Is Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Effective in Treating Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma?
Posted: Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Based on the findings of a recent case report published in JAMA Dermatology, the 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine may prove to be a therapeutic option for patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who are not candidates for surgery. Anna J. Nichols, MD, PhD, of the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues suggest the vaccine may result in immunologic, antiviral, and antitumor effects, although further study of the mechanisms of therapeutic benefit is warranted.
In this case study, a 97-year-old woman presented with squamous cell tumors that covered her right leg. “She was not a candidate for surgery because of the sheer number and size of her tumors. She wasn’t a candidate for radiotherapy, again for the same reasons,” explained Dr. Nichols in a University of Miami press release.
The patient consented to the off-label use of the vaccine and received it systemically: first via injections in her arm, 6 weeks apart, and subsequently via injections into her tumors, 4 times over a course of 11 months. Two weeks after the second intratumor injection, reduction in the size and number of the tumors was seen. Mild pain in some of the tumors on the day of injection was the only adverse event reported.
Despite the fact that only a subset of the patient’s tumors were injected with the vaccine, “all of her tumors completely resolved 11 months after the first direct tumor injection, and she has had no recurrence,” Dr. Nichols said.