{"entity":{"id":"alitretinoin","kind":"drug","name":"Alitretinoin","aka":["9-cis-retinoic acid"],"tldr":"Alitretinoin gel is a vitamin A derivative applied directly to Kaposi sarcoma skin lesions in people with AIDS, approved in the United States in 1999 as the first topical treatment for the disease.","summary":"Alitretinoin (9-cis-retinoic acid) activates every known retinoid receptor. As Panretin gel it was approved by the FDA in February 1999 for cutaneous lesions of AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma in patients who do not need systemic therapy, on the basis of two randomised trials in which about a third of lesions responded. Skin irritation at the application site is the main side effect. The oral form is approved in Europe for severe chronic hand eczema, not for cancer.","status":"established","asOf":"2026-09-08","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alitretinoin","links":[{"label":"Drugs@FDA NDA020886","url":"https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&ApplNo=020886"},{"label":"Label (DailyMed)","url":"https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?labeltype=all&query=alitretinoin"},{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alitretinoin"}],"tags":["gap-fill","chembl-universe"],"related":[],"cancers":["kaposi-sarcoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":["cytotoxic-chemotherapy"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"notes":[],"brand":"Panretin","modality":"Topical retinoid gel","mechanism":"A natural retinoid that binds both retinoic acid receptors and retinoid X receptors, switching on genes that slow proliferation and induce differentiation in Kaposi sarcoma cells.","approvals":[{"region":"US","year":1999,"indication":"Cutaneous lesions of AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma (topical gel)"}],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/alitretinoin/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"kaposi-sarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Kaposi sarcoma","route":"/cancers/kaposi-sarcoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cytotoxic-chemotherapy","kind":"technology","name":"Cytotoxic chemotherapy","route":"/technologies/cytotoxic-chemotherapy/"}]}}