WASHINGTON — Asian patients treated with 0.1% adapalene gel showed significantly greater clearance of acne than did white and black acne patients after 6 weeks, Dr. Fran E. Cook-Bolden reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.
The open-label, multicenter, observational phase IV trial also showed significant improvement among Hispanic patients with acne, compared with their white counterparts, reported Dr. Cook-Bolden, of the Skin Specialty Group in New York.
“With the changing demographics of the U.S. population, there is a need to understand the variety of dermatologic disorders that affect patients with nonwhite skin types,” Dr. Cook-Bolden and her associates wrote. “Patients with darker pigmentation are at a greater risk from developing postinflammatory hyperpigmentation both from their acne lesions [and] also potentially from their treatment—particularly when the treatment causes irritation.”
Patients aged 12–72 years old were grouped by race into the following categories: Asian (78 patients), black (169 patients), Hispanic (222 patients), white (1,215 patients), and American Indian/Alaskan Native/Pacific Islander/other (36 patients). Acne severity was rated moderate to moderately severe.
The investigators used a global assessment scale on which a score of 0 was equivalent to complete clearing and a score of 6 meant that the acne was actually worse after treatment.
By week 12, all racial groups had shown at least some improvement, compared with baseline.
At week 6, significantly more Asian patients (44%) achieved successful treatment (defined as a score of 0–2), compared with black patients (34%) and white patients (29%). At week 12, the difference was significant only between Asian and white patients, 71% and 56%, respectively.
Hispanics showed greater reduction in inflammatory lesions, compared with whites at week 12 (75% vs. 67%).
Though the finding was not statistically significant, a greater proportion of black patients than whites showed success at week 6 (56% vs. 51%, respectively) and 12 (80% vs. 66.7%, respectively).
All patients tolerated the treatment—which included a once-daily application of adapalene gel 0.1% plus any other treatments deemed appropriate by their dermatologists—with minimal incidence of erythema, peeling, scaling, dryness, stinging and/or burning.
The study and poster were supported by Galderma Laboratories L.P.