Psoriatic Arthritis and Diabetes Mellitus: A Narrative Review.

INTRODUCTION: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory spondyloarthropathy associated with psoriasis. PsA is frequently associated with metabolic disorders including, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes mellitus (DM). Type 2 DM is among the most common metabolic disorders, with a prevalence ranging from 2.4 to 14.8% in the general population. METHODS: We conducted a narrative review of the English-language studies from January 1989 to September 2019 investigating the risk of type 2 DM in patients with PsA, the pathogenic mechanism linking DM to PsA, and the effects on insulin sensitivity exerted by systemic therapies for PsA. RESULTS: The prevalence of type 2 DM in patients with PsA ranges from 6.1 to 20.2%, generally higher when compared to the general population. The higher risk of DM is reported in women with more severe forms of PsA. Elevated serum levels of adipokines, including TNF-α, which inhibits the autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor and suppresses the expression of glucose transporter 4, favor insulin resistance and could partially explain the association between PsA and DM. Moreover, adiponectin and omentin, with insulin-sensitizing and anti-atherogenic properties, are decreased in patients with PsA. Some of the treatments for PsA could affect the glucose homeostasis. Systemic corticosteroids are known to impair insulin resistance, whereas apremilast (phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitor) and TNF-α inhibitors could exert neutral effect or reduce the insulin-resistance. The role of IL-17 or IL-23 inhibitors has been marginally investigated. CONCLUSIONS: Patients affected by PsA have a higher prevalence of type 2 DM compared with the general population. The mechanism linking PsA with DM has not been completely clarified, but some of the principal mediators could be TNF-α and adipokine, especially adiponectin and omentin. Apremilast and TNF-α inhibitor may have a favorable effect and could be safely used in patients with DM.

Long-term Survival of Patients With Invasive Ultra-thin Cutaneous Melanoma: A Single-center Retrospective Analysis.

The incidence of cutaneous melanoma is increasing worldwide, especially for thin melanoma (Breslow ≤1 mm). Thin cutaneous melanoma has a favorable prognosis but there are few data about the prognosis of patients with ultra-thin cutaneous melanoma (Breslow ≤ 0.5 mm). Our aim was to investigate the disease-free survival among patients with invasive cutaneous melanoma with Breslow ≤ 0.5 mm after 10 years from the initial diagnosis.A retrospective review of 240 cutaneous melanoma patients with Breslow ≤ 0.5 mm was performed. Recurrence, death from cutaneous melanoma, and disease-free survival were all identified.In the whole group of patients, we observed only 2 deaths from cutaneous melanoma. Median follow-up was 13, 11 years. Among all 240 patients, 221 were alive and disease free, 2 died of cutaneous melanoma, 11 died of other non-neoplastic diseases, 5 died of other neoplastic diseases different from melanoma, and 1 patient had a local recurrence; therefore the 10-year melanoma survival rate was 99.6%.Our data indicate that death from cutaneous melanoma in the group of patients with Breslow ≤0.5 mm was a very rare event and that diagnosis at this stage dramatically decreases the risk of developing metastatic tumors to a <0.5% also after a 10-year period of follow-up. Limitation of the study includes the fact that other risk factors for melanoma, notably ulceration, and mitotic rate, were not evaluated.