TOPLINE:

In a chart review, Black adults with atopic dermatitis (AD) treated with dupilumab reported fewer adverse events than White patients, although differences were not statistically significant.

METHODOLOGY:

• This retrospective chart review involved 445 adults with past or current dupilumab prescriptions between January 2017 and January 2022, seen at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
• Nearly half (49.21%) of the patients were White, 29.21% were Black or African American, and 17.30% were of other skin-of-color (SOC) groups (including Asian, Hispanic or Latinx, American Indian).
• Outcomes included dupilumab-associated adverse events.

TAKEAWAY:

• Most patients (79%) did not report any dupilumab-associated adverse events.
• Ocular adverse events, associated with dupilumab, were the most frequent adverse events across all racial groups, reported by 60% of Black or African American patients, 67% of White patients, and 75% of those in the “other” SOC category.
• Overall, nearly half of White patients reported dupilumab-associated adverse events compared with one third of Black or African American patients.
• Black or African American patients had a lower, though not statistically significant, risk for dupilumab-associated adverse events (relative risk, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.46-1.34).

IN PRACTICE:

“Our study suggests that patients of Black or African American background with dupilumab-treated AD may experience fewer adverse events than their White counterparts,” the authors wrote. “Considering that diverse racial or ethnic representation is low in many dermatologic clinical trials, it is important to assess real-life outcomes of medication efficacy and safety outcomes in SOC patients.”

SOURCE:

The study was led by Ikenna Anusionwu, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and was published online on September 16 in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The study limitations were a small sample size, narrow eligibility requirements, and single-center design.

DISCLOSURES:

The authors did not disclose any funding source. Three authors reported receiving advisory, speaker, and consulting fees and royalties from various drug companies including Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, Novartis, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanofi, Trevi Therapeutics, Menlo Therapeutics, Galderma, LEO Pharma, AbbVie, Pfizer, and Beiersdorf. 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.