Treating skin cancer

Aldara (imiquimod) a topical cream, has been approved to treat a mild form of skin cancer.

Aldara (imiquimod) a topical cream, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat a mild form of skin cancer called superficial basal cell carcinoma (sBCC), which is the most common type of skin cancer affecting people.

According to Healthscout, the approval recommends the cream when the more preferred treatment method, surgical removal, is medically inappropriate.

In clinical studies, 75 percent of sBCC patients had no evidence of the cancer after 12 weeks of treatment with the cream.

Side effects noted during the trials included skin reactions at the treatment site, including redness, swelling, peeling, itching, and burning.