New Treatment Options

Hi All,

I got a Google alert for a study I thought many of you would be interested in. Here's the abstract:

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of systemic retinoids in treating frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA). It was based on a retrospective analysis of 54 female patients with FFA treated with: oral isotretinoin at the daily dose of 20 mg (29/54) or acitretin at the daily dose of 20 mg (11/54) or with oral finasteride 5 mg/daily (14/54). The study was conducted between 2007 and 2017. The basic of the study is the measurement of distance between the frontal hairline and the glabellar crease prior to the commencement of treatment and after 6, 12, and 24 months. The treatment with systemic retinoids lasted between 12 and 16 months (the mean duration of treatment was 13.5 months). The primary treatment goal was defined as no further progression of disease after 12 months of treatment, while the secondary treatment goal was defined as no further progression of disease following the discontinuation of systemic retinoids. The primary treatment goal was achieved by 76% (23/29) of patients treated with isotretinoin, 73% (8/11) of patients treated with acitretin, and 43% (6/14) of patients treated with finasteride. The secondary treatment goal was achieved by 72% (21/29) of patients treated with isotretinoin, 73% (8/11) of patients treated with acitretin, and 43% (6/14) of patients treated with finasteride. Thus, the administration of systemic retinoids may be beneficial for the stabilization of frontal hairline in patients with FFA.

Rakowska, A., Gradzińska, A., Olszewska, M., & Rudnicka, L. (2017). Efficacy of Isotretinoin and Acitretin in Treatment of Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia: Retrospective Analysis of 54 Cases. Journal of drugs in dermatology: JDD, 16(10), 988.

Views: 1446

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jess on November 8, 2017 at 8:54pm

Hi Desei,

Just go to https://www.google.com/alerts#

Permalink Reply by Desei on November 10, 2017 at 1:36am

Awesome, many thanks Jess.  Done!

Now that I'm up to speed with how to create 'alerts', I've also signed up for 'google scholar' alerts, but I would imagine that the 'google' alerts would cover that anyway.  

here's an example link for 'google scholar' in case it's useful ... the 'alerts' icon is down to the bottom left of the page.

https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=...

Permalink Reply by Ana_Brazil on November 4, 2017 at 8:09pm

Hi Jess, this is such good news. Thank you so much for sharing.

I will tell my dermatologist, she is a professor at the university, and she will be happy to learn some more.

How do you set up to get alerts from Google on research on FFA, please?

Thank you very much again,

Ana

Permalink Reply by Jess on November 8, 2017 at 8:50pm

Hi Ana_Brazil,

You just go the below link, enter your search term, and then enter your email address. It will send you an email whenever anything new is published online with that search term. I just put in "frontal fibrosing alopecia." I pretty much only get alerts that show a new study has been published. Sometimes that study just happens to mention FFA in passing, but many have FFA as the focus. I've also noticed that sometimes I can't actually read the article or even the abstract because I don't subscribe to the journal, but you can usually tell from the title what it's about.

https://www.google.com/alerts#

Permalink Reply by Leni on November 7, 2017 at 8:42pm
https://www.facebook.com/EADV.org/videos/936574153174168/

European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology just met. Watch the video on ge Facebook link above. Apparently FFA is growing tremendously in diagnosis. Not as rare as we thought.

Sounds like the oral retinoids is promising in slowing progression.
Permalink Reply by Desei on November 10, 2017 at 12:24am

Thanks Leni!  

Permalink Reply by sampeckard on August 5, 2021 at 4:05am

So far, combination therapy seems to be the optimal choice for FFA patients. With finasteride serving as the core treatment to arrest disease inflammation, along with hydroxychloroquine, tacrolimus, and excimer laser. Minoxidil should then be considered to increase hair volume. I found out about this therapy two years ago here https://www.biomedics.com.au/resources/patient-treatment-areas/ and I talked to my doctor, and he told me to try. Now, I feel better, my hair is slowly growing, and I got rid of depression.

Permalink Reply by Nerida on January 8, 2022 at 12:13am

Interesting.  Would have given that a go about 10yrs ago.  Too late now, no point trying to save a hairline that is already back so far.   Seems these drugs are aimed at 'stabilisation' I guess I'm just going to stay 'unstable' that sounds like me.  Or am I missing something?  Is there hope for hair transplants to the affected area that will stay?  

Permalink Reply by FFAKari on January 9, 2022 at 7:37pm

I would also like to know if hair transplants are possible.  With the scar tissue, I don't know?  I also would like to know WHY is FFA becoming more evident in women these days?  

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