March 10, 2005

Doctor Doctor Give Me The News

So, the doctor's office called today and informed me that the biopsy performed on a little patch of skin on my nose was, indeed, superficial basal cell carcinoma (sBCC): skin cancer. It's no big deal; sBCC tends to remain localized, not making a habit of jumping into the blood and taking up residence in vital organs.

I've had it before - in the same spot, actually.

Way back in 1995 or so, I got to go under the knife for it, getting a quarter-sized chunk of skin taken off my nose, and then being sewed back up by a plastic surgeon. It left a bit of a scar, but nothing too serious, just enough for me to claim it gave me character and make up bullshit stories about how I got it saving a small child from a pack of mad dogs.

Oh, man, the chicks I bagged with that one.

Or not.

Anyway, I figured that this latest incarnation was also sBCC and was dreading having to go back onto the operating table. Primarily this was because I didn't like the choice between either taking a week off from work or going back to the office shortly after surgery, ending up cornered by my former friends, and having to yell "I am not an animal! I am a human being!"

Of course, getting slashed again wasn't really high on my list either.

But then, lo, it turns out they have a new cream for the treatment of sBCC. Hooray, thought I: no knives, no going under the gas, no feeling like Frankenstein's monster!

That cream? Aldara.

Its primary use? The treatment of genital warts.

Hoo-doggy. Can't wait to go to the pharmacy tomorrow.

Also of interest is that they have no idea why or how it works in relation to sBCC:

The mechanism of action of Aldara Cream in treating superficial basal cell carcinoma (sBCC) lesions is unknown. An open label study in six subjects with sBCC suggests that treatment with Aldara Cream may increase the infiltration of lymphocytes, dendritic cells, and macrophages into the tumor lesion; however, the clinical significance of these findings is unknown.