Benefits of Long-term Management of Psoriasis With Cal/BD Foam Not Dependent on Patients’ Baseline Parameters

Long-term proactive treatment of plaque psoriasis with calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate (Cal/BD) foam prolongs remission and reduces relapses regardless of patient baseline characteristics.

The authors examined whether patient baseline parameters have a significant predictive effect on the time to first relapse (TTFR), number of relapses, and assessed interactions between treatment effect.

Researchers performed a post hoc analysis of the PSO LONG phase 3 trial, which included an initial 4-week open-label phase and a 52-week maintenance. In this trial, patients were randomized to twice-weekly Cal/BD (PM) or vehicle foam (RM), with a 4-week once-daily Cal/BD foam rescue treatment for relapse. Baseline parameters were analyzed and continuous variables were divided into groups based on standard criteria.

The effect of treatment on TTFR did not vary across baseline parameters. The treatment group (PM vs RM hazard ratio, 0.56; P <.001), Physician Global Assessment (PGA), modified Psoriasis Area Severity Index (mPASI), and sex were variables with a statistically significant effect on TTFR. Treatment group, PGA at baseline, and mPASI were variables with a significant effect on the number of relapses.

“Our findings show that all patients benefited from long-term proactive management versus reactive management with Cal/BD foam regardless of baseline characteristics, and the benefit of treatment increased with greater disease severity,” concluded the study authors.

Reference
Lebwohl MG, Papp KA, Mørch MH, Bernasconi MYJ, Warren RB. Long-term proactive treatment of plaque psoriasis with calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate foam prolongs remission and reduces relapses irrespective of patient baseline characteristics. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). Published online August 2, 2021. doi:10.1007/s13555-021-00585-x