Alitretinoin versus phototherapy as the first-line treatment in adults with severe chronic hand eczema: the ALPHA RCT.
ALITRETINOIN
ATOPIC DERMATITIS
CONTACT DERMATITIS
DERMATOLOGY
ECZEMA
FILAGGRIN
PALMOPLANTAR
PHOTOTHERAPY
RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL
Journal
Health technology assessment (Winchester, England)
ISSN: 2046-4924
Titre abrégé: Health Technol Assess
Pays: England
ID NLM: 9706284
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Oct 2024
Oct 2024
Historique:
medline:
4
10
2024
pubmed:
4
10
2024
entrez:
4
10
2024
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Hand eczema is common and a cause of morbidity and occupational disability. When education, irritant/contact allergen avoidance, moisturisation and topical corticosteroids are insufficient to control chronic hand eczema, ultraviolet therapy or systemic immune-modifying drugs are used. There is no treatment pathway generally accepted by UK dermatologists. Compare alitretinoin and ultraviolet therapy as first-line therapy in terms of disease activity at 12 weeks post planned start of treatment. Prospective, multicentre, open-label, two-arm parallel group, adaptive randomised controlled trial with one planned interim analysis, and an economic evaluation. UK secondary care dermatology outpatient clinics. Patients with severe chronic hand eczema unresponsive to at least 4 weeks of treatment with potent topical corticosteroids. Natural logarithm of the Hand Eczema Severity Index + 1, 12 weeks post planned start of treatment. Participants randomised 1 : 1 by minimisation to alitretinoin or ultraviolet therapy for 12 to 24 weeks. Blinded primary end-point assessor. Intention-to-treat population: 441 (100.0%) participants; 220 (49.9%) alitretinoin and 221 (50.1%) ultraviolet therapy. At least one dose was received by 212 (96.4%) alitretinoin and 196 (88.7%) ultraviolet therapy participants. The unadjusted median (interquartile range) relative change in hand eczema severity index at 12 weeks was 30% (10-70%) of that at baseline for alitretinoin compared with 50% (20-100%) for ultraviolet therapy. There was a statistically significant benefit of alitretinoin compared with ultraviolet therapy at 12 weeks, with an estimated fold change or relative difference (95% confidence interval) = 0.66 (0.52 to 0.82), Fifty-nine per cent allocated to alitretinoin and 61% allocated to ultraviolet therapy achieved a clear/almost clear assessment during the trial period. Differential treatment compliance observed: 145 (65.9%) alitretinoin and 53 (24.0%) ultraviolet therapy participants confirmed compliance (≥ 80% received, no treatment breaks > 7 days during first 12 weeks). High levels of missing data were observed. One hundred and thirty-five reportable adverse events across 79 participants, 55 (25.0%) alitretinoin and 24 (10.9%) ultraviolet therapy. Four serious adverse events (two alitretinoin, two ultraviolet therapy). Four pregnancies reported (three alitretinoin, one ultraviolet therapy). No new safety signals were detected. As a first-line therapy, alitretinoin showed more rapid improvement and superiority to ultraviolet therapy at week 12. This difference was not observed at later time points. Alitretinoin is cost-effective at weeks 12 and 52. Ultraviolet therapy is cost-effective after 10 years, with a high degree of uncertainty. Hand eczema severity index may be a useful primary outcome measure for hand eczema trials; ALPHA results will inform future trials. Treatment compliance was poor for ultraviolet therapy. Regular twice weekly treatment was not received by most patients. Assessment of long-term effects of randomised treatments was complicated by use of second-line treatments post treatment phase. Further analysis of substudies and pilot data will provide valuable information for future studies. A clear need for better therapeutic approaches for severe chronic hand eczema remains. Future studies will need to further address long-term benefits of treatments given. This trial is registered as ISRCTN80206075. This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: 12/186/01) and is published in full in The main question was which treatment was better at easing symptoms of severe hand eczema after 12 weeks. The two treatments compared were ones used most often by UK dermatologists. The first is a tablet called alitretinoin, which is taken once a day. The second is called ultraviolet therapy, where hands are soaked in a special liquid and placed under ultraviolet light twice a week at a hospital. We treated 220 patients with alitretinoin and 221 patients with ultraviolet therapy. Patients received treatment for 12 to 24 weeks depending on how well their hand eczema responded. Patients could have different treatments afterwards, and we collected information on their hand eczema symptoms for up to 1 year. After 12 weeks, severe hand eczema symptoms improved for both groups of patients but improved most for patients who took alitretinoin. However, 1 year after joining the trial, there was no evidence of a difference between alitretinoin and ultraviolet therapy as a first-line treatment. More patients stopped ultraviolet therapy early compared with patients who received alitretinoin. Different treatments may have been prescribed after the first treatment. Alitretinoin provides a convenient, instant relief or a ‘quick fix’ for patients with severe hand eczema. Alitretinoin is more convenient for lots of people, but it is important to have other options available for people who would prefer not to, or are unable to, take alitretinoin. For example, people who take alitretinoin can experience unwanted side effects, and people who are able to become pregnant must also use contraception. Long-term control of severe hand eczema is important. Individual discussions on the pros and cons of each treatment for hand eczema symptoms is needed. Providing flexible options to attend ultraviolet therapy appointments could be helpful (e.g. weekend/evenings).
Sections du résumé
Background
UNASSIGNED
Hand eczema is common and a cause of morbidity and occupational disability. When education, irritant/contact allergen avoidance, moisturisation and topical corticosteroids are insufficient to control chronic hand eczema, ultraviolet therapy or systemic immune-modifying drugs are used. There is no treatment pathway generally accepted by UK dermatologists.
Primary objective
UNASSIGNED
Compare alitretinoin and ultraviolet therapy as first-line therapy in terms of disease activity at 12 weeks post planned start of treatment.
Design
UNASSIGNED
Prospective, multicentre, open-label, two-arm parallel group, adaptive randomised controlled trial with one planned interim analysis, and an economic evaluation.
Setting
UNASSIGNED
UK secondary care dermatology outpatient clinics.
Participants
UNASSIGNED
Patients with severe chronic hand eczema unresponsive to at least 4 weeks of treatment with potent topical corticosteroids.
Primary end point
UNASSIGNED
Natural logarithm of the Hand Eczema Severity Index + 1, 12 weeks post planned start of treatment.
Randomisation
UNASSIGNED
Participants randomised 1 : 1 by minimisation to alitretinoin or ultraviolet therapy for 12 to 24 weeks.
Blinding
UNASSIGNED
Blinded primary end-point assessor.
Results
UNASSIGNED
Intention-to-treat population: 441 (100.0%) participants; 220 (49.9%) alitretinoin and 221 (50.1%) ultraviolet therapy. At least one dose was received by 212 (96.4%) alitretinoin and 196 (88.7%) ultraviolet therapy participants.
Primary outcome
UNASSIGNED
The unadjusted median (interquartile range) relative change in hand eczema severity index at 12 weeks was 30% (10-70%) of that at baseline for alitretinoin compared with 50% (20-100%) for ultraviolet therapy. There was a statistically significant benefit of alitretinoin compared with ultraviolet therapy at 12 weeks, with an estimated fold change or relative difference (95% confidence interval) = 0.66 (0.52 to 0.82),
Primary analysis results were consistent for secondary end points
UNASSIGNED
Fifty-nine per cent allocated to alitretinoin and 61% allocated to ultraviolet therapy achieved a clear/almost clear assessment during the trial period. Differential treatment compliance observed: 145 (65.9%) alitretinoin and 53 (24.0%) ultraviolet therapy participants confirmed compliance (≥ 80% received, no treatment breaks > 7 days during first 12 weeks). High levels of missing data were observed.
Safety
UNASSIGNED
One hundred and thirty-five reportable adverse events across 79 participants, 55 (25.0%) alitretinoin and 24 (10.9%) ultraviolet therapy. Four serious adverse events (two alitretinoin, two ultraviolet therapy). Four pregnancies reported (three alitretinoin, one ultraviolet therapy). No new safety signals were detected.
Conclusion
UNASSIGNED
As a first-line therapy, alitretinoin showed more rapid improvement and superiority to ultraviolet therapy at week 12. This difference was not observed at later time points. Alitretinoin is cost-effective at weeks 12 and 52. Ultraviolet therapy is cost-effective after 10 years, with a high degree of uncertainty. Hand eczema severity index may be a useful primary outcome measure for hand eczema trials; ALPHA results will inform future trials.
Limitations
UNASSIGNED
Treatment compliance was poor for ultraviolet therapy. Regular twice weekly treatment was not received by most patients. Assessment of long-term effects of randomised treatments was complicated by use of second-line treatments post treatment phase.
Further work
UNASSIGNED
Further analysis of substudies and pilot data will provide valuable information for future studies. A clear need for better therapeutic approaches for severe chronic hand eczema remains. Future studies will need to further address long-term benefits of treatments given.
Trial registration
UNASSIGNED
This trial is registered as ISRCTN80206075.
Funding
UNASSIGNED
This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: 12/186/01) and is published in full in
The main question was which treatment was better at easing symptoms of severe hand eczema after 12 weeks. The two treatments compared were ones used most often by UK dermatologists. The first is a tablet called alitretinoin, which is taken once a day. The second is called ultraviolet therapy, where hands are soaked in a special liquid and placed under ultraviolet light twice a week at a hospital. We treated 220 patients with alitretinoin and 221 patients with ultraviolet therapy. Patients received treatment for 12 to 24 weeks depending on how well their hand eczema responded. Patients could have different treatments afterwards, and we collected information on their hand eczema symptoms for up to 1 year. After 12 weeks, severe hand eczema symptoms improved for both groups of patients but improved most for patients who took alitretinoin. However, 1 year after joining the trial, there was no evidence of a difference between alitretinoin and ultraviolet therapy as a first-line treatment. More patients stopped ultraviolet therapy early compared with patients who received alitretinoin. Different treatments may have been prescribed after the first treatment. Alitretinoin provides a convenient, instant relief or a ‘quick fix’ for patients with severe hand eczema. Alitretinoin is more convenient for lots of people, but it is important to have other options available for people who would prefer not to, or are unable to, take alitretinoin. For example, people who take alitretinoin can experience unwanted side effects, and people who are able to become pregnant must also use contraception. Long-term control of severe hand eczema is important. Individual discussions on the pros and cons of each treatment for hand eczema symptoms is needed. Providing flexible options to attend ultraviolet therapy appointments could be helpful (e.g. weekend/evenings).
Autres résumés
Type: plain-language-summary
(eng)
The main question was which treatment was better at easing symptoms of severe hand eczema after 12 weeks. The two treatments compared were ones used most often by UK dermatologists. The first is a tablet called alitretinoin, which is taken once a day. The second is called ultraviolet therapy, where hands are soaked in a special liquid and placed under ultraviolet light twice a week at a hospital. We treated 220 patients with alitretinoin and 221 patients with ultraviolet therapy. Patients received treatment for 12 to 24 weeks depending on how well their hand eczema responded. Patients could have different treatments afterwards, and we collected information on their hand eczema symptoms for up to 1 year. After 12 weeks, severe hand eczema symptoms improved for both groups of patients but improved most for patients who took alitretinoin. However, 1 year after joining the trial, there was no evidence of a difference between alitretinoin and ultraviolet therapy as a first-line treatment. More patients stopped ultraviolet therapy early compared with patients who received alitretinoin. Different treatments may have been prescribed after the first treatment. Alitretinoin provides a convenient, instant relief or a ‘quick fix’ for patients with severe hand eczema. Alitretinoin is more convenient for lots of people, but it is important to have other options available for people who would prefer not to, or are unable to, take alitretinoin. For example, people who take alitretinoin can experience unwanted side effects, and people who are able to become pregnant must also use contraception. Long-term control of severe hand eczema is important. Individual discussions on the pros and cons of each treatment for hand eczema symptoms is needed. Providing flexible options to attend ultraviolet therapy appointments could be helpful (e.g. weekend/evenings).
Substances chimiques
Alitretinoin
1UA8E65KDZ
Tretinoin
5688UTC01R
Types de publication
Journal Article
Randomized Controlled Trial
Multicenter Study
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1-123Références
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