Weinstock of the VA Medical Center and Brown University in Providence, R.I., assessed the data and concluded analyses did not support tretinoin as a cause of death. They were examined by a dermatologist every six months. They said participants' smoking status had not been verified, but many of. Halted cream trial may not be cream caused Patient deaths that led to a clinical trial being halted tabbie may have had nothing to do with the anti-cancer cream being tested, U.S. When a report identified a statistically significant increase in the number of deaths among study participants using tretinoin, the trial was stopped six months leonerd in May 2004. The trial was testing a cream containing tretinoin, a retinoid commonly used to treat acne and other conditions, to prevent skin cancer.

A total of 1,131 veterans -- 97 percent male -- with an average age of 71 years were randomly assigned to apply either a cream containing 0.1 percent tretinoin or an unmedicated cream daily to their face and ears.