American Academy of Dermatology 2026 Annual Meeting: Updates in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Medical Management

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), characterized by heterogeneity in clinical presentation, disease progression, and treatment response, remains one of the most challenging inflammatory dermatologic diseases to treat. At the 2026 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting, HS had a noticeably expanded presence compared with prior years, with numerous dedicated HS-focused sessions as well as integrated discussions within broader medical dermatology and general educational programming. Collectively, these sessions highlighted the rapidly evolving landscape of HS management, including the redefining of moderate disease severity, use of dual targeted therapy (DTT) for severe recalcitrant patients, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), metabolic treatment strategies, and emerging pipeline therapeutics. This commentary summarizes select clinically relevant HS updates presented at the meeting, highlights notable late-breaking abstracts, and discusses their potential implications for the management of HS. Sessions were selected for inclusion in this commentary on the basis of their focus on medical rather than surgical management of HS, clinical relevance, and representation of meaningful advances beyond already well-established treatment approaches, while abstracts were selected on the basis of their late-breaking designation at the meeting.