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Purpose: Nodular basal cell carcinoma (nBCC) is mostly treated with surgical excision. Interest in minimally invasive treatment of these low-risk tumors is increasing. We assessed the effectiveness of nBCC treatment with curettage and imiquimod cream compared with surgical excision., Methods: Patients with nBCC included in this randomized, controlled noninferiority trial were randomly assigned to either a curettage and imiquimod cream group or a surgical excision group. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients free from treatment failure 1 year after the end of treatment. A prespecified noninferiority margin of 8% was used. A modified intention-to-treat and a per-protocol analysis was performed (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02242929)., Results: One hundred forty-five patients were randomized: 73 to the curettage and imiquimod cream group and 72 to the surgical excision group. The proportion of patients free of recurrence after 12 months was 86.3% (63/73) for the curettage and imiquimod group and 100% (72/72) for the surgical excision group. The difference in efficacy was -13.7% (95% confidence interval -21.6% to -5.8%; 1-sided P = .0004) favoring surgical excision., Conclusion: Noninferiority of curettage and imiquimod cream cannot be concluded. Given the still high efficacy of curettage and imiquimod cream and the indolent growth pattern of nBCC, curettage and imiquimod could still be a valuable treatment option with the possibility to prevent overuse of excisions. However, it cannot replace surgical excision., (Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Actinic keratosis is the most frequent premalignant skin disease in the white population. In current guidelines, no clear recommendations are made about which treatment is preferred., Methods: We investigated the effectiveness of four frequently used field-directed treatments (for multiple lesions in a continuous area). Patients with a clinical diagnosis of five or more actinic keratosis lesions on the head, involving one continuous area of 25 to 100 cm 2 , were enrolled at four Dutch hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned to treatment with 5% fluorouracil cream, 5% imiquimod cream, methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy (MAL-PDT), or 0.015% ingenol mebutate gel. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a reduction of 75% or more in the number of actinic keratosis lesions from baseline to 12 months after the end of treatment. Both a modified intention-to-treat analysis and a per-protocol analysis were performed., Results: A total of 624 patients were included from November 2014 through March 2017. At 12 months after the end of treatment, the cumulative probability of remaining free from treatment failure was significantly higher among patients who received fluorouracil (74.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 66.8 to 81.0) than among those who received imiquimod (53.9%; 95% CI, 45.4 to 61.6), MAL-PDT (37.7%; 95% CI, 30.0 to 45.3), or ingenol mebutate (28.9%; 95% CI, 21.8 to 36.3). As compared with fluorouracil, the hazard ratio for treatment failure was 2.03 (95% CI, 1.36 to 3.04) with imiquimod, 2.73 (95% CI, 1.87 to 3.99) with MAL-PDT, and 3.33 (95% CI, 2.29 to 4.85) with ingenol mebutate (P≤0.001 for all comparisons). No unexpected toxic effects were documented., Conclusions: At 12 months after the end of treatment in patients with multiple actinic keratosis lesions on the head, 5% fluorouracil cream was the most effective of four field-directed treatments. (Funded by the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02281682.)., (Copyright © 2019 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

For the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma, a prospective, noninferiority, randomized controlled multicenter trial with 601 patients showed that 5% imiquimod cream was superior and 5-fluorouracil cream not inferior to methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy (MAL-PDT) at 1 and 3 years after treatment. No definite conclusion could be drawn regarding the superiority of imiquimod over 5-fluorouracil. We now present the 5-year follow-up results according to the intention-to-treat analysis. Five years after treatment, the probability of tumor-free survival was 62.7% for methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy (95% confidence interval [CI] = 55.3-69.2), 80.5% for imiquimod (95% CI = 74.0-85.6), and 70.0% for 5-fluorouracil (95% CI = 62.9-76.0). The hazard ratio for treatment failure of imiquimod and 5-fluorouracil were 0.48 (95% CI = 0.32-0.71, P < 0.001) and 0.74 (95% CI = 0.53-1.05, P = 0.09), respectively, when compared with methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy. Compared with 5-fluorouracil, imiquimod showed a hazard ratio of 0.65 (95% CI 0.43-0.98, P = 0.04). In conclusion, 5 years after treatment, the results of this trial show that 5% imiquimod cream is superior to both methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy and 5-fluorouracil cream in terms of efficacy for superficial basal cell carcinoma. We therefore consider 5% imiquimod cream as the first choice for noninvasive treatment in most primary superficial basal cell carcinomas., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)