TOPLINE: 

Treatment with a 1726-nm laser resulted in sustained efficacy for moderate-to-severe acne, with more than 90% of treated patients achieving at least a 50% reduction in inflammatory lesions at 52 weeks.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a prospective, open-label, multicenter study involving 104 patients aged 16-60 years (mean age, 22.5 years; 56.7% women; 67% White) with mild-to-severe facial acne vulgaris (99% had moderate-severe acne).
• For 3 months, participants received a monthly treatment with a 1726-nm laser, which provides selective thermolysis of sebaceous glands, at 2- to 5-week intervals. Of patients who completed treatment, 89 attended 12-week follow-up, and 71 attended 52-week follow-up.
• The primary outcome was proportion of patients with at least 50% reduction in the inflammatory lesion count from baseline. Other outcomes included changes in Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) scores (clear/almost clear rates), patient-reported satisfaction and self-confidence, and adverse events (AEs).

TAKEAWAY:

• At 52 weeks, 91.5% of patients achieved 50% or higher reduction in inflammatory lesion counts, up from 79.8% at 12 weeks.
• The proportion of patients rated clear or almost clear increased from 35.9% at 12 weeks to 66.2% at 52 weeks; 20.2% of patients had moderate or severe IGA scores at 12 weeks, dropping to 9.9% at 52-weeks.
• Most patients (99%) experienced mild and self-limiting AEs. No blistering, hyper- or hypopigmentation, scarring, or any unanticipated AEs occurred.
• Patient satisfaction increased over time, from 75.3% at 12 weeks to 83.1% at 52 weeks. At 12 and 52 weeks, 75.3% and 70.4% of patients, respectively, said there would be “very likely” or “likely” to repeat treatment, and about 90.2% reported not feeling or felling self-conscious or embarrassed related to acne at 52 weeks. 

IN PRACTICE:

"One-year follow-up data demonstrate that the 1726-nm laser provides long-term acne relief across skin types, establishing it as a durable treatment option and a first-of-its-kind solution and valuable tool for managing moderate-to-severe acne," the authors wrote. 

SOURCE:

The study was led by David Goldberg, MD, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York, and Stephen Ronan, MD, Blackhawk Plastic Surgery, California, and was published online on October 4 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 

LIMITATIONS: 

Limitations included the open-label design and lack of a control group. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the study relied on photographic assessments, which could have affected accuracy of the analysis.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by Cutera. Goldberg, Ronan, and other authors reported being investigators, consultants, and employees, and owning stock in Cutera and several other companies. Additional disclosures are noted in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.