Efudex (Fluorouracil) Skin Cancer Treatment

Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a chemotherapy compound which has been around for a long time.  For topical (on the skin) use, it is sold as Efudex and Carac, and is used to kill cancerous or pre-cancerous skin lesions. Actinic Keratosis, or Solar Keratosis, is a condition in which there are generally many spots, some visible and some not, some of which will become skin cancer if untreated. So, fluorouracil is often prescribed as a method of killing many of the pre-cancerous spots before they become cancer and have to be removed by freezing or cutting.

The Efudex, or Carac, treatment is itself not very pleasant. The drug is prescribed when it is deemed to be preferable to addressing the individual Basal Cell or Squamous Cell cancers one at at time over a period of years.

Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a chemotherapy compound which has been around for a long time.  For topical (on the skin) use, it is sold as Efudex and Carac, and is used to kill cancerous or pre-cancerous skin lesions. Actinic Keratosis, or Solar Keratosis, is a condition in which there are generally many spots, some visible and some not, some of which will become skin cancer if untreated. So, fluorouracil is often prescribed as a method of killing many of the pre-cancerous spots before they become cancer and have to be removed by freezing or cutting.

The Efudex, or Carac, treatment is itself not very pleasant. The drug is prescribed when it is deemed to be preferable to addressing the individual Basal Cell or Squamous Cell cancers one at at time over a period of years.

I am building this site to share my journal of my Efudex treatment, as well as my very charming Efudex pictures. I also intend to gather in one place the best advice I can find on coping with Efudex or Carac treatments, both from a physical and an emotional standpoint.

If you are going through this treatment yourself and would like to post an online journal of your own, I would love to have you post your journal on this site. (Or, if you already have a journal posted elsewhere and you would give me permission to reproduce it here, please let me know.)