Skin Cancer Risk Found to be Increased After Psoriasis Therapies
SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine(TM), Psoriasis therapies and the risk of cutaneous malignancy
Physicians must weigh the benefit of treatment with the carcinogenic potential. Additional post-marketing surveillance is required to better understand the long-term risk of the newer biologic agents.”
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 5, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin condition that affects approximately 3.2% of United States adults. Many patients have moderate-to-severe body surface area involvement requiring systemic treatment with phototherapy, immunosuppressants, and biologic agents.— Emily Dando, B.A. & Rina Anvekar, M.D.
A new study, published today in SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine(TM), details the risk of developing skin cancer associated with some of these therapies. In this report, Emily Dando, B.A., and Rina Anvekar, M.D., compile the existing data on the potential carcinogenic actions of each of these therapies into a single source.
These researchers found that while psoriasis patients have a slightly increased risk of developing skin cancer to begin with, many systemic psoriasis therapies—including psoralen and ultraviolet A (PUVA), cyclosporine, methotrexate, and TNF-α inhibitors—appear to increase this risk. Other agents, known as retinoids, actually seem to decrease the risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer in this patient population. Newer agents, IL-12/23 and IL-17 inhibitors, do not appear to increase the risk of skin cancer development substantially, but further research into their safety profiles is still underway.
In regards to prescribing these therapies for psoriasis, Dando and Anvekar caution, “Physicians must weigh the benefit of these treatments with their carcinogenic potential. Additional post-marketing surveillance is required to better understand the long-term risks of the newer biologic agents.”
SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine(TM) is a peer-reviewed online medical journal that is the official journal of The National Society for Cutaneous Medicine. The mission of SKIN is to provide an enhanced and accelerated route to disseminate new dermatologic knowledge for all aspects of cutaneous disease.
For more details please visit www.jofskin.org or contact jofskin@gmail.com.
Editors’ Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Link to article
(DOI: 10.25251/10.25251/skin.1.2.1)
Emily Dando, B.A.
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine
412-251-7154
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