person’s skin very sensitive to sunlight for some time, so precautions may be needed to avoid severe burns. PDT can cause redness and swelling on the skin where it is used. Another option to activate the drug, especially when large areas need to be treated, is to have the person go out into the sunlight for a specific amount of time (known as daylight PDT). A special light source is then focused on the tumor(s), which kills the cells. ![]() The drug collects in the tumor cells over several hours or days, where it is converted to a different chemical that makes the cells very sensitive to certain types of light. This treatment uses a drug that is applied to the skin as a gel But its exact role in treating basal and squamous cell skin cancers still needs to be determined. PDT can be used to treat actinic keratoses. It will leave a scar, and the treated area may have less color after treatment. ![]() The wound may have fluid draining from it for a while and take a month or two to heal. After the dead area of skin thaws, it will swell, blister and crust over. This is often repeated a couple of times in the same office visit. ( Radiation therapy is also a type of local treatment.) Cryotherapy (cryosurgery)Ĭryotherapy is used most often for pre-cancerous conditions such as actinic keratosis and for small basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.įor this treatment, the doctor applies liquid nitrogen to the tumor to freeze and kill the cells. But these techniques are different from surgery because they don’t use scalpels or cut into the skin. These are called local treatments, and some are even described as types of surgery, because they destroy a targeted area of body tissue. All rights reserved.Several techniques other than surgery can be used to treat basal and squamous cell skin cancers (or pre-cancers) that haven't spread beyond the skin. In this report we discuss the different alternative treatment options.Ĭopyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. Patients with advanced colorectal cancer and fluoropyrimidine-induced cardiotoxicity can be treated with other non-fluoropyrimidine related chemotherapy, either as a single agent, combined, or in combination with biological agents. Possible alternative treatment options to be considered are to replace the oral capecitabine or intravenous 5-FU by a 5-FU bolus regimen, by uracil-tegafur or tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil, both oral fluoropyrimidines combining a 5-FU prodrug with a dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) inhibitor, or by raltitrexed, a thymidilate synthase inhibitor whose metabolism is independent of DPD. Rechallenging should be avoided because it carries a high risk of recurrence of the cardiac symptoms and prophylactic treatment is not always protective. Cardiotoxicity is a less common but potentially lethal complication of 5-FU or capecitabine treatment, and some physicians might be unfamiliar with treatment alternatives. Most chemotherapy regimens in colorectal cancer treatment are 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/leucovorin or capecitabine-based.
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