MedPath

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination vs. Placebo for the Treatment of Refractory Cutaneous Warts

Phase 2
Recruiting
Conditions
Warts
Interventions
Other: Normal Saline
Biological: Human Papillomavirus 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant
Registration Number
NCT05625633
Lead Sponsor
Western Institute for Veterans Research
Brief Summary

This double-blinded clinical trial randomly assigns participants with refractory cutaneous warts to receive either treatment with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine or a placebo to assess the efficacy of HPV vaccination for the treatment of refractory cutaneous warts.

Detailed Description

Cutaneous warts are a common cause for medical office visits and are frequently encountered in dermatology practice. Despite their benign nature, cutaneous warts can be painful, disfiguring, persistent and may be associated with significant morbidity. Numerous therapeutic options are available, including local destruction, virucidal agents, topical and systemic antiproliferative medications, and immunotherapy. Unfortunately, no single therapy is uniformly effective, and patients often receive multiple courses of treatment (cryotherapy, curettage, Candida antigen injection, etc.) without improvement.

An efficacious therapy for cutaneous warts is sorely needed and treatment with HPV vaccination is being increasingly reported. Notably, individual cases and case series have reported complete resolution of multiple treatment refractory warts after treatment with the quadrivalent HPV vaccine. Even more encouraging, a larger retrospective study of 30 patients found that up to 60% of patients had a complete or partial response after treatment with the HPV vaccine. Additional benefits of treatment with HPV vaccination include ease of use, less tissue destruction and pain, and the potential for less frequent medical office visits. Despite these promising preliminary data, a larger, randomized controlled study has yet to be performed.

This will be a multi-center, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with 120 participants. Enrolled participants will be randomized to treatment with either HPV vaccination or placebo. Participants will receive injections with the 9-valent HPV vaccine or placebo at 0, 4, and 20 weeks and follow up until 24 weeks to determine their treatment response, quality of life and the safety and tolerability of HPV vaccination.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
120
Inclusion Criteria
  1. Must be able to understand and provide written informed consent
  2. Age 18 or older
  3. Clinical diagnosis of cutaneous warts
  4. Must have received prior treatment for cutaneous warts (such as curettage, cryotherapy, salicylic acid, intralesional Candida antigen injection, etc.)
Exclusion Criteria
  1. Untreated cutaneous warts
  2. Anogenital warts
  3. Oral warts
  4. Treatment for cutaneous warts in the past 4 weeks
  5. Active acute illness
  6. Immunosuppression
  7. Known hypersensitivity to HPV vaccination
  8. Subjects may not receive any other investigational treatment
  9. Pregnancy or planned pregnancy during the study period

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
PlaceboNormal Saline0.5-mL normal saline administered as intramuscular injection at weeks 0, 4, and 20
HPV VaccineHuman Papillomavirus 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant0.5-mL suspension of 9-valent Gardasil vaccine administered as intramuscular injection at weeks 0, 4, and 20
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Assessing the efficacy/therapeutic response of HPV vaccination for the treatment of refractory cutaneous warts (response information may be found in description) at 24 weeksResponse to treatment assessments will occur 24 weeks after first dose of vaccine/placebo (primary endpoint)

Assessing the efficacy/therapeutic response of HPV vaccination for the treatment of refractory cutaneous warts, classified as: (1) complete response (CR; complete clearance of warts); (2) partial response (PR; any decrease in lesion number or size); or (3) no response (NR; no change or increase in lesion number or size)

Assessing the efficacy/therapeutic response of HPV vaccination for the treatment of refractory cutaneous warts (response information may be found in description) at 4 weeksResponse to treatment assessments will occur 4 weeks after first dose of vaccine/placebo

Assessing the efficacy/therapeutic response of HPV vaccination for the treatment of refractory cutaneous warts, classified as: (1) complete response (CR; complete clearance of warts); (2) partial response (PR; any decrease in lesion number or size); or (3) no response (NR; no change or increase in lesion number or size)

Assessing the efficacy/therapeutic response of HPV vaccination for the treatment of refractory cutaneous warts (response information may be found in description) at 8 weeksResponse to treatment assessments will occur at 8 weeks after first dose of vaccine/placebo

Assessing the efficacy/therapeutic response of HPV vaccination for the treatment of refractory cutaneous warts, classified as: (1) complete response (CR; complete clearance of warts); (2) partial response (PR; any decrease in lesion number or size); or (3) no response (NR; no change or increase in lesion number or size)

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Skindex-16Quality of life assessments will occur at 0 (baseline), 4, 8, and 24 weeks (primary endpoint)

Assessing for changes in quality of life, as indicated by the Skindex-16 questionnaire

Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse EventsSafety assessment will occur at 0, 4, 8, 20, and 24 weeks

Assessing the safety and tolerability of HPV vaccination via adverse event reporting

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

University of Utah Midvalley Health Center

🇺🇸

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

VA Salt Lake City Health Care System

🇺🇸

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved by MedPath