Retrospective Review of Diphencyprone in the Treatment of Alopecia Areata

This retrospective review of diphencyprone (DCP) treatment for alopecia areata (AA) over 20 years included 205 treatment courses for 133 patients. Results showed that 72.2% of patients experienced some hair regrowth, with 15.8% achieving over 90% regrowth, while 27.1% had no response. Significant predictors of treatment outcome were the extent of alopecia at baseline and disease duration, whereas atopy, age at onset, and nail dystrophy were not significant. The study highlighted the need for better data collection, particularly for long-term outcomes, and suggested exploring DCP self-administration and assessing maintenance therapy objectively. Limitations included its retrospective nature and lack of long-term follow-up data.