Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader,

The 25^th World Congress was well attended by dermatologists from all over the world. In this report, we focus on inflammatory skin diseases.

Various treatment targets have been identified for atopic dermatitis:

-OX40-positive pathogenic T cells by anti-OX40 monoclonal antibody rocatinlimab,

- IL-13 inhibition by the novel inhibitor lebrikizumab, and

-various JAK inhibitors including the novel ivarmacitinib.

In psoriasis, botulinum toxin A may be an efficacious treatment option for patients with nail psoriasis, a refractory and difficult-to-treat condition. Important innovations in small molecules for systemic use were also presented. Two-year data on deucravacitinib showed a 14% loss of efficacy for PASI75 and 40% for PASI90 in the first year with no further decrease after 2 years. Further, encouraging results were shown for small molecule JNJ-77242113; 40.5% of the participants on the highest dose of JNJ-77242113 reached PASI100 compared with none on placebo.

With respect to generalised pustular psoriasis, high-dose spesolimab was associated with fewer GPP flares than placebo: an 84% reduction in the risk of flare development was observed.

A high-dose study on risankizumab with a single 600 mg versus 300 mg dose showed a mean absolute PASI of 0.6 at week 40. This is the first part of a study looking for the clinical and mechanistic effects of high-dose anti-IL-23 treatment. The hypothesis is that early high-dose treatment with anti-IL23 may lead to long-term deep remissions of psoriasis.

Furthermore, in hidradenitis suppurative, the anti-IL-36 molecule spesolimab proved to have a promising efficacy. In rosacea, paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, induced a remarkable improvement in erythema and flushing. And for acne, a topical preparation of PPARγ modulator NAC-GED 5% proved to be effective.

Best regards,

Peter CM van de Kerkhof

Biography

Peter C.M. van de Kerkhof is emeritus Professor of Dermatology and immediate past chairman of the Department of Dermatology of Radboud University Nijmegen. He is currently the coordinating Medical Officer of the International Psoriasis Council and chair of the scientific advisory board of the Dutch burn association. He has been working for many years on the pathogenesis and treatment of psoriasis. He has published more than 700 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has given many presentations on invitation at international conferences. He has served as president of the ESDR, EDF, and the International Psoriasis Council, and was a board member of various international societies. Current interests are pathogenesis and development of biomarkers for psoriasis; real clinical practice research; and personalised medicine.