Key clinical point: Although proactive (PA) topical corticosteroid (TCS) therapy did not show lower relapse rates in pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in remission, it was more effective against itch and as safe as rank-down (RD) TCS therapy.
Major finding: There was no significant decrease in the relapse rate (8.33% vs 20.0%; P = .0859) in the PA vs RD treatment group; however, at week 4, the mean itching score increased significantly in the RD group (2.5 to 3.6; P = .0438) but not in the PA group (P = .1877). The safety profile was similar in both groups.
Study details: Findings are from an open-label, active-controlled, parallel-group study including 49 pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe AD who had achieved remission with a very strong TCS therapy and were randomly assigned to receive PA or RD TCS therapy.
Disclosures: This study was funded by Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The authors declared receiving payments, honoraria, funds, research grants, or fees from several sources, including Torii Pharmaceutical.
Source: Kamiya K et al. Proactive versus rank-down topical corticosteroid therapy for maintenance of remission in pediatric atopic dermatitis: A randomized, open-label, active-controlled, parallel-group study (Anticipate study). J Clin Med. 2022;11(21):6477 (Oct 31). Doi: 10.3390/jcm11216477