The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7463 p121
4 August 2007

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

  Acrobat Reader

News summary

Eflornithine not first-line treatment for hirsutism, DTB says

Eflornithine cream should not be used first-line to treat women with facial hirsutism, this month's DTB suggests (2007;45:62).

According to the DTB, although topical eflornithine has been judged by investigators to reduce visible facial hair in around a third of women who were removing facial hair at least twice a week, there are no fully published assessments of women’s satisfaction with the treatment or whether it reduces the need for hair removal.

In clinical trials, women using eflornithine cream experienced similar levels of side effects as those using placebo cream, none of which were considered serious, with similar drop-out rates between the two groups.

However, the authors point out, there is a theoretical, unproven, risk of skin atrophy with long-term use, which trials have not been of sufficient length to detect. The cream must also be used continuously to prevent hair regrowth, they say.

“On current evidence, we believe eflornithine is an option only when local hair-removal methods are inadequate and systemic treatment is unsuitable or also inadequate,” the authors conclude.