Five tumors showed complete clinical and pathological resolution after up to eight weeks of treatment.

Topical remetinostat gel performed well in a small investigator-initiated phase II clinical study of patients with squamous cell carcinoma.

Four patients with five cutaneous SCCs were included in this case series and treated with remetinostat gel 1%. All five tumors, including a range of histological subtypes, demonstrated complete clinical and pathological resolution after up to eight weeks of treatment. 

All patients experienced a localized cutaneous reaction in response to the treatment, which required one patient to discontinue therapy. No systemic adverse events were reported.

"These very encouraging results further supports the potential of remetinostat to be used in multiple skin-associated cancers beyond cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)," says Magnus Christensen, interim CEO of Medivir, in a news release.

Further details of the study can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov, reference number NCT03875859.