Treating atopic dermatitis with the topical calcineurin inhibitors (TCIs) tacrolimus and pimecrolimus does not appear to increase the risk of keratinocyte carcinoma, according to an industry-funded study.

In the US, TCIs carry a black-box warning about the potential for increased skin cancer risk, Dr Maryam Asgari of Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, and colleagues note in JAMA Dermatology.

The researchers examined health-plan data from 2002-13 and identified more than 93,000 patients aged 40 years or more (mean age 59, 58% female) with a physician diagnosis of atopic dermatitis or dermatitis, following patients to 2017.

Prescriptions for the TCIs tacrolimus and pimecrolimus as well as those for topical corticosteroids were used to calculate exposure.