Long term efficacy and safety of etanercept in psoriasis

There are many studies that have shown that etanercept is an effective and safe drug for the short-term treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis. However, psoriasis is a disease with a chronic or recurrent course associated to arthritis and comorbidities that diminish the patient's health and quality of life and that often requires either continuous or intermittent long-term treatment. The data available on the use of etanercept in the long-term treatment of psoriasis, even at high doses, have shown that it has a good efficacy and safety profile. Half of the patients obtained a 75% improvement on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI-75) during prolonged treatments of up to 96 months. The PASI 75 response is higher in continuous regimes than in intermittent ones (with pauses). Most of the patients maintain the response at long-term, although a decrease in efficacy is observed in some of them, as occurs with other tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. Accumulated experience with etanercept in other chronic inflammatory diseases also supports this good safety profile. © 2010 Elsevier España, y AEDV.