Oral tofacitinib, novel alternative treatment for resistant alopecia areata among children

The study reported the following findings:

• 82% of patients experienced hair regrowth and 64% of patients experienced over 50% improvement in their Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) scores.
• Adverse events were mild. In the literature, tofacitinib has been used to treat AA in 31 children ≤12 years of age who failed to respond to prior treatments.
• Eighty-seven per cent of these patients showed significant responses based on changes in their SALT scores.

"This retrospective case series shows that oral tofacitinib for the treatment of pediatric alopecia areata has significant clinical safety and efficacy, providing a novel alternative for children with AA who do not respond to, or cannot tolerate traditional treatment," the researchers wrote.

"There is a need for further clinical trials and studies to assess tofacitinib's long-term safety in children, and the biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy," they concluded.

The study's limitations include its retrospective nature, a small sample size, a short follow-up period, and a lack of control. However, the authors claim that the current results supplement the knowledge gap in pediatric AA treatment and provide data to guide the choice of systemic therapy.

Reference:

Huang, J., Li, T., Tan, Z., Tang, Y., Li, J., Liu, F., & Shi, W. . (2023). Effectiveness of Tofacitinib in Pre-adolescent Alopecia Areata: A Retrospective Case Series and Literature Review. Acta Dermato-Venereologica, 103, adv13418. https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v103.13418