Chemotherapy is the use of anticancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy is not often used to treat skin cancer. It may occasionally be used to treat carcinoma in situ or early-stage basal or squamous cell cancers.

If chemotherapy is used, it is usually applied directly to the skin cancer as a cream or lotion - this is called topical chemotherapy. Usually a drug called 5-fluorouracil (Efudix®), which is commonly known as 5FU, is used. You will be asked to put the cream on at home. Your doctor or specialist nurse will explain how to do this. The chemotherapy cream is usually applied twice a day for a number of weeks. If possible, a waterproof dressing should be put over the cream, although it can sometimes be difficult to put a dressing on some areas of the body.

The treatment makes the skin red and inflamed. If the area becomes sore and weepy, the treatment will need to be stopped. Your doctor can prescribe a steroid cream to reduce the inflammation if it is too sore. The skin will take a week or two to heal after the treatment has finished. Exposure to the sun can make the inflammation worse, so you should protect the area until it has healed. Usually there are no other side effects with this type of chemotherapy.

In the rare situation that squamous cell cancer has spread to other parts of the body, chemotherapy may be given.

The chemotherapy is given by injection (intravenously) so that the drugs are carried round the body in the blood and reach cancer cells wherever they are. It is generally given in the hospital outpatients department. Each treatment usually lasts for a few hours, but this may vary as different chemotherapy drugs can be used. The length of the whole course of treatment can also vary depending on the drugs that are being used.

Intravenous chemotherapy can cause unpleasant side effects. These can usually be well controlled with medicine. Common problems include feeling sick (nausea), hair loss, reduced resistance to infection, and a sore mouth. The side effects will disappear once the treatment is over.

Our section on chemotherapy discusses the treatment and its side effects in more detail.