FDA actions on psoriasis, alopecia top dermatology reads for week

The FDA’s approval of Tremfya for treating adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis was among the top read articles of the past week on Healio.com/Dermatology.

Other widely-read articles included news that the FDA also lifted the clinical hold on the Concert Pharmaceutical’s CTP-543 phase 2a clinical trial for adults with alopecia areata:

FDA approves Tremfya for psoriasis

Janssen Biotech announced that the FDA has approved Tremfya for treating adults with moderate-to-severe psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy.

Tremfya (guselkumab), a human monoclonal antibody, is the only approved biologic therapy that selectively blocks interleukin 23 (IL-23), according to a news release. Read more

Immunotherapy for lung cancer leads to hair repigmentation

Patients with lung cancer who were received immunotherapy experienced hair repigmentation, with the majority also experiencing good clinical response, according to recently published study results in JAMA Dermatology.

Researchers in Barcelona, Spain, conducted a case series of 14 patients (mean age, 64.9 years; 13 men) with lung cancer who experienced hair repigmentation after anti-programmed cell death 1 (anti-PD-1) and anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 (anti-PD-L1) therapy. Read more

FDA lifts clinical hold on trial for alopecia areata

Concert Pharmaceuticals has announced that the FDA has lifted the clinical hold on the company’s CTP-543 phase 2a clinical trial for adults with alopecia areata.

The clinical stage biopharmaceutical company will amend the protocol for the study to evaluate two doses of CTP-543 each for a 24-week duration, according to a news release from Concert Pharmaceuticals. Read more

Platelet-rich plasma shows efficacy in combination treatment for androgenetic alopecia

Platelet-rich plasma in combination with 5% minoxidil solution showed efficacy in hair regrowth for patients with androgenetic alopecia compared with the combination with oral finasteride, according to study results recently published in Dermatologic Surgery.

Researchers studied 25 patients with androgenetic alopecia (13 females; mean age, 39.9 years). Read more

Google search correlates with melanoma, other cancer incidence rates

Google search volume correlated with state-specific cancer incidence and mortality rates for melanoma and other common cancers, according to recently published study results in JAMA Dermatology.

Mackenzie R. Wehner, MD, MPhil, of the dermatology department at the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional analysis of Google search volume index data and incidences and mortalities of eight of the 10 most common cancers, including melanoma, between 2009 and 2013 in the United States at the state level. Read more