1. < Melanoma & Skin Cancer
Profile picture for starship

Skin cancer: Has anybody had fluorouracil treatment?

Posted by starship @starship, Dec 14, 2022

My parent has hit the point where she gets four or five pre-cancerouas growths on her face every year. The doctor has been freezing them off with good results.

The Dr. recently suggested she apply a fluorouracil lotion to her face two times a day for two weeks. Apparently, this kills off the defective skin cells and holds down the development of the pre-cancerous growths for about two years. But, my mom is worrying about the redness and unpleasnt effects of the treatment during the 2 to 3 weeks she is dealing with it.

Can anybody who has used this treatment pass on their experience. She wants to hear from people who have done the treatment.
Thanks.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Melanoma & Skin Cancer Support Group.

Profile picture for Ginger, Volunteer Mentor
Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Sep 18 11:27am
In reply to @murph1216 "Yes. I applied the treatment to my skin twice per day for two weeks and now..." + (show)
Profile picture for murph1216 @murph1216

Yes. I applied the treatment to my skin twice per day for two weeks and now I’m one week into the healing phase. The second week of treatment brought the first discomfort, but the real misery began the day after I stopped the treatment. Dr. warned that it would feel worse than the worst sunburn I ever had, but I haven’t slept in a week and the worst area is where each side of my nose meets my cheek. Nobody has ever mentioned that in all the reviews I’ve read. The other area of discomfort is the skin between my eyes and sideburns. Burns is right and that skin is a tight as a drum. I’m still faithful that the ends justify the means, but I wanted to share in case someone else is experiencing the same isolated but relentless pain and itching.

Jump to this post

@murph1216 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. The fluorouracil treatment is by no means a simple thing for most of us. Depending on where the bad spots are, and how much we are reacting, it can be danged uncomfortable! Now that the application has stopped, you might be able to use a light moisturizer or Vitamin E cream on the area to help ease the discomfort. Have you thought of that?

Yes, the end will justify the means!
Ginger

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.