The Australasian journal of dermatology
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Australas. J. Dermatol. · Nov 2006
Multicenter StudyTwo-year interim results from a 5-year study evaluating clinical recurrence of superficial basal cell carcinoma after treatment with imiquimod 5% cream daily for 6 weeks.
Imiquimod 5% cream is approved in the USA, Europe and Australia to treat superficial basal cell carcinoma, using a regimen of once daily, 5 times per week for 6 weeks. Vehicle-controlled, phase III clinical trials show that imiquimod is safe and effective for treating superficial basal cell carcinoma with dosing 5 or 7 times per week for 6 weeks. This phase III, open-label study evaluates the long-term (5 years) clinical efficacy and safety of dosing once daily, for which this manuscript reports the 2-year time point in the follow-up period. ⋯ The proportion of subjects who were clinically clear at the 2-year follow-up visit was estimated to be 82.0%. Imiquimod was tolerated when applied daily, with erythema reported for all subjects participating in the study. The recurrence rate observed suggests that once daily dosing and 5x/week dosing yield similar clearance rates, but daily dosing increases local skin reactions.