5-Fluorouracil as an adjuvant treatment for odontogenic keratocysts: Literature review

The Odontogenic Keratocyst (OKC) is a maxillary cyst characterized as a benign entity with aggressive behavior and a high recurrence rate following surgical management. The use of Carnoy’s solution (CS) as a chemical adjuvant treatment in surgery has been employed to reduce the recurrence rate of this lesion. Currently, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has been described as an alternative method that may be safer while yielding similar outcomes based on patient follow-up. The aim of this study was to compare, through the collected scientific evidence, the effectiveness of the topical application of 5-FU in the surgical treatment of OKC relative to conventional and modified CS. A literature review was conducted in the PubMed, Epistemonikos, and SCOPUS databases using the search terms: “((fluorouracil) AND ((keratocyst))”. A total of 16 articles were identified, of which 5 were excluded after applying the inclusion criteria, resulting in 10 articles for review. 5-FU represents a valid alternative for the treatment of OKC, showing apparent significant differences in terms of safety and adverse effect rates compared to modified and conventional CS. However, further studies are recommended, as the evidence found is of low quality, limiting proper comparison between the two therapies.