Oral tazarotene, a novel receptor-selective retinoid, is effective in the treatment of psoriasis, according to studies presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology [Washington DC, US; February 2004]. Results from two phase III studies showed that treatment with tazarotene produced significant and durable improvements in symptoms and QOL, even in patients with very severe psoriasis. An open-label extension of these studies showed that long-term treatment with oral tazarotene was well tolerated and produced further improvements."A majority of patients achieve clinically meaningful improvement by week 12 of treatment with oral tazarotene; therefore, this may offer a new, once-daily systemic therapy option to people with moderate to severe psoriasis,"said Dr Alice Gottlieb from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, US.