Linda Stein Gold, MD, Reviews New Treatments for AD and Treating Tough Acne

At the 2023 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference for PAs and NPs, Linda Stein Gold, MD, met with Dermatology Times® to discuss her sessions, “Using New Treatments for Atopic Dermatitis” and “Treating Your Tough Acne Patients.” Stein Gold, the director of clinical research in the department of dermatology at Henry Ford Hospital and a co-director of the Dermsquared clinical advisory board, reviewed new and upcoming AD treatments, including dupilumab, tralokinumab, lebrikizumab, abrocitinib, and upadacitinib. According to Stein Gold, there are numerous effective treatments out there to get patients’ AD symptoms under control.

During her tough acne session, Stein Gold reviewed her best pearls for acne management, including a benzoyl peroxide cleanser, topical retinoids, topical tazarotene lotion, trifarotene cream, sarecycline, and more. Stein Gold also mentioned devices as effective treatments for controlling acne.

Transcript

Stein Gold: My name is Linda Stein Gold. I'm from Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan

Dermatology Times: What are the key highlights from your session, "Using New Treatments for Atopic Dermatitis?"

Stein Gold: I spoke about new treatments for atopic dermatitis. And the good news is we have a whole host of new options. These options weren't there 7 years ago. We have some wonderful biologic agents, dupilumab, FDA-approved all the way down to age 6 months. It's tried and true. It works in all age groups. It's a safe drug that doesn't require monitoring. We have tralokinumab that is an IL-13 inhibitor, and also a safe drug. The interesting thing about this drug is that after you get the patient under control you can then spread out the treatments to every 4 weeks. And we have lebrikizumab that's on the horizon. Hopefully, we'll get approval within the next hopefully few months and that should be approved all the way down to age 12. We have the JAK inhibitors, we have abrocitinib and upadacitinib. These drugs are both FDA-approved down to age 12. They kick in rapidly and completely. So, for those patients who maybe haven't done well on other agents, this is a great option, it gets those patients under control and keeps them under control.

Dermatology Times: What are the main takeaways from your session, "Treating Your Tough Acne Patients?"

Stein Gold: I spoke on treating tough acne patients. We really have been working hard to get these acne patients under control. We have some wonderful topical options. Don't forget benzoyl peroxide. It's still a tried and true medication. It does bleach things, but we can use the wash as short contact. I usually tell patients leave it on for a few minutes before you get in the shower. I like to use a 10%. The topical retinoids are important. We have a topical tazarotene lotion that has a better tolerability profile. We have a topical trifarotene. It's interesting, this drug has been studied for atrophic scars as well as hyperpigmentation and we might see some great value there. Don't forget about oral antibiotics including sarecycline for those patients who might have GI side effects or when they worry about burning in the sun or even CNS side effects. We see a much better tolerability profile with this drug. Topical clascoterone, we can now decrease potentially sebum production. It's an androgen receptor blocker. So that's great news. And then we have some devices that actually help get acne under control that keeps it under control for longer periods of time.

Dermatology Times: What is the value of a meeting that brings together dermatologists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners?

Stein Gold: The beauty of a meeting like this is that it really shows us that we are a care team. And each one of us plays an important role in getting our patients under control and keeping them under control, and together we actually have a lot of value.

[Transcript edited for clarity]