Alitretinoin in dermatology-An update

Abstract

Alitretinoin is a pan retinoic acid agonist. It was initially used as 0.1% gel in the management of localized Kaposi′s sarcoma. At present, the use of systemic alitretinoin has proved extremely efficacious in the management of recalcitrant chronic hand eczema. Furthermore, there have been other retinoid responsive dermatosis that have demonstrated remission post usage of systemic alitretinoin. With a better toxicity profile, compared to the other systemic retinoids, alitretinoin could be considered a valuable treatment option in the near future for the treatment of these dermatologic disorders.

Keywords

• Alitretinoin
• chronic hand eczema
• Kaposi′s sarcoma
• retinoid responsive dermatosis