Novel dermatologic uses of the immune response modifier imiquimod 5% cream.

Imiquimod is the first of a new class of drugs to emerge in the treatment of various dermatologic disorders. As an immune response modifier, it has been shown to have potent antiviral and antitumor properties through the stimulation of innate and cell mediated immune pathways. It is currently approved for the treatment of external genital and perianal warts, but has also been found to be an effective treatment for a host of other virus-associated dermatologic lesions, including common and flat warts, molluscum contagiosum and herpes simples 2. Oncological lesions showing improvement with the use of imiquimod include basal cell carcinoma, actinic keratosis, squamous cell carcinoma in situ, malignant melanoma, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and cutaneous extramammary Paget's disease. Recent case studies have also found this product to be effective for treating keloids, infantile hemangiomas, porokeratosis of Mibelli, leishmanisis, and tattoo removal. This extensive array of disorders treated successfully with imiquimod warrants further study of this novel and valuable drug.