EXPERT INSIGHTS FROM DERMTUBE.COM

Atopic Dermatitis: New Therapies Focus on Inflammation

“The field is moving, and it’s moving quickly…you are going to have to learn about inflammation and mechanism of inflammation in atopic dermatitis…Similar to psoriasis, we are going to be in this new decade of eczema where medicines are being developed based upon trying to block some of the cytokine inflammatory cascade that happens with stimulation in the skin.”

— Lawrence Eichenfield, MD, FAAD

Urticaria: Omalizumab Offers
Long-term Remission, Safely

“It works for almost all kinds of urticaria… typically you need to give the injection in a patient with supervision there. Again, the chance [for anyphylaxis] is rare. We tell the patient to wait two to three hours to see if there is any anaphylaxis, then let them go… We cannot cure urticaria, but what we can do is give long remission with biologics.”

—Kiran Vasant Godse, MD

Psoriasis: Biologics
for Functional Impairment

“Depending on how much of the hands and how dramatically affected their quality of life is—if it’s a whole palm covered including the fingers and they can’t grab the steering wheel, and they can’t shake your hand, or they can’t turn a doorknob, I’m not messing around. I’m not going to topicals. I’m not going to Soriatane. I’m jumping right into biologics. A lot of times I’m jumping into biologics and methotrexate. A lot of times I cycle through two or three biologics until I get them enough better.”

—Neil J. Korman, MD, FAAD

Stem Cells Continue to Show Promise

“I think we’re finally getting to the point where [stem cells] might be used in routine wound healing. The promise, of course, is that if they are your own stem cells, they will do a really good job of healing up a wound, maybe creating new tissue where tissue has been lost, and creating nice contour.” n

—Murad Alam, MD, FAAD