The advancements in medical science and technology have really enabled humankind to be able to make some significant gains in the fight against cancer. Particularly, there have been considerable advances in detecting and treating precancers.
There are several precancer treatments that are available. These include surgeries, creams, injections, various therapies, and more.1 All of these methods give the patient who has precancer a strong chance of overcoming the precancer without it developing into skin cancer, especially if diagnosis and treatment occur early.
Topical Treatments that Can Eliminate Precancer
In 2004, imiquimod, an immune system activator, was commonly prescribed as a topical cream to be used for actinic keratoses, the most common form of precancer.2 It is usually known by the brand name Aldara™ and was recently approved by the FDA3. It has been shown to clear around 88% of patients of actinic keratoses when it is regularly applied over a 6-week period.
Other topical treatments that are showing to be effective against precancerous cells is the chemotherapy agent 5-fluorouracil (commonly known as Efudex or Carac) and the anti-inflammatory agent Diclofenac (commonly known as Solaraze).
Cryosurgery and Its Benefits
Cryosurgery, also known as “cryotherapy,” uses extreme cold to destroy abnormal tissue that is either precancerous or cancerous. The extreme cold is produced by either liquid nitrogen or argon gas. Cryosurgery is quite effective in treating precancerous growths on the skin, such as actinic keratoses, as liquid nitrogen can be easily applied directly to the precancerous cells located on the surface of the skin.4
The advantages of this method of treatment for precancer is that it is less invasive than other types of treatment, meaning quicker recovery of the patient and lower cost for the procedure.
Chemical peeling, which is also known as “derma-peeling” or “chemexfoliation,” involves applying a chemical solution to the skin in order to make it “blister” and peel off the top layer of skin. The new skin that emerges from underneath is usually smoother and less wrinkled than the old skin that it replaced.5
For those with precancer, chemical peeling can be a good option, as areas of the skin that suffered sun damage are often improved after chemical peeling is applied to those areas. This makes it less likely that precancerous lesions will appear on those areas of the skin.5
Laser surgery may sound frightening to some, but it is quite a safe and effective way to eliminate precancer before it has a chance to develop into skin cancer. This is an especially effective method against skin precancers that are right on or just under the surface of the skin.
The laser is an intense beam of light that is precisely targeted onto the skin growth itself. The light eliminates the growth with minimal chance of damaging nearby tissue, along with little bleeding, scarring, and swelling. Thanks to this benefit and the fact that there are few to any side effects, those that undergo laser surgery are often able to recover more quickly than those who undergo other methods to treat precancer.
Combination Treatments Can Give the Best Chance at Recovery
It’s important to note that these treatments are not mutually exclusive (i.e. doctors can only use one of these treatments on a patient). Often, the best chance to eliminate a precancer before it develops into cancer is to attack that precancer with multiple methods of treatments.
For instance, your doctor may suggest using cryosurgery to freeze away the actinic keratosis, then apply a topical cream on the skin surrounding where the precancerous skin growth was located.
This way, the growth is removed by the liquid nitrogen or argon gas, while the topical cream makes the skin around the surgical area less likely to develop another actinic keratosis.
Often, a direct surgical removal of the growth is followed by another type of treatment as a follow-up measure to make it less likely that another growth will grow at or near the same place.
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)
Speaking of a combination therapy method, one new treatment that is showing promising results is photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT involves a method of combining of laser lights and drugs to destroy precancerous skin growths. This works by the patient taking a specific type of drug, known as a photosensitizer, to make the precancerous cells vulnerable to light. The precancerous cells are then targeted by laser light in order to destroy them.6
Many Methods to Eliminating Precancer Give Patients Hope
The advancements in medical science should reassure people that precancer can often be treated with minimal complications if the precancer is diagnosed and treated early enough. This is all of the more reason why you need to be self-aware of what is occurring on your skin when it comes to moles and growths. Any suspicious-looking mole or growth, especially changes in color, shape, size, or appearance, should be reported to your doctor immediately.
The chances of treating precancer are quite high, but only if you maintain vigilance on your own bodies and report any abnormalities to your doctor right away.
References
1 Skin Cancer: Treatments and drugs – MayoClinic.com. (2010, August 18). From MayoClinic.com: www.mayoclinic.com/health/skin-cancer/DS00190/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs
2 Diagnosis and Treatment of Basal Cell and Squamous Cell Carcinomas (2004 Oct 15). Journal of the American Academy of Family Physicians, 70(8): 1481-1488.
3 Treatment: Actinic Keratosis. (2007, May 4). From University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine: www.dermatology.ucsf.edu/skincancer/General/treatment/Actinic_Keratosis.aspx
4 Cryosurgery in Cancer Treatment: Q & A. (2003, September 10). From National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health:
www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/cryosurgery
5 Chemical Peel. (2011). From Mayo Clinic: www.mayoclinic.org/chemical-peel/
6 Skin Cancer: Treatments and drugs – MayoClinic, op. cit.
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