Updates on Biologics and Atopic Dermatitis With Andrew Alexis, MD

Dermatology Times® editorial advisory board member, Andrew Alexis, MD, vice chair for diversity and inclusion for the department of dermatology and professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, presented updates on biologics and diagnosing atopic dermatitis at South Beach Symposium in Miami Beach, Florida.

Alexis shares key highlights from his sessions “What’s New in Biologics” and “Diagnosing Atopic Dermatitis.”

Transcript:

Andrew Alexis, MD: Hi. I'm Andrew Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. I'm also on the Dermatology Times® editorial advisory board and it's a pleasure to be here. So, I had the pleasure of giving a talk this morning at South Beach Symposium, highlighting some of the exciting updates in biologic therapy in dermatology. I covered some new developments in several disease states, including atopic dermatitis with the recent addition of tralokinumab, an inhibitor or antagonist of the IL-13 cytokines. I also covered the recent approval of dupilumab for the treatment of prurigo nodularis. And in the area of psoriasis, I did highlight the recent approval of the IL-36 antagonist called spesolimab. So,a lot of exciting developments across multiple disease states with respect to biologic therapy.

Dermatology Times®: What are a few highlights from your session, "Diagnosing Atopic Dermatitis?"

Alexis: So in my talk on atopic dermatitis, I cover some of the variations of this very heterogeneous disease, atopic dermatitis, across the ages. As we all know, depending on the age of the patient that we see atopic dermatitis in, there are differences in the anatomic distribution and the morphology. There are even differences across different racial ethnic populations as well, which I'll highlight in the presentation. So, with respect to our atopic dermatitis in infants, we know that involvement of the face as well as extensor surfaces and the trunk with sparing of the diaper area is very common. In our toddlers and children, this is where it becomes more flexural involvement. In our adults, we tend to see hands involved including the palmar and dorsal surface, as well as the neck and more severe. That'sjust some examples of some of the age differences. When it comes to our patients with skin of color and atopic dermatitis, there are some unique morphologies that we see more frequentlythere, including follicular accentuation, as well as alterations in the way erythema presents with more of a red-brown color, sometimes violaceous. We might also see lichenoid lesions just to name a few of the variations that we see across different populations.

Transcript edited for clarity