Determine the Efficacy of Topical Tretinoin Cream for the Prevention of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer

January 29, 2009 updated by: US Department of Veterans Affairs

CSP #402 - VA Topical Tretinoin Chemoprevention Trial

One-third of all malignancies in the United States (approximately one million cases diagnosed annually) are nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). NMSC causes considerable morbidity, economic burden, facial deformity and at least 1,000 deaths annually. Prevention of these malignancies with a topical agent free of serious side effects would confer substantial public health benefit. Three hundred fifty thousand veterans were expected to develop NMSC in 1994. NMSC is one of the most common conditions requiring dermatologic care in the VA system. Topical tretinoin has been used extensively to treat photoaged skin. Retinoids administered orally in high doses appear to be effective in chemoprevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer but have unacceptable toxicity. In this study, 1131 patients with a recent history of squamous cell and/or basal cell carcinoma were enrolled at six participating centers over a four-year period and were randomly assigned to either 0.1% tretinoin cream or placebo. They were followed for a minimum of two years to determine if topical tretinoin is effective in reducing the risk of new occurrences.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Primary Hypothesis: To determine the efficacy of topical tretinoin cream for the prevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) among high risk individuals (at least 2 NMSC?S in last 5 years).

Secondary Hypothesis: Secondary objectives are: (a) to determine the long-term effect of topical tretinoin on the prevalence of premalignant actinic keratoses, and (b) to distinguish subpopulations in which topical tretinoin is particularly effective or ineffective, compared to the overall study population.

Intervention: Apply Tretinoin 0.1% cream or placebo cream to face and ears twice a day.

Primary Outcomes: New NMSC lesions on the face and ears. Number of actinic keratoses on the face and ears.

Study Abstract: One-third of all malignancies in the United States (approximately one million cases diagnosed annually) are nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). NMSC causes considerable morbidity, economic burden, facial deformity and at least 1,000 deaths annually. Prevention of these malignancies with a topical agent free of serious side effects would confer substantial public health benefit. Three hundred fifty thousand veterans were expected to develop NMSC in 1994. NMSC is one of the most common conditions requiring dermatologic care in the VA system.

Topical tretinoin has been used extensively to treat photoaged skin. Retinoids administered orally in high doses appear to be effective in chemoprevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer but have unacceptable toxicity. In this study, 1200 patients with a recent history of squamous cell and/or basal cell carcinoma will be enrolled at six participating centers over a four-year period and will be randomly assigned to either 0.1% tretinoin cream or placebo. They will be followed for a minimum of two years to determine if topical tretinoin is effective in reducing the risk of new occurrences.

Weinstock, M.A., Bingham, S.F., Cole, G.W., Eilers, D., Naylor, M.F., Kalivas, J., Taylor, J.R., Gladstone, H.B., Piacquadio, D.J., and DiGiovanna, J.J. Reliability of Counting Actinic Keratoses Before and After Brief Consensus Discussion. Arch Dermatol 137:1055-1058, 2001

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

1131

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Arizona
      • Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85012
        • Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center
    • California
      • Long Beach, California, United States, 90822
        • VA Medical Center, Long Beach
    • Florida
      • Miami, Florida, United States, 33125
        • VA Medical Center, Miami
    • Illinois
      • Hines, Illinois, United States, 60141-5000
        • Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital
    • North Carolina
      • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27705
        • VA Medical Center, Durham
    • Oklahoma
      • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, 73104
        • VA Medical Center, Oklahoma City
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02908
        • VA Medical Center, Providence

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

High risk individuals (at least 2 NMSC?S in last 5 years).

Exclusion Criteria:

Exclusion criteria would include systemic retinoid treatment or systemic chemotherapy within the past six months; indices of very high mortality risk within 3 years (history of invasive noncutaneous malignancy within the past five years or metastatic cutaneous malignancy, or of other severe medical problems e.g. end-stage cardiac disease); known allergy or severe irritation reaction to tretinoin or the cream vehicle; special conditions predisposing to NMSC that may not be generally applicable (xeroderma pigmentosum, basal cell nevus syndrome, major organ transplant recipient, known arsenic exposure, PUVA photochemotherapy, mycosis fungoides, or prior or current radiation therapy involving the face, ears, or area of prior skin cancer), and likely inability to comply with the requirements of the trial as judged by the investigator. Incompetent patients and pregnant or nursing patients will be excluded

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: 2
Placebo
Other: Placebo
Patients receive placebo for same amount of time
Active Comparator: 1
Topical Tretinoin
Drug: Tretinoin 0.1% cream or placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Long term effect of topical tretinoin on the prevalence of premalignant actinic keratoses
Time Frame: until the end of the study for a minimum of 2 years
until the end of the study for a minimum of 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

US Department of Veterans Affairs

Collaborators

Ortho Dermatologics

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Martin A. Weinstock, MD, VA Medical Center, Providence

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 1998

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2004

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 29, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 30, 2000

First Posted (Estimate)

January 1, 2001

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 30, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2009

Last Verified

January 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 402

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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