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| |  New Chemotherapy Injections Remove Skin Cancers SCHAUMBURG, IL -- March 4, 1998 -- Certain patients with a common type of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, may have a new, nonsurgical treatment option that is as effective as surgery and that may leave fewer scars. A multicentre study reported in this month’s issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that injections of a new chemotherapy formulation into squamous cell carcinoma tumours resulted in a 96 percent cure rate and a good cosmetic appearance. The new treatment, called 5-FU/epi gel for short, combines 5-fluorouracil, a cancer-fighting drug, with epinephrine (also called adrenaline) and an injectable collagen gel. "This drug combination, when injected into the tumour, allows us to safely and precisely target the cancerous site," said Stephen Kraus, MD, a study co-author and Atlanta dermatologist. The collagen-epinephrine matrix results in a slow release of fluorouracil. This, in turn, allows fluorouracil to be in contact with the cancer cells much longer than is possible with injection of fluorouracil alone. In the study, 25 patients received up to six weekly injections of 5-FU/epi gel into a squamous cell carcinoma that extended no deeper than the top layer of their skin. Four months after treatment, the tumour had completely disappeared in 22 (96 percent) of the 23 patients who completed the study. No patient experienced significant side effects from the treatment. Furthermore, all 23 patients rated the cosmetic appearance of the treated site as good to excellent. "Because squamous cell carcinoma often occurs on the face, ears, neck, hands and arms, patients frequently are concerned about avoiding the scarring effects of surgery," Miller said. "We expect that 5-FU/epi gel injections will become a treatment option for selected patients with superficial squamous cell carcinoma." The study excluded patients whose cancer infiltrated deep into the inner layer of the skin. Further studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of the new drug formulation in treating squamous cell carcinomas that are large, recurrent or deeply invasive or that have spread to other parts of the body. Sixteen percent of the nearly one million skin cancers diagnosed each year are squamous call carcinomas, making it the second most common type of skin cancer, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
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