NCT05078827

Therapeutic Equivalence of Fluorouracil Cream, 5% Compared With Fluorouracil 5% Topical Cream of MylanPharmaceuticals Inc., U.S.A in the Treatment of Actinic Keratosis

A Randomized, Double-blind, Multi-center, Three-arm, Parallel-group, Multiple-dose, Placebo Controlled Study to Assess the Therapeutic Equivalence of Fluorouracil Cream USP 5% of Encube Ethicals Pvt. Ltd., India Compared With Fluorouracil 5% Topical Cream of Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Morgantown, WV 26505 U.S.A. in the Treatment of Actinic Keratosis

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 458 (actual)
• Sponsor: Encube Ethicals Pvt. Ltd. · Industry
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Fluorouracil is recommended for the topical treatment of multiple actinic or solar keratoses. In the 5% strength, it is also useful in the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinomas when conventional methods are impractical, such as with multiple lesions or difficult treatment sites.

Detailed description

There is evidence that the metabolism of Fluorouracil in the anabolic pathway blocks the methylation reaction of deoxyuridylic acid to thymidylic acid. In this manner, Fluorouracil interferes with the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and to a lesser extent inhibits the formation of ribonucleic acid (RNA). As DNA and RNA are essential for cell division and growth, the effect of Fluorouracil may be to create a thymine deficiency, which, provokes unbalanced growth and death of the cell. The effects of DNA and RNA deprivation are most marked on those cells that grow more rapidly and take up Fluorouracil at a more rapid rate. The catabolic metabolism of Fluorouracil results in degradation products (e.g., CO2, urea, α-fluoro-β-alanine), which are inactive. Systemic absorption studies of topically applied Fluorouracil have been performed on patients with actinic keratoses using tracer amounts of 14C-labeled Fluorouracil added to a 5% preparation. All patients had been receiving nonlabeled Fluorouracil until the peak of the inflammatory reaction occurred (2 to 3 weeks), ensuring that the time of maximum absorption was used for measurement. One gram of labeled preparation was applied to the entire face and neck and left in place for 12 hours. Urine samples were collected. At the end of 3 days, the total recovery ranged between 0.48% and 0.94%, with an average of 0.76%, indicating that approximately 5.98% of the topical dose was absorbed systemically. If applied twice daily, this would indicate systemic absorption of topical Fluorouracil to be in the range of 5 to 6 mg per daily dose of 100 mg. In an additional study, negligible amounts of labeled material were found in plasma, urine, and expired CO2 after 3 days of treatment with topically applied 14C-labeled Fluorouracil.

Conditions

• Actinic Keratoses

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Test Product (A): Fluorouracil Cream, 5% topical cream	Apply cream twice daily in an amount sufficient to cover the lesions. Fluorouracil should be applied preferably with a nonmetal applicator or suitable glove. If Fluorouracil is applied with the fingers, the hands should be washed immediately afterward.
DRUG	Reference Product (B): Fluorouracil 5% Topical Cream of Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Morgantown, WV 26505 U.S.A.	Apply cream twice daily in an amount sufficient to cover the lesions. Fluorouracil should be applied preferably with a nonmetal applicator or suitable glove. If Fluorouracil is applied with the fingers, the hands should be washed immediately afterward.
DRUG	Placebo Product (C): Test vehicle cream for fluorouracil 5% of Encube Ethicals Pvt. Ltd., India	Apply cream twice daily in an amount sufficient to cover the lesions. Fluorouracil should be applied preferably with a nonmetal applicator or suitable glove. If Fluorouracil is applied with the fingers, the hands should be washed immediately afterward.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-03-01
• Primary completion: 2022-11-01
• Completion: 2022-12-01
• First posted: 2021-10-15
• Last updated: 2023-03-14

Locations

7 sites across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated drug study