Managing Inflammatory Recurrence After Stopping Efalizumab
Author Information
Author(s): Kim A Papp, Darryl Toth, Les Rosoph
Primary Institution: Probity Medical Research
Hypothesis
Can alternative therapies effectively manage inflammatory recurrence in patients who discontinue efalizumab treatment?
Conclusion
Inflammatory recurrence after discontinuation of efalizumab therapy is manageable with several available therapies.
Supporting Evidence
- 70% of patients switching to cyclosporin showed good improvement.
- 45% of patients switching to methotrexate showed good improvement.
- The prevalence of inflammatory disease decreased from 77.8% to 19.2% after treatment.
Takeaway
When people stop taking efalizumab for psoriasis, they might get worse, but doctors have other medicines that can help them feel better again.
Methodology
An open-label, multicentre study evaluated five alternative systemic treatments in 41 patients with inflammatory recurrence after stopping efalizumab.
Potential Biases
Some patients were already on treatment at enrollment, which may affect the results.
Limitations
The study had a small sample size and lacked randomization.
Participant Demographics
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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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