ABSTRACT
Sarecycline is a novel, narrow-spectrum, third generation tetracycline class antibiotic approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne in patients ages nine and older. Recently, focus has increased on whether treatment responses differ in acne in skin of color. Here, we aimed to analyze the efficacy of using sarecycline in Hispanics. We report pooled post hoc analysis of efficacy data on sarecycline in Hispanics with acne from two phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials, SC1401 and SC1402. Of 2002 patients in the pooled trials with moderate-to-severe acne, 26.9% were Hispanic. Facial inflammatory lesion counts decreased as early as week 3 by 26% (p = 0.0279), with continued reduction by 41% by week 6 (p = 0.0003), by 51% by week 9 (p < 0.0001), and by 55% by week 12 (p < 0.0001). Acne is the most common skin condition diagnosed in Hispanics, and this study illustrates a statistically significant reduction in acne in Hispanic patients with moderate-to-severe acne treated with oral sarecycline. Therefore, oral sarecycline shows promising results as a safe and effective treatment for acne in Hispanics.
ABSTRACT
Truncal acne is common, and the psychosocial burden may be underestimated as patients most often complain of facial acne. The Acne Symptom and Impact Scale (ASIS) is a 17-item patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure designed to assess the signs and impacts of acne vulgaris. ASIS has previously been validated in a prospective, non-interventional study as a reliable PRO instrument for facial acne. In a pilot study, ASIS, and an additional 10 new questions that focused on the concerns of patients (ASIS-C), were given to 10 patients with moderate-to-severe truncal acne vulgaris who received 3 months of monotherapy with oral sarecycline, a narrow-spectrum tetracycline-class antibiotic. ASIS-C questionnaires were also given to 10 acne-free control subjects. Average ASIS-C answers decreased by 4% for Signs, 15% for Impact, and 16% for Concerns in the 10 patients, with greater decreases of 5% for Signs, 20% for Impact, and 19% for Concerns in the 60% of patients whose truncal acne was clear or almost clear after 12 weeks of sarecycline treatment. In this study, sarecycline was effective in reducing the psychosocial burden associated with truncal acne based on the ASIS-C PRO measures.
ABSTRACT
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a highly lethal cutaneous carcinoma, which in ~80% of cases in the USA is aetiologically linked to Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can successfully treat ~50% of patients with metastatic MCC, but some MCCs are refractory to ICIs, possibly due to altered DNA damage response (DDR). Selinexor, an anticancer therapy that is currently approved in combination with chemotherapy for multiple myeloma, downregulates the small T and large T tumour antigens in MCC through selective inhibition of nuclear exportin 1 (XPO1). We examined the effect of varying doses of selinexor on DDR protein expression in MCPyV-positive and MCPyV-negative MCC cells. Selinexor was found to inhibit DDR protein expression in both MCPyV-positive and MCPyV-negative cells. Addition of selinexor alone or combined with ICI may be a promising treatment for MCC, but further in vivo research and clinical trials are required to validate these findings.
