“Game-Changer” Treatment in the Works for This Skin Disease

Treating early-stage Dupuytrens is a possible scenario after researchers affiliated with the English University of Oxford completed a successful phase 2 clinical trial of a drug designed to soften and reduce the size of nodules of hopeful patients.

Dupuytren’s disease is characterized by a gradual thickening of the skin on the palm of the hand and at the base of the fingers, causing contracture of the digits.

“This could be a game-changer for patients who suffer from this disabling condition,” says Professor Chris Buckley, Director of Clinical Research at the Kennedy Institute at Oxford. “Dupuytren’s disease is easy to spot at an early stage, so starting a course of anti-TNF [tumor necrosis factor] injections could bring long-lasting respite and prevent the disease from advancing to the stage that surgery is needed.”

The anti-TNF drug called adalimumab works on myofibroblasts, the cells responsible for causing the hardened tissue in the hands of patients. When injected directly into the nodules, the drug downregulates the size and texture of the nodules. The 140 participants were separated into two groups, and each received 4 injections every three months in the callosities. One group was administered 40 mg of adalimumab in 0.4 mm, and the other, saline solution. Patients were followed up for 18 months after the 12 months clinical trial to assess their condition post-injections.