From 1975 to 1989, 12 patients with pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and 19 with pemphigus foliaceus (PF) were treated with systemic or topical corticosteroids at the Nara University Hospital. All 12 patients with PV were treated with oral corticosteroids (initial dose of prednisolone: 15-70 mg/day) and 4 of 12 patients showed prolonged clinical remission (up to 9 years) without corticosteroids. Of 19 patients with PF, 16 patients were treated with oral corticosteroids (initial dose of prednisolone: 8-40 mg/day) and 3 patients were treated with only topical application of corticosteroids. In PF, 7 of 16 patients treated with systemic corticosteroids and all 3 patients treated with topical corticosteroids also showed prolonged clinical remission (up to 10 years). These observations suggest that most of the patients with pemphigus respond well to the treatment of relatively small or moderate dosage of corticosteroids.