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Updated: Jun 26, 2025

Isolation, Culture, and Characterization of Primary Dermal Fibroblasts from Human Keloid Tissue
Published on: July 28, 2023
Pharmacotherapy for Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars
Teruo Murakami1, Sadayuki Shigeki2
1Laboratory of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hiroshima International University, Higashi-Hiroshima 731-2631, Japan.
Abstract:
Keloids (KD) and hypertrophic scars (HTS), which are quite raised and pigmented and have increased vascularization and cellularity, are formed due to the impaired healing process of cutaneous injuries in some individuals having family history and genetic factors. These scars decrease the quality of life (QOL) of patients greatly, due to the pain, itching, contracture, cosmetic problems, and so on, depending on the location of the scars. Treatment/prevention that will satisfy patients' QOL is still under development. In this article, we review pharmacotherapy for treating KD and HTS, including the prevention of postsurgical recurrence (especially KD). Pharmacotherapy involves monotherapy using a single drug and combination pharmacotherapy using multiple drugs, where drugs are administered orally, topically and/or through intralesional injection. In addition, pharmacotherapy for KD/HTS is sometimes combined with surgical excision and/or with physical therapy such as cryotherapy, laser therapy, radiotherapy including brachytherapy, and silicone gel/sheeting. The results regarding the clinical effectiveness of each mono-pharmacotherapy for KD/HTS are not always consistent but rather scattered among researchers. Multimodal combination pharmacotherapy that targets multiple sites simultaneously is more effective than mono-pharmacotherapy. The literature was searched using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Online search engines.
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