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Topical imiquimod can reverse vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia: a randomised, double-blinded study
Ole Mathiesen1, Sanne K Buus, Marie Cramers
1Department of Gynaecology, University Hospital of Aarhus, Skejby, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. OMA@sks.aaa.dk
Objective:
To investigate the effect of topical imiquimod in patients with vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN).
Methods:
We used a prospective, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. Women with biopsy verified, visible VIN2 or VIN3, in a biopsy not older than 2 months were considered.
Results:
Thirty-two patients were included, one was excluded before treatment. Twenty-one received active treatment, 10 received placebo. Seventeen (81%) in the treatment group showed complete response, two (10%) partial response and none responded in the placebo-group when evaluated by a biopsy 2 months after a treatment period of 16 weeks. Fourteen of 21 patients (67%) in the treatment group had to reduce the number of applications due to local side-effects.
Conclusion:
The topical treatment with imiquimod 5% was shown in this setting to be very efficient. Local side effects were a common feature, but tolerable after dose reduction. Long-term results are not known, but a planned cohort study of this population will show the rate of recurrences.