Etanercept as prophylactic psoriatic therapy before interferon-alpha and ribavirin treatment for active hepatitis C infection.

Patients with psoriasis and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are a therapeutic challenge. Systemic psoriasis treatment with methotrexate and acitretin can be hepatotoxic, and interferon (IFN)-alpha for treatment of HCV can worsen psoriasis. Etanercept can be successfully used in patients with psoriasis and HCV. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of etanercept used prophylactically to prevent a psoriatic flare in a patient with HCV treated with IFN-alpha and ribavirin.