Tazarotene lotion effectively treats acne in white adults

Tazarotene lotion significantly reduced lesion counts in white adults with moderate to severe acne, according to post hoc analyses of two pooled phase 3 trials.

“Effective acne treatment is important for reducing post inflammatory dyspigmentation and may improve quality of life,” James Q. Del Rosso, DO, research director and principal investigator of JDR Dermatology Research and dermatologist at Thomas Dermatology, both in Las Vegas, and colleagues wrote. “There is a need for efficacious acne treatments that also improve quality of life, which is negatively affected by facial acne.”

Data were pooled from two identical phase 3, multicenter, double-blind studies that included 1,614 participants with moderate to severe acne randomly assigned to receive tazarotene 0.045% lotion or vehicle lotion to be applied to the face once daily for 12 weeks. In the post hoc analyses, researchers analyzed a subset of white adults (n = 645).

Success was determined by inflammatory and noninflammatory lesion counts at the end of 12 weeks, as well as a 2 point or greater reduction from baseline in Evaluator’s Global Severity Score (EGSS) and a score of clear or almost clear.

By week 12, tazarotene significantly reduced both inflammatory and noninflammatory lesion counts by approximately 60% compared with approximately 50% for vehicle. Treatment success was found in 37.3% of participants using tazarotene compared with 22.1% using vehicle (P < .001). Additionally, 75.2% of the tazarotene group achieved an EGSS score of mild, almost clear or clear skin compared with 65.2% of the vehicle lotion group (P < .05). Of the 11.5% of tazarotene-treated adults who reported erythema at baseline, 5.6% reported a decrease by week 12.

The researchers found 31.2% of white adults treated with tazarotene reported treatment-emergent adverse events compared with 18.8% of those treated with vehicle; however, most were deemed mild to moderate in severity and not related to treatment. Of those related to treatment, the most common were application site dryness (5.4%) and application site pain (4.7%).

“Tazarotene 0.045% lotion was efficacious and well tolerated over 12 weeks and led to quality of life improvements in Caucasian adults with moderate to severe facial acne,” Del Rosso and colleagues wrote. “These results, along with those from patients with skin of color, demonstrate that once daily tazarotene 0.045% lotion is an effective and well-tolerated treatment option regardless of skin color.”