MILAN – an investigator reported at the World Congress of Dermatology.
Andrew Bowser/MDedge News
Dr. Ziyad Khamaysi
In a small retrospective study, 85% of patients treated with the oral antimalarial agent had marked improvement or full remission, according to Ziyad Khamaysi, MD, a dermatologist at Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel. Adverse effects leading to discontinuation occurred in a minority of patients and included elevated kidney function tests, hyperpigmentation, and an abnormal eye exam, he said.
“It may be a useful and convenient alternative treatment either as a monotherapy or where a rapid symptomatic relief during periods of exacerbations is needed,” he said in an oral presentation at the meeting.
A variety of medications have been used for palliation of oral lichen planus, including corticosteroids, cyclosporine, calcineurin inhibitors, retinoids, and biologics, but few have been evaluated in larger series of patients, he pointed out.
In the retrospective, nonrandomized study, 15 women and 6 men with erosive, recalcitrant oral lichen planus were treated with hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) at a dose of 200 mg/day, which was increased to 400 mg/day at one month. The mean age of the patients was 55 years.
In one patient, treatment was stopped after a month because of side effects, Dr. Khamaysi said. Among the remaining patients, 5 (25%) had a complete remission, while 12 (60%) had moderate to marked improvement, and 3 (15%) had no improvement, he said. In the patients who did respond, improvement was noted within 2-4 months of treatment initiation, he added. “Hydroxychloroquine kept the disease under control, with either full remission or marked improvement as long as the patients took it.”
Treatment appeared to be more effective in male patients and those under age 65 years, the investigator commented.
These data corroborate the findings of a smaller study evaluating hydroxychloroquine for oral lichen planus, published in 1993, according to Dr. Khamaysi. In that report, 9 of 10 patients had an “excellent” response to treatment, according to the investigator (J Am Acad Dermatol. 1993 Apr;28[4]:609-12).
Of the 10 patients in that study, 6 had erosions at the start of treatment, and 3 of these patients had complete healing with 3-6 months of therapy, and the other 3 had reepithelialization and at least a 50% reduction in lesion size, according to the report.
Dr. Khamaysi had no disclosures relevant to his presentation.