title: Oral tofacitinib for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.
abstract: New treatments for psoriasis have been developed based on increasing knowledge of the underlying pathogenesis of the disease. The development of very safe and highly effective biologics has revolutionized the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Biologics are not perfect, however, as they are delivered parenterally, immunogenic, and costly. Small molecule agents, with molecular weights of less than 1 kDa, are being developed and hold the advantage of being administered orally. Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor that has been developed to disrupt the aberrant JAK-STAT pathway that contributes to the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Phase II and Phase III clinical trial results for tofacitinib are encouraging, demonstrating substantial efficacy and satisfactory safety in the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. An effective oral treatment without the organ toxicities of methotrexate and cyclosporine, tofacitinib is a promising alternative to biologics in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology , Wake Forest School of Medicine , Winston-Salem , NC , USA.|d Department of Dermatology , University of Cincinnati College of Medicine , Cincinnati , OH , USA.
authors.forename: Abraham M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Korman
authors.affiliation: a Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology , Wake Forest School of Medicine , Winston-Salem , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Dane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: d Department of Dermatology , University of Cincinnati College of Medicine , Cincinnati , OH , USA.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alikhan
authors.affiliation: a Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology , Wake Forest School of Medicine , Winston-Salem , NC , USA.|b Department of Pathology , Wake Forest School of Medicine , Winston-Salem , NC , USA.|c Department of Public Health Sciences , Wake Forest School of Medicine , Winston-Salem , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Feldman
keywords: Biologics; JAK-STAT pathway; clinical trials; small molecule agents