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Alitretinoin

chemical compound

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ3611854
Source-derived summary

Alitretinoin, or 9-cis-retinoic acid, is a form of vitamin A. It is also used in medicine as an antineoplastic (anti-cancer) agent developed by Ligand Pharmaceuticals. It is a first generation retinoid. Ligand gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for alitretinoin in February 1999.

Medical uses

Kaposi's sarcoma

In the United States, topical alitretinoin is indicated for the treatment of skin lesions in AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma. Alitretinoin is not indicated when systemic therapy against Kaposi's sarcoma is required. It has received EMA (11 October 2000) and FDA (2 March 1999) approval for this indication.

Chronic hand eczema

Alitretinoin has been granted prescription rights in the UK (08/09/2008) for in chronic hand eczema as used by mouth.

In May 2009 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued preliminary guidance on the use of alitretinoin for the treatment of severe chronic hand eczema in adults. The recommendation stated that only patients with severe chronic hand eczema who are unresponsive to potent topical corticosteroids, oral immunosuppressants or phototherapy should receive the drug. Final NICE guidance was expected in August 2009.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Alitretinoin” as chemical compound. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1999, 2000, 2008, 2009—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Alitretinoin, chemical and compound can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as chemical compound. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3611854. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1999, 2000, 2008 and 2009.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Alitretinoin”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Alitretinoin primary sources, Alitretinoin archive and Alitretinoin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alitretinoin”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Alitretinoin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.