Wart cream may help treat skin cancer

Melbourne, May 18 (ANI): A new study has discovered another beneficial use for wart cream - as a form of treatment for recurrent outbreaks of skin cancer.

The cream contains the potent allergen diphencyprone (DPCP), and it is being used in an ongoing trial to prompt a person's immune system to attack melanomas, which have resisted conventional treatments.

Diona Damian, associate professor at the Sydney Cancer Centre used the wart medication on 18 patients and the results were positive as two-third of them experienced full clearance of their cancers.

"In about two-thirds of the patients treated so far we've been able to achieve complete clearance of their skin melanomas," News.com.au quoted Damian as saying.

"It is still considered an experimental agent even though we are relying on it more and more, mainly because these are patients who generally have no other option. They have nothing to lose - except their tumours," Damian added.

The results of the trial were presented at the Australasian College of Dermatologists Annual Scientific Meeting in Darwin this week. (ANI)