Table 2.

Characteristics of the included studies

	First author, year of publication	Country	Study design	Topical agent	Diagnostic method	Number of patients (per protocol)	Disease
1	Sidhu, 1997 [14]	Ireland (UK)	RCT	5-FU	Biopsy	94	CIN 1–2
2	Rahangdale, 2014 [13]	USA	RCT	5-FU	Biopsy	55	CIN 2 (3)
3	Meyskens, 1994 [28]	USA	RCT	atRA	Biopsy	232	CIN 2–3
4	Ruffin, 2004 [29]	USA	RCT	atRA	Biopsy	174	CIN 2–3
5	Van Pachterbeke, 2009 [16]	Belgium	RCT	Cidofovir	Biopsy	48	CIN 2–3
6	Grimm, 2012 [30]	Austria	RCT	Imiquimod	Biopsy	55	CIN 2–3

CIN cervical intraepithelial neoplasian, CT clinical trial, FU fluorouracil, HPV HPV infection, atRA all-trans retinoic acid, RCT randomized clinical trial, UK United Kingdom, USA United States of America