The outcomes of a recent study states, the FDA-approved vismodegib to be safe and effective in patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (laBCC) thereby confirming its transferability to daily clinical routine.

The uncontrolled cell proliferation from several epidermal compartments can give way to basal cell carcinoma (BCC). This non-interventional study by R Gutzmer et al. aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of vismodegib exclusively on the duration of response (DOR), for treatment of laBCC.

Sixty-six patients with a minimum of one dose of vismodegib were recruited and documented retrospectively and/or prospectively for about 3 years. DOR was considered as the primary efficacy variable. The use of vismodegib, decision makers for therapy and technique of tumor response assessment were the exploratory variables.

The objective response rate was 74.2% and the disease control rate was 90.9% with a median DOR being 15.9 months. The median progression-free survival and time to response were 19.1 and 2.7 months, respectively. With no new new safety signals, 340 adverse events were described in 63 (95.5%) patients.