Background: Treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antagonists is effective in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, including those with impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
Methods: PSUNRISE is a multicenter, open-label, prospective study evaluating the efficacy and safety of switching from etanercept to infliximab in psoriasis patients with an inadequate response to etanercept. Patients received intravenous infusions of infliximab 5 mg/ kg at weeks 0, 2, 6, 14, and 22. HRQoL was assessed using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the EuroQoL (EQ-5D) index and EQ-5D visual analog scale (VAS; 0-100 cm) among patients receiving at least one infliximab infusion. Subgroup analyses (t- test) were performed to compare mean DLQI improvement between patients who achieved and did not achieve clinical response (Physician's Global Assessment [PGA] 0/1 and at least a 75% improvement in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI 75]) at weeks 10 and 26.
Results: A total of 215 patients received at least one infliximab infusion. A DLQI score of 0 or 1 (no negative effect on HRQoL) was achieved by 3.7%, 44.2%, and 41.4% of patients at weeks 0, 10 and 26, respectively. Mean changes in SF-36 Physical Component Summary scores were 1.8 (week 10) and 2.4 (week 26); corresponding changes in Mental Component Summary scores were 4.5 and 5.0. The mean change in EQ-5D index score was 0.08 at week 10 and 0.09 at week 26; respective mean changes in EQ-5D VAS score were 7.73 and 9.49. Mean improvements in DLQI were significantly higher for patients achieving versus those not achieving PGA 0/1 (P=0.0193 [week 10] and P=0.0010 [week 26]) and PASI 75 response (P<0.0001 [week 10]; P=0.0012 [week 26]).
Conclusion: Psoriasis patients with prior inadequate response to etanercept demonstrated sustained improvements in HRQoL after switching to infliximab, and HRQoL improvements were associated with clinical responses.