Sun damage accumulates over a lifetime and can lead to precancerous growths on the skin called actinic keratoses or sun spots. A medication called 5-fluorouracil, applied directly to the skin, is highly effective at treating these growths and preventing skin cancer from developing. Unfortunately, this treatment causes significant irritation and uncomfortable reactions on the skin surface, which often discourages people from completing their full course of therapy. Researchers wanted to find out whether adding a special repair balm containing panthenol and prebiotic ingredients could make the 5-fluorouracil treatment easier to tolerate. They studied fifty adults who were prescribed this medication for sun spots on their face, scalp, hands, or forearms.
Half the participants received just the standard medication applied twice daily, while the other half also used the repair balm thirty minutes after each application of the medication. After four weeks of treatment, both groups completed roughly similar amounts of medication—around forty applications each, though the exact completion rates between groups were not dramatically different. However, people using the repair balm experienced noticeably less severe skin irritation, particularly around two and three weeks into treatment. Those treating facial areas showed especially meaningful improvements in comfort and reported better overall quality of life during treatment compared to those using medication alone.
While the repair balm did not dramatically increase how many people finished their full treatment, it substantially reduced the harshness of skin reactions, particularly on the face, suggesting it could help patients tolerate this important cancer-prevention therapy more comfortably. (Source: Dermatol Ther (Heidelb), via PubMed.)
Source: PubMed — read the full article