DEFLAGYN® Vaginal Gel and Spontaneous Remission and Regression of Unclear Cervical Smears and HPV High-risk Infections (HPV-VG1)

November 14, 2025 updated by: Clemens Tempfer, Ruhr University of Bochum

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are the most common sexually transmitted pathogens worldwide and in most cases are causally associated with the development of cervical cancer, one of the most common cancers in women and one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide. Precancerous lesions (dysplasias) or the presence of a high-risk HPV subtype are detected by a screening smear test performed by a gynecologist. If precancerous lesions are detected, conization (= surgical removal of a cone of tissue from the cervix) is the method of choice for removing the diseased tissue. However, if the degree of dysplasia is correspondingly low or the smear is unclear, then the guideline-compliant non-surgical treatment provides for a wait-and-see approach with PAP and HPV smear control after 6-8 months.

This "wait-and-see" approach can be complemented by local therapy with an immunostimulant. For this purpose, DEFLAGYN® (a vaginal gel containing silica and citric acid) and Aldara® (imiquimod, a Toll-Like Re-ceptor 7 antagonist) are available. However, while the latter is not approved for the treatment of cervical dysplasia or HPV infection, DEFLAGYN® has CE marking and approval as a medical device for treatment in a number of indications, such as unclear cervical smears, HPV-induced cervical lesions, p16/Ki-67-positive cervical lesions or cervical erosions.

However, available studies on the efficacy of DEFLAGYN are limited. For example, there is only one prospective randomized trial (Major et al, 2021, Arch. Gynecol. Obstet. 303:501-511), which included 216 women with histologically confirmed CIN 1/2. A 3-month intravaginal application of DEFLAGYN® resulted in regression of CIN 1/2 in 72% versus 25% in the control arm (no intervention). Side effects of therapy with DEFLAGYN® were not observed in this study.

Due to the frequency of CIN and HPV infections in the female population and due to the high medical relevance of a conservative method of treating this disease, further methodologically high-quality studies on the efficacy of DEFLAGYN® should be performed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

  1. HPV and dysplasia of the cervix uteri Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are the most common sexually transmitted pathogens worldwide. The prevalence in both male and female populations is high. Epidemiological estimates suggest that 85-91% of sexually active adults acquire at least one genital HPV infection by age 50, with approximately 95% of HPV infections being spontaneously eliminated within 2 years in terms of HPV immunologic clearance. HPV preferentially infects the epithelial cells of the anogenital area and, through incorporation of HPV DNA into the host genome of the basal cells of the squamous epithelium of the cervix and subsequent expression of viral components, causes dysplastic changes in the cervical epithelium that, if left untreated, can develop into invasive carcinoma of the cervix (cervical carcinoma).

    Cervical carcinoma is the fourth most common cancer as well as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide, responsible for 6.6% (570,000) of all new cancer cases and 7.5% (311,000) of cancer-related deaths in women in 2018.

    The precursor of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (approximately 80% of all cervical cancers) is cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), which has three grades of expression (CIN1, CIN 2, and CIN 3). Compared with invasive cervical carcinoma, the incidence and prevalence of precancerous lesions of the cervix uteri are much higher. It is estimated that approximately 100,00 w0omen in Germany develop high-grade dysplasia (CIN2/CIN3) each year.

  2. Therapy Dysplasia of the cervix typically becomes conspicuous during gynecological screening examinations. Here, smears are taken from the ectocervix and endocervix and assessed cytologically for dysplastic cells and the quality of the smear after Papanicolaou staining. HPV infection diagnostics are also performed as part of the statutory cervical carcinoma screening (annually or every 3 years) in order to detect the presence of HPV high risk infections.

    In case of abnormalities in the cervical smear and/or HPV high risk infection with suspicion of cervical dysplasia, presentation to a specialized dysplasia consultation is recommended for further clarification of dysplastic changes. During the subsequent colposcopic examination, a histological tissue sample ('cervical biopsy') of conspicuous areas is taken. The histopathological processing of the tissue samples and the colposcopic image of the spread of the changes in the cervix then allow individualized therapy planning.

  3. Conization as the standard of surgical treatment If precancerous lesions with the potential to develop into an invasive cervical tumor are detected, conization (= surgical removal of a cone of tissue from the cervix) is the method of choice for removing the diseased tissue. The worldwide standard surgical procedure for conization is LLETZ conization (="Large Loop Excision of the Transformation Zone"). In addition to the risk of local persistence of precancerous lesions if cervical dysplasia is incompletely removed, LLETZ also increases the risk of preterm delivery in subsequent pregnancy. This risk increases with increasing volume of removed tissue. To reduce or avoid the aforementioned complications, conization should be performed under colposcopic vision and as little healthy cervical tissue as possible should be removed.
  4. Non-surgical treatment options Non-surgical methods for the treatment of CIN and/or HPV high risk infections are limited. According to the current S3 guideline, in case of CIN 1 and/or HPV high risk infection, a wait-and-see approach with PAP and HPV smear control in 6-8 months is possible. Alternatively, local therapy with an immunostimulant may be used. DEFLAGYN® and Aldara® are available for this purpose. Aldara® is imiquimod, a Toll-Like Receptor 7 (TLR 7) antagonist, which leads to a local immune response. However, Aldara® is not approved for the treatment of CIN or HPV infections. DEFLAGYN®, on the other hand, has a CE mark and medical device approval for the treatment of unclear cervical smears (ASC-US, ASC-H, LSIL, HSIL or PAP II-p, PAP III-p, PAP IIID1, PAP IIID2 or PAP III, PAP IIID) or HPV-induced cervical lesions or p16/Ki-67-positive cervical lesions or cervical erosions.
  5. DEFLAGYN® - Mode of action and approval status DEFLAGYN® is a vaginal gel containing silica and citric acid, which binds pathogens, inhibits their spread and exerts an antioxidant effect. It is applied intravaginally and used for 3 months. In a prospective randomized study of 216 women with histologically confirmed CIN 1/2, 3 months of intravaginal application of DEFLAGYN® resulted in regression of CIN 1/2 in 72% versus 25% in the control arm (no intervention). The rate of HPV high risk infections decreased from 87% to 44% in the intervention arm. No other intervention studies on the efficacy of DEFLAGYN® can be found in the literature (PubMed search on 08/14/2022; search terms: dysplasia, deflagyn, HPV, silicon dioxide gel, randomized). Side effects of therapy with DEFLAGYN® were not observed in the study. Due to the frequency of CIN and HPV infections in the female population and due to the high medical relevance of a conservative method of this disease, further methodologically high-quality studies on the efficacy of DEFLAGYN® are useful.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

242

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • Germany
    • North Rhine-Westphalia
      • Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 44625
        • Marien Hospital Herne

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Written consent
  • Unclear cervical smear (ASC-US, ASC-H, LSIL, HSIL or PAP II-p, PAP III-p, PAP IIID1, PAP IIID2 (Munich III) or PAP III, PAP IIID, PAP I + HPV high-risk infection)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy
  • Known hypersensitivity to any of the ingredients of the vaginal gel
  • Insufficient knowledge of the German language
  • Pre-existing oncological diseases

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control Arm
Wait-and-see approach.
Experimental: DEFLAGYN Arm
Application of DEFLAGYN vaginal gel for 3x 28days (as per instructions provided by the manufacturer)
Device: DEFLAGYN vaginal gel
DEFLAGYN is a vaginal gel, classified as a medical device, containing silica and citric acid, which binds pathogens, inhibits their spread and exerts an antioxidant effect. It is applied intravaginally (through an applicator) and used for 3 months.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rate of hr-HPV-positive cervical smears
Time Frame: 3 months after initial examination/study inclusion
The rate of hr-HPV-positive findings after 3 months.
3 months after initial examination/study inclusion

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rate of hr-HPV-positive cervical smears
Time Frame: 6 months after initial examination/study inclusion
The rate of hr-HPV-positive findings after 6 months.
6 months after initial examination/study inclusion
Rate of progression
Time Frame: 3 and 6 months after initial examination/study inclusion
The rate of progression (in case of mild dysplasia at start)
3 and 6 months after initial examination/study inclusion
Rate of newly diagnosed dysplasia
Time Frame: 3 and 6 months after initial examination/study inclusion
The rates of newly diagnosed (i.e. not present during initial examination at study start) dysplasia or malignancies
3 and 6 months after initial examination/study inclusion
Complications
Time Frame: From study inclusion/treatment start until the 3-month-follow up visit
The number and kind of complications during the first 3 months
From study inclusion/treatment start until the 3-month-follow up visit

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patients' Satisfaction
Time Frame: 3 and 6 months after initial examination/study inclusion
General satisfaction of the patients with quality of care (100-mm-visual analog scale; 0 = very unsatisfied, 100=very satisfied)
3 and 6 months after initial examination/study inclusion

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Ruhr University of Bochum

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Clemens B Tempfer, MD, MBA, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Marien Hospital Herne

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

Helpful Links

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 (Actual)

November 8, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 23, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

August 28, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 18, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

August 22, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

November 18, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 14, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HPV-VG1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data will be shared upon reasonable request made to the corresponding author. This includes individual participant data underlying the results presented here, after deidentification, as well as data dictionaries and the the study protocol. Data is available after publication, without a specific end date. Requesting investigators must show that their proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee identified for this purpose.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After publication of the study results, no time limit.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Reasonable request, approval of the intended study by an independent review committee identified for this purpose.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ICF
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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