title: Measuring the severity of topical 5-fluorouracil toxicity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Topical 5% 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is known to cause toxicity, such as erythema, pain, and crusting/erosions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to develop a scale to measure this toxicity and test the scale for reliability.
  
  
  METHODS
  A scale was developed involving four parameters: erythema severity, percentage of face involved in erythema, crusting/erosions severity, and percentage of face involved in crusting/erosions. Thirteen raters graded 99 sets of photographs from the Veterans Affairs Keratinocyte Carcinoma Chemoprevention (VAKCC) Trial using these parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intraclass correlation overall for 13 raters was 0.82 (95% CI 0.77-0.86). There was no statistically significant trend in reliability by level of training in dermatology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This scale is a reliable method of evaluating the severity of toxicity from topical 5-fluorouracil and can be used by dermatologists and nondermatologists alike.
authors.forename: Kaveri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Korgavkar
authors.forename: Elnaz F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Firoz
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lew
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marcolivio
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burnside
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Weinstock
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy; D003875:Drug Eruptions / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D004890:Erythema / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D005148:Facial Dermatoses / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D005472:Fluorouracil