Patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis recapture clinical response during re-treatment with etanercept.
BACKGROUND
Patients with psoriasis experience remission and gradual reappearance of erythematous and scaly plaques and require individualized treatment over time. A goal of psoriasis treatment is to provide optimal efficacy with a flexible therapeutic regimen that may include treatment pauses.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether patients receiving initial treatment with etanercept who then pause therapy would subsequently recapture response during re-treatment.


METHODS
A post-hoc analysis of 226 patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis from a large multicentre trial was performed. Patients had received etanercept 50 mg twice weekly subcutaneously until a target clinical response had been achieved, then had paused treatment and eventually relapsed. They were then re-treated with etanercept 25 mg twice weekly. The number of patients recapturing a Physician Global Assessment (PGA) of psoriasis rating of < or = 2 (clear, almost clear or mild) on first re-treatment was assessed. Patient satisfaction during the initial treatment and first re-treatment period was also determined.


RESULTS
A total of 187 (83%) patients recaptured the target clinical response of a PGA of < or = 2 after re-treatment. The majority of patients [219 of 226 (97%)] reported satisfaction with etanercept re-treatment. No new safety concerns emerged during re-treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
In this post-hoc analysis, patients with psoriasis who were re-treated with etanercept 25 mg twice weekly effectively recaptured clinical responses that patients found satisfactory. A flexible treatment option is available to dermatologists and patients for individualized care.
Ortonne
J-P
JP
University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, BP 3079, Nice Cedex 3, France. ortonne@unice.fr
Taïeb
A
A
Ormerod
A D
AD
Robertson
D
D
Foehl
J
J
Pedersen
R
R
Molta
C
C
Freundlich
B
B
D000328:Adult; D000068800:Etanercept; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012008:Recurrence; D019233:Retreatment
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D000068800:Etanercept