Switching from a biological therapy to another biologic agent in psoriatic patients: the experience of PsOMarche group.

BACKGROUND: Switching is a "hot" topic and the main reasons for switching prior biologic agent are for a primary failure, a secondary failure or drug intolerance, patient's dissatisfaction, physician decision. The aim of the study was to assess the optimization of the switching from a biologic agent to another. METHODS: Five Dermatological Units have participated to PsOMarche working group have studied thirty-eight patients affected moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis at time 0 (patient recruitment at time of switching from biological therapy to another), 8 weeks (T8), 16 weeks (T16). RESULTS: Twenty-eight males and 10 females were included in the study. At T0, 18 of 22 patients treated with etanercept had been switched to adalimumab and 4 to ustekinumab. Among 10 patients treated with adalimumab, 5 had been switched to ustekinumab, 2 to golimumab and 3 to certolizumab pegol. One patient treated with Infliximab and 5 patients treated with ustekinumab had been switched to adalimumab. Switching had been performed for primary inefficacy in 9 patients (23.6%) and a secondary failure was evidenced in 29 patients (73.4%). PASI75 was achieved in 53% and in 89.4% of patients after 8 weeks and 16 weeks of switching to the second biologic agent respectively; similarly, PsoDISK score significantly decreased at T8 and T16. CONCLUSIONS: The experience of PsOMarche group have shown that the switching to a biologic agent to another is a valuable treatment choice in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis experiencing a treatment failure with one biologic therapy, leading to a good improvement in skin disease and in patient's quality of life.

Lifelong widespread warts associated with human papillomavirus type 70/85: a new diagnostic entity?

We present a patient with HPV 70/85-positive widespread cutaneous warts characterized by clinical and histological features atypical for classic generalized verrucosis or epidermodysplasia verruciformis. The cutaneous HPV infection is characterized by verrucous papules or plaques variable in size, number, and distribution depending on the genotype of HPV involved and the immune status of the patient. Human papillomaviruses comprise five genera (alpha, beta, gamma, mu, and nu papillomavirus) with different life-cycle characteristics, epithelial tropisms, and disease associations. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a rare, lifelong, autosomal recessive skin disease characterized by persistent cutaneous human papillomavirus infection not necessarily associated with immune system defects. The disease results from an unusual genetic susceptibility to infections with various types of HPVs (especially ß-HPV), some of which cause malignant transformation. Conversely, generalized verrucosis has been more typically associated with generalized warts, which are associated with immunocompromised conditions.

The transitioning from conventional therapy to biological treatment in psoriatic patients: STRATOS, a project of Marche Region.

BACKGROUND: STRATOS is the acronym of the "STRuctured Approach to the Treatment of psOriatic patientS". The optimization of the psoriasis's therapeutic management is one of the most important goals for dermatologists. According to Mrowietz's consensus report, the transitioning from conventional therapy to biological therapy is mainly due to the lack/loss of efficacy and/or for safety reasons. The aim of the manuscript was to describe the principal results obtained by the Dermatologic Clinic of Polytechnic University of Marche Region and the Units of Dermatology of the Marche Region applying, in our regional reality, Mrowietz's protocol for the daily management of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque. METHODS: Forty-seven patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis have been monitored during the six-months study period. RESULTS: Psoriatic patients with diabetes showed further concomitant comorbidities compared to non-diabetics, as hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Moreover, based on WHO classification, overweight was diagnosed in female patients, whereas obesity was prevalent in male patients. This aspect confirms the strict link between the multifaceted aspects of psoriatic patient which is primarily related to the persistent low-grade inflammation. In our psoriatic group, 10% of monitored patients were affected by Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis. CONCLUSIONS: The Mrowietz's transitioning protocol is a useful, reliable and feasible tool to manage the therapeutic iter of psoriatic patients in an Italian clinical setting also at regional level.

Kaposi-Juliusberg varicelliform eruption in patients suffering from Darier-White Disease: a case report and review of the literature.

Darier-White Disease (DW), otherwise known as keratosis follicularis, is a rare genodermatosis with autosomal dominant inheritance, characterized by loss of adhesion between epidermal cells and abnormal keratinization. The distinctives lesions of DW Disease include rough papules in seborrheic areas, palmoplantar pits, mucosal involvement, and nail changes. DW Disease can be occasionally associated with bacterial complications, but rarely with viral ones. Kaposi's varicelliform eruption (KVE) is a secondary herpes simplex virus infection that affects patients in the setting of primary dermatologic conditions. KVE, frequently misdiagnosed as impetigo, can be severe, progressing to disseminated infections and potentially life threatening. It occurs with a variety of skin disorders, although association with DW Disease has rarely been reported in the literature. This report describes a case of KVE in a patient suffering from DW Disease, focusing on its clinical course. A review of the literature on KVE including disease associations, pathogenesis, and treatment has been also reported.

The successful off-label use of photodynamic therapy for classic porokeratosis of Mibelli: case report.

Porokeratosis of Mibelli is an uncommon chronic disorder of epidermal keratinization that should be treated because it can undergo malignant change into epithelial tumors on the lesions. At the moment, it represents a therapeutic challenge for dermatologists because of the lack of standardized guidelines about the treatment. Herein, we report a case of classic porokeratosis of Mibelli treated with photodynamic therapy successfully.

Long-term experience with low-dose interferon-alpha and PUVA in the management of early mycosis fungoides.

OBJECTIVES: Combined high-dose Interferon-alpha and psoralen plus ultraviolet A irradiation (PUVA) have been reported to be effective in the treatment of early mycosis fungoides (MF); however, our study is the first controlled prospective study in the literature exploring the activity and tolerability of the combination with low dosages and evaluating further clinical outcome of early-MF patients. METHODS: We carried out a multicentric prospective Phase II clinical study on 89 patients with early-stage IA to IIA MF treated for 14 months with low-dose IFN-alpha2b (6-18 MU/wk) and PUVA. Treatment success was analysed in terms of freedom from treatment failure. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 84% and an overall response rate in 98% of cases: six-month CR was associated with a non-confluent skin infiltrate at histology (P = 0.044) and 14-month CR with high epidermal CD1a+ dendritic-cell density (P = 0.030). The combination protocol was successfully tolerated and the most common reason of 'failure' was related to relapse and not to toxicity. Sustained remissions were achieved in 20% of patients. High CD8+ lymphoid T-cell density was associated with a lower relapse rate (P = 0.002). We think that our combination therapy can be considered an alternative approach compared with other modalities. Good immunological host surveillance in the skin lesions seems to be an optimal basis for the therapeutic success.