Clinical experience of imiquimod 3.75% for actinic keratosis: Results from a case series

BACKGROUND: In clinical studies, imiquimod 3.75% was shown to detect and treat actinic keratosis (AK) lesions across an entire sunexposed field such as the full face or balding scalp. The aim of this study was to evaluate imiquimod 3.75% in a real-life clinical setting. METHODS: Ten AK patients applied imiquimod 3.75% to the full face or scalp once-daily in two 2-week treatment cycles separated by a two-week treatment-free interval and were followed-up eight weeks later. Seven patients rated imiquimod 3.75% versus prior treatments (cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy, diclofenac sodium 3%, imiquimod 5%, ingenol mebutate). RESULT S: The median clinical lesion count at baseline was 12.5. This increased to a median Lmax (maximum lesion count during treatment) of 22.5 as imiquimod 3.75% unmasked previously invisible subclinical lesions. At final follow-up, the median lesion count was 0. Local skin reactions such as erythema, scabbing and erosion occurred during each treatment cycle and were easy to manage. All patients considered imiquimod 3.75% easier to apply than prior treatments and 5 reported fewer or similar side effects. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort, imiquimod 3.75% effectively cleared clinical and subclinical lesions across the entire affected field and was well tolerated.