Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Oct;14(10):2727-2738.
doi: 10.1007/s13555-024-01275-0. Epub 2024 Sep 21.

What's New After NICE Acne Guidelines

Alison M Layton  1 , Girish Gupta  2 , Daron Seukeran  3 , Thivi Maruthappu  4 , Stephanie Gaillard  5 , Heather Whitehouse  6 , Faisal R Ali  7 , Angelika Razzaque  8 , Firas Al-Niaimi  9   10 , Sarah Copperwheat  11
Affiliations
Review

What's New After NICE Acne Guidelines

Alison M Layton et al. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2024 Oct.

Abstract

Introduction: Acne remains one of the most common inflammatory dermatoses seen worldwide. There are significant challenges when managing acne relating to a variety of factors, including (1) lack of consensus on the use of the numerous available grading systems and outcome measures, (2) appreciation of the numerous areas that relate to severity, (3) the chronic nature of acne which requires a longitudinal approach to management (including both facial and truncal disease), and (4) the need to target acne early to avoid physical and psychosocial scarring. Consideration of these aspects when managing acne should result in improved outcomes. Acne guidelines review the available evidence based on robust clinical trials and are usually supplemented with some expert opinion when evidence is not available.

Methods: In this paper, the UK Acne Working Group reflects on the latest National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) acne guidelines with a goal of providing additional practical insights.

Conclusion: The group have identified areas where new evidence has now become available since the formulation of the NICE acne guidelines. This publication considers newly approved acne medications in the UK, guidance on assessing acne severity, approaches to managing truncal acne, acne sequelae, and adult female acne with hormonal therapies.

Keywords: Acne vulgaris; Antibiotics; Assessment; Management; Truncal acne.

Plain language summary

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produced acne guidelines in June 2021 for clinicians and patients. New evidence and information on practical aspects of acne management have emerged since this time. A panel of clinicians with expertise in acne discuss herein some areas of interest that may support acne management, some of which could be considered in a second iteration of NICE acne guidelines. These areas include how to assess acne, the medical approach to truncal acne, how clinicians may manage the long-lasting acne sequelae of scarring and darkly pigmented spots, and the use of medical hormonal therapies for women (such as birth control pills) to manage acne that may have a causative contribution of hormone imbalances.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Professor Alison Layton has acted as consultant advisor or received honoraria to deliver unrestricted educational events for Almirall, Alliance, Beiersdorf, Galderma, La Roche-Posay, LEO Pharma, L’Oréal, and Novartis over the last 3 years. Dr Girish Gupta has received honoraria for advisory board of Almirall and Galderma as well as lecture fees from Almirall, La Roche-Posay and Viatris. Professor Firas Al-Niami has received honoraria for advisory board of Galderma. Dr Sarah Copperwheat has received honoraria from Galderma, Leo, Derma UK and Incyte. Dr Heather Whitehouse has received honoraria for advisory board from Galderma. Dr Stephanie Gallard has received honoraria to deliver educational events and attend advisory boards as well as sponsorship for conference attendance from various companies. Dr Thivi Marruthapu has received honoraria for consulting for Galderma, Johnson and Johnson, Abbvie, Pfizer, Loreal, Procter and Gamble and Novartis. Dr Angelika Razzaque received sponsorship from Almirall, BMS, DermaUK, Galderma, LRP and UCB. Dr Faisal R Ali has received fees/honoraria for speaking and advisory work with Galderma and L’Oreal. Dr Daron Seukeran has received honoraria for advisory board from Galderma.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Patient with truncal acne before and after 12 weeks of treatment with trifarotene
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Acne scarring is more likely if treatment is delayed. From Schleicher with open access creative commons license permission [34]. Randomized, split-face, 24-week trial of trifarotene or vehicle applied once daily in patients with moderate-to-severe acne and acne scarring
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Acne vulgaris: management. 2021. - PubMed
    1. Gollnick HP, Finlay AY, Shear N, Global Alliance to Improve Outcomes in Acne. Can we define acne as a chronic disease? If so, how and when? Am J Clin Dermatol. 2008;9:279–84. - PubMed
    1. Centers for disease control and prevention. National center for health statistics. Classifications of diseases and functioning and disability. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/otheract/icd9/icfhome.htm. Accessed 30 July 2024.
    1. Akinboro AO, Ezejiofor OI, Olanrewaju FO, et al. The impact of acne and facial post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation on quality of life and self-esteem of newly admitted Nigerian undergraduates. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2018;11:245–52. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Eichenfield DZ, Sprague J, Eichenfield LF. Management of acne vulgaris: a review. JAMA. 2021;326:2055–67. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources