A Summary of 2018 and What Lies Ahead for Dermatology and Therapy in 2019

Dear Readers,

The 2018 calendar year has come to an end, and we now can look back and reflect on what has been a successful year for Dermatology and Therapy, as well as look forward to new developments in the field of dermatology in 2019. We would like to start the year by saying thank you to all of our authors, readers, reviewers, Editorial and Advisory board members, and everyone who has contributed to Dermatology and Therapy over the past 12 months.

Thank you to all of our Editorial Board members who are responsible for assisting the in-house editorial process, contributing their own research, suggesting review topics, and generally providing overall support for the journal and its continued development. Thank you also to the members of our Advisory Board who are primarily responsible for providing peer review comments. This support allows us to maintain our rapid publication timelines and publish research in the timely manner it deserves. A complete list of our current Editorial and Advisory Board Members can be found at https://www.springer.com/springer+healthcare/journal/13555?detailsPage=editorialBoard.

The readership of the journal in 2018 was over 500,000, with an average citation rate of 1.86 citations per article. Some of the most highly read articles in the 2018 issues of Dermatology and Therapy are:

• “The Role of Vitamins and Minerals in Hair Loss: A Review”. Hind M. Almohanna, rAzhar A. Ahmed, John P. Tsatalis, Antonella Tosti. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb) (2018). 10.1007/s13555-018-0278-6. (Over 8100 downloads).

• “Adapalene 0.3% Gel Shows Efficacy for the Treatment of Atrophic Acne Scars”. Manisha J. Loss, Sherry Leung, Anna Chien, Nabil Kerrouche, Alexander H. Fischer, Sewon Kang. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb) (2018) 8:245. 10.1007/s13555-018-0231-8. (Over 4900 downloads).

• “Secukinumab Demonstrates Significantly Lower Immunogenicity Potential Compared to Ixekizumab”. Sebastian Spindeldreher, Bernard Maillère, Evelyne Correia, Maxime Tenon, Anette Karle, Philip Jarvis, Frank Kolbinger. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb) (2018) 8:57. 10.1007/s13555-018-0220-y. (Over 4200 downloads).

• “Biosimilar Drugs for Psoriasis: Principles, Present, and Near Future”. Jose-Manuel Carrascosa, Ira Jacobs, Danielle Petersel, Robert Strohal. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb) (2018) 8:173. 10.1007/s13555-018-0230-9. (Over 3500 downloads).

• “Melasma: an Up-to-Date Comprehensive Review”. Oluwatobi A. Ogbechie-Godec, Nada Elbuluk. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). (2017) 7:305. 10.1007/s13555-017-0194-1. (Over 6800 downloads).

We have also begun publishing optional Plain Language Summaries alongside the standard scientific abstract to aid understanding and increase dissemination of research to non-experts, including non-specialists, patients, caregivers, and others.

We are also very happy to have launched our Patient and Physician Topical Collection in the journal this year. Finally, we are delighted that the journal will receive its first Impact Factor in 2019.

Looking ahead to 2019, with ten biologic drugs currently on the market for the treatment of moderate–severe psoriasis and others, such as the interleukin-23 agent risankizumab, in line to be approved in the very near future, the ability of our dermatology colleagues to appropriately treat a significant number of currently untreatable psoriasis patients should be enhanced. As co-chair of the American Academy of Dermatology Psoriasis Guidelines committee, we have six new publications pending in 2019 with “Comorbidities” and “Biologic Agents,” the first two to be published in the first quarter of 2019 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Research in the field of “Comorbidities,” especially cardiovascular comorbidities, in our psoriasis moderate–severe patient population (approximately 25% of the total psoriasis population worldwide) will continue to expand, hopefully with new studies showing that a reduction in cardiovascular psoriasis mortality and a longer life span are possible in this group of psoriasis patients. In addition, with the wide range of psoriasis biologic agents currently available and pending, an important question remains as to which agent is likely to produce the maximum and safe response in an individual patient. In this context, “biomarkers” will enable all dermatologists to choose the agent that is most appropriate for a specific patient. Also, once the condition has been cleared, patients will question the need to continue on therapy at the same dosage and dosing; it is therefore important to know whether specific biomarkers will enable our dermatology colleagues to predict remission and thus temporarily suspend therapy for a specific period of time while still being able to predict relapse? Research in the field will certainly expand in 2019 and beyond.

The growth of new therapies in atopic dermatitis is vast. There are over 100 molecules in development in this field, and for the first time in many decades physicians will have treatment options for patients who are severely affected by their disease. Some of these therapies target cytokines relevant to the immunopathogenesis of the condition, while others target cytokines that are integral to the symptoms, such as itch. In addition, oral small molecules are in development for both eczema and psoriasis, with higher levels of response than ever previously seen with older agents, such methotrexate, being shown in phase 2 data. Over time, other autoimmune conditions, such as vitiligo and alopecia areata, will also be studied, and the hope is that these new raft of agents will prove to be effective treatment for the vast raft of dermatological conditions that are currently undertreated.

To summarize, 2018 has certainly been a productive year, with all much excitement in the field of psoriasis research and therapy.We truly do believe 2019 will be equally productive and of considerable value to our readership.