JAK Inhibitors: A New Weapon in the Skin Care Providers' Arsenal

A number of chronic skin diseases, such as vitiligo and alopecia areata, are historically resistant to or respond poorly to treatment. Additionally, disorders such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis have subtypes that are inadequately treated by current medications. Lastly, in the field of dermatology there are a number of conditions, some genetic (such as Darier's disease and Hailey-Hailey disease) and others caused by aberrant inflammatory responses (macrophage-driven conditions such as sarcoidosis and autoimmune conditions such as localized scleroderma) where effective treatments have been limited to date. A new class of anti-inflammatory medications that inhibit the Janus Kinase-Signal transducer and activator of transcription pathway (JAK-STAT) show great promise in providing new and effective treatment of these formerly recalcitrant conditions. This brief review will cover inhibitors of the JAK-STAT pathway (JAK inhibitors) currently approved for use in treating dermatologic diseases including several very recently approved medications. It will also touch on additional conditions under study or where early reports of efficacy are promising.