MedWire News: Adalimumab is effective for severe, recalcitrant chronic plaque psoriasis, say researchers, including for those in whom other biological agents have failed.
The therapy also proved effective when combined for a short time with other systemic treatment to prevent flaring of the disease.
Caitriona Ryan and colleagues, from St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, studied the effects of adalimumab in 39 psoriasis patients who had suffered with the skin condition for an average of 21 years and had an average baseline Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score of 18.7.
They note that the patients were “typical of those encountered in ‘real-life’ clinical settings”.
Most of the 39 patients had received other systemic therapy that had failed, including at least one other biological treatment in 23 patients.
Adalimumab treatment was started at a dose of 40 mg per week or fortnight. Fourteen (36%) patients received adalimumab therapy in combination with another systemic agent.
Ryan et al report in the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology that 38% of patients receiving adalimumab alone achieved a 75% improvement in PASI score at week 16. This increased to 62% at week 24, 69% at week 48 and 71% at week 72.
The corresponding rates for patients receiving combined therapy were 56% at week 16, 50% at week 24, 80% at week 48 and 67% at week 72.
The researchers point out: “A PASI of 0 was achieved in over one-third of our patients at some point in treatment.”
They add that only three patients failed to respond to adalimumab and the drug was generally well tolerated with only 38% of patients experiencing side effects, which were generally mild.
“Adalimumab was shown to be highly effective for severe, recalcitrant chronic plaque psoriasis, including where previous biological agents had failed,” the team concludes.
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009
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