A short cycle of narrow-band UVB phototherapy in the early phase of long-term efalizumab can provide a quicker remission of moderate and severe psoriasis: a pilot study.

Type:Uv phototherapy Time:2014-12-23 11:05:05 A short cycle of narrow-band UVB phototherapy in the early phase of long-term efalizumab can provide a quicker remission of moderate and severe psoriasis: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND:

Efalizumab, albeit highly efficient in psoriasis treatment, displays a slower rate of clearance when compared to anti-tumor-necrosis-factor-alpha drugs. It has been suggested that a combination of treatments might accelerate efalizumab response.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether the combination of narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy and efalizumab could improve the therapeutic efficacy of efalizumab alone in moderate to severe psoriasis. methods: Ten patients underwent a treatment cycle with a whole-body NB-UVB phototherapy (3 sessions a week) during the first 4 weeks of a 6-month treatment with efalizumab at 1 mg/kg body weight/week. In addition, one of two similar plaques, selected for each patient, was shielded during phototherapy.

RESULTS:

A statistically significant reduction of the psoriasis severity index score was observed at 4 weeks in the irradiated plaque. A Psoriasis Area and Severity Index 75 was achieved by 70% of patients by week 12 as compared to 22-39% reported in the literature.

CONCLUSION:

This pilot study indicates that the combination with NB-UVB improves the efficacy of efalizumab monotherapy in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis.

Zane C1, Capezzera R, Venturini M, Sala R, Facchinetti E, Pedretti A, Calzavara-Pinton

www.kerneluvb.com----The leader manufacturer of UV Phototherapy.