A case of multiple Bowen's disease treated with 5% imiquimod cream and oral acitretin

Abstract

Bowen's disease is an in situ squamous cell carcinoma. It usually occurs as a solitary lesion, but it sometimes occurs as multiple lesions. There are many therapeutic options for Bowen's disease. Among the therapies, some methods could be used for multiple lesions. However, the choice of treatment is important because the healing and success rates may vary according to the body site. A 60-year-old female patient presented with multiple erythematous plaques. The diagnosis of multiple Bowen's disease was based on the clinical and histologic features. There were too many suspicious lesions for one local treatment, so we treated the lesions with 5% imiquimod cream and oral acitretin. The imiquimod cream was applied every other day for 33 weeks and oral acitretin was prescribed for 13 weeks. After this treatment, most of the lesions were improved. The follow up biopsy showed only scar tissue. This case demonstrates that a combination of imiquimod cream and oral acitretin might be an alternative treatment option for multiple Bowen's disease lesions.