Tiny needle patch takes aim at skin cancer
NCT ID NCT05377905
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests a small adhesive patch with tiny needles that deliver a low dose of the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin directly into skin cancer tumors. It involves 48 people with squamous cell skin cancer who are either immune-competent or immune-suppressed. The goal is to see if the patch is safe and can clear the tumor under and around it.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- doxorubicin delivered via a microneedle patch
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a less invasive, targeted treatment for skin cancer that avoids systemic chemo side effects.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-phase trial with only 48 participants, so results may not apply broadly. The patch only treats the area under it, and cancer may still recur elsewhere.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 1/2
Runs two stages together: safety and dose first, then whether the treatment works.
- Participants
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About 48 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2023
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Subjects must have a histological diagnosis of cSCC based upon a skin biopsy. 2. Subjects must have resectable stage I-III disease. \- Measures ≥5 millimeters (mm; post-biopsy) and \<100 mm in longest diameter 3. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status of 0, 1 or 2 4. Subjects must have an expected survival of greater than or equal to 12 months. 5. Subjects must not be on any other investigational device/drug treatment. 6. Subjects must be willing to adhere to the instructions of the Investigator and his research team and sign an Informed Consent Form prior to entry into the study. 7. Subjects must have the following pretreatment laboratory parameters: granulocytes ≥1,500/mm3; platelets \>50,000/mm3; serum creatinine ≤2X the upper limit of normal (ULN); AST, ALT ≤3X the ULN, bilirubin ≤1.5X ULN unless Gilbert's disease then ≤3X ULN. 8. Subjects must be at least 18 years of age and must be able to understand the written informed consent/assent document. 9. Subjects must have no evidence of active infection, regardless of the degree of severity or localization. Subjects with active infections (whether or not they require antibiotic therapy) may be eligible for study participation after complete resolution of the infection. Subjects on antibiotic therapy must be off antibiotics before beginning treatment. 10. Subjects must not receive any other treatment for cSCC except emollients of subject's choice without topical steroids, anti-fungal or antibacterial topical preparations. 11. Subjects with multiple cSCC may re-enroll in the study if greater than 4 weeks elapses between courses and if all other inclusion/exclusion criteria are met. 12. Patients with HIV infection with CD4+ T-cell (CD4+) counts ≥ 350 cells/uL will be eligible for the study. Patients without a history of AIDS-defining opportunistic infections will be eligible for the study. 13. Subjects must be willing/able to comply with standard of care measures for subjects with cSCC such as sun avoidance and sun protection. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Subjects with the following tumor characteristics: * \>4 mm depth; * Clark level IV; * perineural invasion, lymphovascular invasion; * primary site on the ear or non-glabrous lip; * location in the hands or feet; * large size: ≥10 mm on neck or pretibial area; ≥20 mm on trunk or extremities; * indistinct borders; * rapid growth; * recurrent lesion; * lesion in site of chronic inflammation or prior radiation therapy; * presence of neurologic symptoms; or • poorly differentiated, and aggressive histopathologic subtypes. 2. Subjects with uncontrolled pain that would preclude participation in the study. 3. Subjects who are pregnant or lactating. 4. Subjects who have sensitivity to drugs that provide local anesthesia. 5. Impaired cardiac function or clinically significant cardiac disease, including any of the following: * Symptomatic congestive heart failure requiring treatment * Clinically significant cardiac arrhythmia * Uncontrolled hypertension * Corrected QT interval (QTc) \>470 msec at Screening or congenital long QT syndrome * Acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina pectoris \< 3 months prior to the first dose * New York Heart Association Functional Class III or higher (i.e. marked limitation of physical activity due to symptoms, or unable to carry on any physical activity without discomfort) 6. Subjects with other active malignancies with the exception of non-metastatic prostate cancer and carcinoma in situ of the skin and cervix. 7. Active, known, or suspected autoimmune disease or a documented history of autoimmune disease, except vitiligo or resolved childhood asthma/atopy. • Individuals with vitiligo, type I diabetes, residual hypothyroidism only requiring hormone replacement, psoriasis not requiring systemic treatment, history of Hashimoto's thyroiditis on stable dose of thyroid hormone replacement therapy, adrenal insufficiency only requiring physiologic steroid replacement, or conditions not expected to recur should not be excluded. 8. Major surgery within 2 weeks of the first dose of study agent 9. History of or current drug-induced interstitial lung disease or pneumonitis Grade ≥2 10. Subjects with the disease only on the face, skin folds, head, scalp, and genital area.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
RECRUITINGPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, United States
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