Real-life use of apremilast for the treatment of psoriasis in patients with oncological comorbidities: a retrospective descriptive multicentre study in France.

BACKGROUND: Systemic treatment options for psoriasis are limited for patients with recent neoplasia. OBJECTIVES: We report the real-life use of apremilast (APR) in patients with psoriasis and recent cancer. MATERIALS & METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, multicentre study in five hospitals and among 120 private dermatologists in the north of France from January 2015 to May 2021. We included patients treated with APR for psoriasis and suffering from an active cancer or who had been diagnosed with a cancer or treated for a cancer within the last five years. RESULTS: We included 23 patients diagnosed with a cancer, on average 2.6 years before the introduction of APR for psoriasis. In most patients, APR was specifically chosen due to oncological history. At 16±8 weeks, 55% (n=11/20) of patients had achieved PASI 50 score, 30% (n=6/20) PASI 75, 5% (n=3/20) PASI 90 and 37.5% (n=3/8) of them had a significant improvement in quality of life. Non-serious adverse events were observed in 65.2% (n=15/23) of patients (diarrhoea in 39%), resulting in discontinuation of treatment for 27.8%. The average duration of treatment was 303.8±252.4 days. For four patients, a recurrence or a progression of cancer was recorded during APR treatment. CONCLUSION: In our patients with both psoriasis and cancer, APR improved quality of life, with a good safety profile. A larger study, matched for type, stage and treatment of underlying cancer, would be necessary to draw further conclusions about the oncological safety of APR.

Atopic dermatitis in elderly adults.

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) in adults over 45 years of age (AD≥45) has been poorly studied. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the AD phenotype varies according to the pattern of AD onset in AD≥45 patients and whether response to cyclosporine A (CsA) is influenced by age. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This monocentric retrospective study was performed in a French university department of dermatology. We included 409 AD<45 patients (111 treated with CsA) and 124 AD≥45 patients (26 treated with CsA). Among AD≥45 patients, 20% were categorised into Subgroup 1 (persistence of AD since childhood), 52% into Subgroup 2 (recurrence of AD with a history of classic childhood AD), and 28% into Subgroup 3 (adult-onset AD). RESULTS: Gender, associated atopic comorbidities, a family history of atopy, and AD severity were similar regarding the different patterns of AD onset in AD≥45 patients. Skin lesions predominated on the face and neck in AD≥45 patients with AD since childhood (30% in Subgroups 1 and 2) compared to those with adult-onset AD (14% in Subgroup 3). The efficacy of CsA was similar between groups AD≥45 and AD<45, but 28% of AD≥45 patients versus 20% of AD<45 patients had increased serum creatinine levels under CsA. CONCLUSION: No significant association seems to exist between the onset of AD and demographic or clinical characteristics in AD≥45 patients (except that head and neck involvement is rarer in adult-onset AD). Patient age does not influence response to CsA, but this drug appears to be less well tolerated in older patients.