Effectiveness of dutasteride in a large series of patients with frontal fibrosing alopecia in real clinical practice

Abstract

Dutasteride has been proposed as an effective therapy for frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA). We sought to describe the therapeutic response to dutasteride and the most effective dosage in FFA compared with other therapeutic options or no treatment. This was a retrospective observational study including patients with FFA with a minimum follow-up of 12months. Therapeutic response was evaluated according to the stabilization of the hairline recession. A total of 224 patients (222 females) with a median follow-up of 24months (range 12-108months) were included. The stabilization rate for the frontal, right, and left temporal regions after 12months was 62%, 64%, and 62% in the dutasteride group (n=148), 60%, 35%, and 35% with other systemic therapies (n=20), and 30%, 41%, and 38% without systemic treatment (n=56; P=.000, .006, and .006, respectively). Stabilization showed a statistically significant association with an increasing dose of dutasteride (88%, 91%, and 84% with a weekly treatment of 5 or 7 doses of 0.5mg [n=32], P<.005). Dutasteride was well tolerated in all patients. Limitations included the observational and retrospective design. Oral dutasteride was the most effective therapy with a dose-dependent response for FFA in real clinical practice compared with other systemic therapies or no systemic treatment.