Secukinumab demonstrates greater sustained improvements in daily activities and personal relationships than ustekinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis: 52-week results from the CLEAR study

Background

Psoriasis can greatly impact patients’ lives by influencing clothing worn as well as by impairing sexual functioning. Secukinumab, a human monoclonal antibody selectively neutralizing interleukin‐17A, has demonstrated good efficacy and safety in the treatment of moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis with a rapid onset of action and sustained response.

Objective

This analysis using the CLEAR study, a phase 3b double‐blind study comparing the efficacy and safety of secukinumab vs. ustekinumab in adults with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis, evaluated the treatment effects on patient's daily activities and personal relationships.

Methods

Impact on daily activities (interference with home/shopping/garden, and influence on clothes worn) and impact on personal relationships (problems with partner/others, and sexual difficulties) as well as their corresponding subscales were selected from the Dermatology Life Quality Index scale and evaluated for patients treated with secukinumab vs. ustekinumab from the CLEAR study. Treatment differences in mean scores and proportions of responders (score = 0, indicating no impact) were evaluated through 52 weeks. Time to response was evaluated through Week 16.

Results

Significant differences between secukinumab and ustekinumab were observed for daily activities and personal relationships at Week 16 and sustained through Week 52 (Week 52 response rates for daily activities: 82.9% vs. 73.5%, including interference with home/shopping/garden: 88.5% vs. 78.2%, and influence on clothes worn: 85.6% vs. 74.4%; personal relationships: 86.1% vs. 73.7%, including problems with partner/others: 86.6% vs. 74.8%, and sexual difficulties: 88.5% vs. 74.3%; all P < 0.01). The median time to response was 4 weeks for secukinumab vs. 8 weeks for ustekinumab for daily activities and personal relationships (both P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Secukinumab treatment helps patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis have a more normal life faster when compared to ustekinumab, by providing greater and sustained improvement in clothing choice and sexual functioning.

Should tumour necrosis factor antagonist safety information be applied from patients with rheumatoid arthritis to psoriasis? Rates of serious adverse events in the prospective rheumatoid arthritis BIOBADASER and psoriasis BIOBADADERM cohorts

BACKGROUND

Information on the safety of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists frequently arises from their use in rheumatic diseases, their first approved indications, and is later applied to psoriasis. Whether the risk of biological therapy is similar in psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis has been considered a priority research question.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the safety profile of anti-TNF drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.

METHODS

We compared two prospective safety cohorts of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis that share methods (BIOBADASER and BIOBADADERM).

RESULTS

There were 1248 serious or mortal adverse events in 16 230 person-years of follow-up in the rheumatoid arthritis cohort (3171 patients), and 124 in the 2760 person-years of follow-up of the psoriasis cohort (946 patients). Serious and mortal adverse events were less common in patients with psoriasis than in rheumatoid arthritis (incidence rate ratio of serious adverse events in psoriasis/rheumatoid arthritis: 0·6, 95% confidence interval 0·5-0·7). This risk remained after adjustment for sex, age, treatment, disease, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and simultaneous therapy with methotrexate (hazard ratio 0·54, 95% confidence interval 0·47-0·61), and after excluding patients receiving corticosteroids. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed a higher rate of infections, cardiac disorders, respiratory disorders and infusion-related reactions, whereas patients with psoriasis had more skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders and hepatobiliary disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis clinical practice have almost double the risk of serious adverse events compared with patients with psoriasis, with a different pattern of adverse events. Safety data from rheumatoid arthritis should not be fully extrapolated to psoriasis. These differences are likely to apply to other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Management of Biologic Therapy in Moderate to Severe Psoriasis in Surgical Patients: Data From the Spanish Biobadaderm Registry

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

We now have considerable experience in the use of biologic agents to treat psoriasis, but doubts about management arise in certain clinical settings. Surgery is one of them. Although treatment guidelines advise that biologics be suspended before major surgery, data about actual clinical practices and associated complications are lacking. We aimed to analyze current practice in the clinical management of these cases.

METHODS

Retrospective study of cases in the Biobadaderm database. We analyzed the management of biologic therapy in patients with psoriasis who underwent surgical procedures.

RESULTS

Forty-eight of the 2113 patients registered in Biobadaderm underwent surgery. The largest percentage of procedures (31%) involved skin lesions. Biologic treatment was interrupted in 42% of the cases. No postsurgical complications were significantly related to treatment interruption. Likewise we detected no associations between treatment interruption and other variables, such as sex, age, or duration or severity of psoriasis.

CONCLUSION

Continuity of biologic treatment and the risk of postsurgical complications were not associated in this study, although conclusions are limited by the small sample size.

Survival of classic and biological systemic drugs in psoriasis: results of the BIOBADADERM registry and critical analysis

BACKGROUND

Few reported studies compare drug survival in moderate-to-severe psoriasis vulgaris.

OBJECTIVES

To describe and compare drug survival of systemic drugs, including biologic agents (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab and ustekinumab) and classical drugs (acitretin, ciclosporin and methotrexate) in moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

METHODS

This was a multicenter, prospective, cohort study of patients receiving systemic therapies between 2008 and 2013 in 12 hospitals in Spain. Baseline data and drug discontinuation were collected. Drug survival is presented using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. We compared adjusted risk ratios of serious adverse events (AEs) with results of survival analysis for AEs.

RESULTS

A total of 1956 patients were included for analysis (1240 exposed to biologics during follow-up and 1076 to classic therapies). Median follow-up time was 3.3 years (0.0-5.1 years). There were 2209 discontinuations out of 3640 therapy cycles started. The main reason for discontinuation was lack of efficacy (36.4%) and remission (27.2%). Biologics showed a higher drug survival than classics and the pattern of survival results for all outcomes (positive or negative) were very similar. Adjusted risk ratios of serious AEs did not agree with results of survival analysis.

LIMITATIONS

A limitation is that this is an observational study with potential selection bias.

CONCLUSION

Survival as a proxy measure of drug safety in psoriasis is inadequate.

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and other comorbidities in patients with psoriasis: baseline characteristics of patients in the AQUILES study

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Patients with psoriasis often have comorbidities, including other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), and cardiovascular risk factors. In this article we describe the baseline prevalence of comorbidities-including other IMIDs-in a cohort of patients with psoriasis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

AQUILES was a prospective observational multicenter study of 3 patient cohorts (patients with psoriasis, spondyloarthritis, or inflammatory bowel disease) undertaken to investigate the prevalence of comorbidities, including other IMIDs, in these settings. The psoriasis cohort comprised patients aged at least 18 years who were seen in hospital dermatology clinics. A predefined protocol was used to collect demographic and clinical data.

RESULTS

The study enrolled 528 patients with psoriasis (60.2% men and 39.8% women). Mean age was 46.7 years; 89.8% of the participants had plaque psoriasis, and the median Psoriasis Area Severity Index score (PASI) was 3.2 (1.5-7.4). Comorbid IMIDs were present in 82 (15.5%) of the patients (CI 95%, 12.7%-18.9%). Spondyloarthritis was observed in 14% of patients (95% CI, 11.3%-17.2%), mostly in the form of psoriatic arthritis, for which the overall prevalence was 13.1% (95% CI, 10.5%-16.2%). Inflammatory bowel disease was present in 1.3% (95% CI, 0.6%-2.7%) and uveitis in .2% (95% CI, 0.1%-1.4%). Psoriatic arthritis was associated with male sex (odds ratio, 1.75 [.98-2.98]) and a disease duration of over 8 years (OR, 4.17 [1.84-9.44] vs a duration of < 4 years). In 73.1%, at least 1 cardiovascular risk factor was identified: smoking (40.5%), obesity (26.0%), dyslipidemia (24.8%), hypertension (24.3%), and diabetes mellitus (12.3%).

CONCLUSION

In patients with psoriasis the prevalence of other IMIDs was 15.5%, a level slightly higher than that found in the general population. Nearly three-quarters of these patients had at least 1 cardiovascular risk factor.

Guidelines for the use of acitretin in psoriasis. Psoriasis Group of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

Phototherapy, classic systemic treatments (methotrexate, acitretin, and ciclosporin), and biologic agents (etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab, and ustekinumab) constitute a broad therapeutic arsenal that increases the likelihood of achieving control of severe and extensive disease in patients with psoriasis. Acitretin continues to be a very valuable tool in both monotherapy, in which it is combined with other systemic treatments (classic or biologic), and in sequential therapy. Thanks to its lack of a direct immunosuppressive effect and its ability to achieve a long-term response, acitretin has an important role in the treatment of psoriasis, although this has not always been acknowledged in relevant treatment guidelines. We present consensus guidelines for the use of acitretin in psoriasis drawn up by the Psoriasis Group of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. These guidelines provide a detailed account of acitretin, including pharmacological properties, indications and contraindications, adverse effects, and factors that should be taken into account to enhance the safe use of this drug. They also propose treatment strategies for use in routine clinical practice. The overall aim of these guidelines is to define the criteria for the use and management of acetretin in psoriasis.

Electrosurgery in patients with implantable electronic cardiac devices (pacemakers and defibrillators)

The electrosurgical unit is a very useful tool widely used in dermatology to treat benign and malignant skin lesions and to achieve hemostasis during surgery. However, precautions are required when this technique is used in patients with implantable electronic cardiac devices (IECD), such as pacemakers and defibrillators, because electromagnetic interference produced by the tool may cause such devices to malfunction. Before using electrosurgery in patients with IECDs, it is essential to ascertain the type of implanted device and the patient's level of dependence on it. The location of the skin lesion to be treated with respect to the device should also be assessed. Bipolar pacemakers are more resistant to interference. Appropriate monitoring and the use of bipolar forceps are recommended.

Deep vein thrombosis in a patient with lepromatous leprosy receiving thalidomide to treat leprosy reaction

Thalidomide is the treatment of choice for severe or recurrent erythema nodosum leprosum. Its use has been associated with deep vein thrombosis in patients with blood disorders, however, particularly when used in combination with corticosteroids or chemotherapy. We describe a case of deep vein thrombosis in a 43-year-old man with lepromatous leprosy who was being treated with thalidomide and prednisone for a type 2 leprosy reaction (erythema nodosum leprosum); the patient also had transiently positive antiphospholipid antibody results. We stress the importance of considering deep vein thrombosis, a potentially fatal complication, in dermatology patients treated with thalidomide.

[Misdiagnosed childhood sarcoidosis as non-Langerhans' cell histiocytosis treated with tumor necrosis factors-α antagonists]

Sarcoidosis is a chronic multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown origin. Generalised eruptive histiocytosis is a rare, benign, self-healing, non-Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (non-LCH). We report the case of an 8-year-old girl with sarcoidosis who was misdiagnosed as non-LCH. She was treated with oral corticosteroids, methotrexate and adalimumab, but there was insufficient control of ocular disease. The introduction of infliximab achieved a control of the uveitis and enabled the corticosteroid dose to be tapered. In some cases of sarcoidosis the lack of well-organised granuloma formation at the beginning of the disease, and the presence of prominent giant cells may suggest alternative diagnoses, such as non-LCH. Although the experience of tumour necrosis factor-α antagonists use in children with sarcoidosis is limited, these drugs may be helpful for those patients experiencing a severe and refractory disease.