title: Tolerability and safety of biological therapies for psoriasis in daily clinical practice: a study of 103 Italian patients.
abstract: Studies comparing the safety and tolerability of biological therapies for psoriasis in the long-term and in daily clinical practice are lacking. Most published studies are of selected patients with short-term (3-6 months) follow-up. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 103 patients in order to describe the frequency and the clinical features of adverse events, and to evaluate and compare the tolerability and safety of efalizumab, etanercept, infliximab, and adalimumab in clinical practice. A total of 136 courses of biological therapies were administered, with a mean duration of 16 months/patient; 55 patients received efalizumab, 45 etanercept, 33 infliximab, and 3 adalimumab. Infliximab had an incidence rate ratio of suspension due to severe adverse events 5.9 times (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.9-18, p < 0.001) higher than etanercept and 9.8 times (95% CI 3.2-30.1, p < 0.001) higher than efalizumab. Safety profiles for efalizumab and etanercept were more favourable than for infliximab. Concerning tolerability, we found that more patients responded to infliximab, but long-term tolerability was higher for both efalizumab and etanercept due to the better safety profile and a higher compliance to therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexandra M G
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Brunasso
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puntoni
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salvini
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delfino
authors.forename: Pero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Curcic
authors.forename: Andra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulia
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Massone
mesh_terms: D000068879:Adalimumab; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D003879:Dermatologic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068800:Etanercept; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000069285:Infliximab; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D003879:Dermatologic Agents; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D000069285:Infliximab; D000068879:Adalimumab; D000068800:Etanercept; C472181:efalizumab