The most prestigious medical journal in the world, The Lancet, has published an article co-authored by a scientist from our university. In it, our researcher of the Faculty of Medicine and an international team of experts describe a novel treatment concept for patients suffering from hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).

This chronic inflammatory disease, which usually affects patients between 18 and 35, is characterised by painful nodules, abscesses, and draining fistulas.

“It affects one in 100 people, so up to 350,000 people in our country may suffer from it. HS causes tremendous psychosocial suffering and leads to millions of dollars in lost work activity,” explains Prof. Jacek Szepietowski, a dermatologist-venereologist working at Wrocław Tech’s Faculty of Medicine who co-authored the paper published in The Lancet, stressing that knowledge about it is still insufficient, both among doctors and in society as a whole.

A novelty solution

An international team that included experts from Charité University of Medicine in Berlin, Northwell University in New York, the Mayo Clinic w Rochester, the Faculty of Medicine in Santiago de Chile, Munster, Ireland, and the Faculty of Medicine of Wrocław University of Science and Technology gathered and evaluated current scientific knowledge of hidradenitis suppurativa. Then, supervised by Prof. Jacek Szepietowski, senior author responsible for coordinating the entire process, the team developed a pioneering model for treating the disease.

The results were published in the prestigious journal The Lancet, whose Impact Factor (IF) is 98.4, in late January 2025.

The authors of the article, entitled ”Hidradenitis suppurativa” stress that the inflammation connected with HS affects many organs. Patients often develop inflammatory diseases of the joints and intestines, mood disorders, depression, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes. All this consequently contributes to an increased risk of cardiovascular disorders.

Notably, it was the first time a paper on this subject specified different phases of the course of the disease.

“The treatment concept we proposed takes into consideration all these phases as well as comorbidities. It is to be carried out in a patient-centric and interdisciplinary manner,” says the researcher from Wrocław Tech’s Faculty of Medicine.

The first modern therapies are based on neutralising specific inflammatory cytokines (cytokines are involved in the initiation of inflammation, its retaining, and even the persistence of pathological pain), and are already available for drug treatment of HS.

In recent years, remarkable results have been obtained with respect to the pathogenetic mechanisms of the disease, which have expanded the possibilities of controlling the disease through biological therapies (one of the most modern drug treatments, which involves administering to the patient preparations designed to reduce the inflammatory response in the body, thereby reducing the severity of symptoms and stopping further progression of the disease).

“This is why early diagnosis and treatment with the most effective therapies to control symptoms, stop the progressive destruction of the skin, and minimise the consequences of comorbidities are key concepts in the treatment of HS,” adds Prof. Jacek Szepietowski.

The paper published in The Lancet is an important step towards holistic care for patients suffering from this disease, which is still little-known in society. “We hope that the paper will help reduce the time needed for proper diagnosis, increase awareness of the systemic nature of the condition as well as the serious health consequences of HS, and provide the necessary resources for further translational research and interdisciplinary patient care,” emphasises Prof. Szepietowski.

Specialists with extensive experience

An employee of the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Jacek Szepietowski, together with another Wrocław Tech researcher, Prof. Łukasz Matusiak, have been researching aspects of the pathogenesis, clinics and treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa for over 20 years,

which is evidenced by the numerous papers on the subject under their belts. Among other achievements, they were the first to demonstrate elevated levels of TNF-alpha and IL-17 in patients with the disease, which had an enormous impact on the development of the cutting-edge treatment methods used today. Our researchers have also documented the efficacy of acitretin in the treatment of HS, particularly the follicular type of the disease.

Both are internationally recognised authorities on hidradenitis suppurativa. For years, they have been involved in the development of European recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of HS and have delivered international continuing education courses on the disease.

Sabat R. Alavi A., Wolk K., Wortsman X., McGrath B., Garg A., Szepietowski J.C. „Hidradenitis suppurativa”. The Lancet. 2025.