More than a decade ago, developments in biologics transformed the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis by providing new ways for better skin clearance rates, low toxicity, and improved quality-of-life for patients. Nonetheless, the study led by Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf shows that despite having an ongoing systemic treatment, 18 percent of patients still had extensive psoriasis lesions and/or suffered impairment of their skin-related quality-of-life.

The study was based on PsoReg, which is the Swedish quality register for systemic treatment of psoriasis.2,646 psoriasis patients who had been receiving systemic treatment for at least three months were included in the study, which analyzed their most recent visit registered in PsoReg. Disease severity was measured either by the physicians clinical assessment and/or by the patients own assessment of their skin-related quality of life.

Compared to the larger patient group, the subgroup of patients with suboptimal therapy-response were younger and had higher BMI. They were also more often suffering from psoriasis arthritis and were more often smokers. The subgroup with higher persisting psoriasis severity also reported worse overall quality-of-life, measured with the standard evaluation method EQ-5D questionnaire.

That almost one in five patients had highly active disease activity, despite ongoing systemic treatment, is concerning, says Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf.

Based on the results, the authors make several suggestions:

Link to article in Journal of Dermatological Treatment

Journal of Dermatological Treatment, article: Real-world outcomes in 2,646 psoriasis patients: One in five has PASI 10 and/or DLQI 10 under ongoing systemic therapy. Authors: J.M. Norlin, P.S. Calara, U. Persson, and M. Schmitt-Egenolf. DOI: 10.1080/09546634.2017.1289147.

Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf, Department of Public Health & Clinical Medicine, Ume University Phone: +46 (0)90 785 2875 Email: marcus.schmitt-egenolf@umu.se

Photo by Mattias Pettersson

Editor: Daniel Harju

Link to news: http://www.umu.se/english/news/.cid279166

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Treatment has no sufficient effect in 1 of 5 psoriasis patients - HealthCanal.com (press release) (blog)