The MARCOPOLO Study of Ustekinumab Utilization and Efficacy in a Real-World Setting: Treatment of Patients with Plaque Psoriasis in Asia-Pacific Countries

BACKGROUND: Ustekinumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of chronic moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults. However, factors including efficacy, tolerability, ease of use, and cost burden may affect ustekinumab utilization. Noncompliance may, in turn, affect treatment response. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate ustekinumab utilization in the real-world setting in Asia-Pacific countries. METHODS: In this phase 4 observational study conducted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan, adults with plaque psoriasis receiving ustekinumab were followed for up to 52 weeks. Study endpoints were the proportion of all patients using ustekinumab according to label-recommended intervals and the proportion of Korean patients who achieved a psoriasis area severity index 75 response at week 16. Safety was assessed by monitoring adverse events. RESULTS: Overall, 169 patients received ustekinumab (Korea, n=102; other countries, n=67). Just over half (56.2%) of patients used ustekinumab with the label-recommended interval from baseline to week 40; the proportion was higher in Korea (73.5%) than in other countries (29.9%), probably because ustekinumab was provided without charge for Korean patients up to week 40. Noncompliance increased after week 40 in Korea and from week 28 in other Asia-Pacific countries, with cost cited as the most common reason. At week 16, 56.9% of Korean patients achieved a Psoriasis Area Severity Index 75 response. Safety results were in line with those seen in previous studies. CONCLUSION: More than half of all patients in Asia-Pacific countries used ustekinumab as per the label-recommended dose interval, but reimbursement variations between countries may have confounded overall results.

The MARCOPOLO Study of Ustekinumab Utilization and Efficacy in a Real-World Setting: Treatment of Patients with Plaque Psoriasis in Asia-Pacific Countries

BACKGROUND: Ustekinumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of chronic moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults. However, factors including efficacy, tolerability, ease of use, and cost burden may affect ustekinumab utilization. Noncompliance may, in turn, affect treatment response. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate ustekinumab utilization in the real-world setting in Asia-Pacific countries. METHODS: In this phase 4 observational study conducted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan, adults with plaque psoriasis receiving ustekinumab were followed for up to 52 weeks. Study endpoints were the proportion of all patients using ustekinumab according to label-recommended intervals and the proportion of Korean patients who achieved a psoriasis area severity index 75 response at week 16. Safety was assessed by monitoring adverse events. RESULTS: Overall, 169 patients received ustekinumab (Korea, n=102; other countries, n=67). Just over half (56.2%) of patients used ustekinumab with the label-recommended interval from baseline to week 40; the proportion was higher in Korea (73.5%) than in other countries (29.9%), probably because ustekinumab was provided without charge for Korean patients up to week 40. Noncompliance increased after week 40 in Korea and from week 28 in other Asia-Pacific countries, with cost cited as the most common reason. At week 16, 56.9% of Korean patients achieved a Psoriasis Area Severity Index 75 response. Safety results were in line with those seen in previous studies. CONCLUSION: More than half of all patients in Asia-Pacific countries used ustekinumab as per the label-recommended dose interval, but reimbursement variations between countries may have confounded overall results.

Narrowband UVB-induced lichen planus pemphigoids

Introduction: Lichen planus pemphigoides (LPP) is a rare acquired autoimmune disease characterised by the evolution of subepidermal blisters on normal and lichen planus affected skin. Case summary: We describe a case of lichen planus pemphigoides in a 54-year-old Chinese woman. The patient presented initially with scaly psoriasiform plaques and was diagnosed to have guttate psoriasis. She was treated with narrowband ultraviolet (NBUVB) therapy twice weekly. Within a month of starting phototherapy, she experienced a flare up of her skin lesions with a generalised eruption of violaceous papules, tense bullae over the lower limbs as well as Wickham’s striae over the buccal mucosa. Histology of the violaceous papule over abdomen revealed interface dermatitis, while the specimen from a blister showed subepidermal bulla with linear deposition of IgG and C3 along the basement membrane zone. A diagnosis of LPP was made on clinicopathological grounds. The patient subsequently responded well to oral prednisolone at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg/day. Conclusion: This is the first case report of NBUVB alone unmasking LPP. In the presentation, we will describe the pathological mechanism of NBUVB in the development of LPP and the key features distinguishing LPP from bullous lichen planus (BLP), psoriasis and bullous pemphigoid (BP).