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Dream Cream?

A cream to help cure some types of skin cancer.

Aldara (imiquimod), a cream originally created to treat genital warts, has been used successfully on some basal cell skin cancers. But is it a miracle cure? "Aldara is a wonderful medicine if used properly," says Dr. Christenson of the Mayo Clinic. "But its success rate for superficial basal cell carcinomas is only about 80 percent. If I were to treat you surgically, the efficacy would be about 95 percent."

Dr. Kriegel of Mount Sinai in New York agrees, saying, "The cream does have a place in treating skin cancer. But a lot of the cancers I see are the deeper, more serious forms of basal cell, and those tumors won't respond at all to the cream." Aldara also takes weeks to work and has side effects. Both doctors say it would be great to have a cream that makes surgery obsolete. "But," says Dr. Kriegel, "it's just not there yet."

From Reader's Digest - June 2006

 

• Women's Health Guide
• • Skin Cancer

• Burned by the Sun
• The scary new epidemic of skin cancer among the young -- and how to stay safe.
• 
• Cool New Ways to Save Your Skin
• Innovative products to keep your skin safe from the sun.
• 
• Melanoma Coincidence
• A disease for all ages.
• 
• 5 Sun-Care Essentials
• Protect your skin from sun damage with these must-have products.
• 
• What You Must Know About Skin Cancer
• Guide to skin cancer basics, including risk factors, treatments, prevention.
• 
• The Right Way to Examine Your Skin
• Guide to how to check your body for suspicious moles.
•