Oral Isotretinoin in the Treatment and Prevention of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

The clinical uses of oral isotretinoin (13-cis-retinoic acid) are many. They include treatment of acneiform eruptions, diseases of cornification, inflammatory disorders, and neoplastic processes. Isotretinoin has shown greater efficacy in the chemoprevention of squamous cell carcinoma, rather than in the treatment. High-dose isotretinoin has mainly been utilized in those patients at high-risk for multiple new skin cancers where the risk of morbidity from side effects is overshadowed by the benefit to the patient.