INTRODUCTION
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting up to 2% to 4% of the general population worldwide.1 The treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis includes systemic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), such as cyclosporin, methotrexate, and acitretin. Biological drugs are the treatment of choice when there is a contraindication or an incomplete/inadequate response to conventional DMARDs.2,3 Biologics are engineered monoclonal antibodies that block specific cytokines or receptors critical to psoriatic inflammation.4
Guselkumab is the first human IgG1λ monoclonal antibody that inhibits IL-23 selectively,5 and it has been evaluated in 3 phase 3 clinical trials (VOYAGE1, VOYAGE2, and NAVIGATE), showing superior efficacy compared with placebo, adalimumab, and ustekinumab.6-8 Some real-life experiences have also been published, with results in line with those observed in clinical trials.
The study reported here is a monocentric retrospective real-world experience including 102 patients, all followed for at least 16 weeks. Out of this cohort, 95 completed 52 weeks of treatment, while 54 of them reached at least 2 years of follow-up.
Guselkumab is the first human IgG1λ monoclonal antibody that inhibits IL-23 selectively,5 and it has been evaluated in 3 phase 3 clinical trials (VOYAGE1, VOYAGE2, and NAVIGATE), showing superior efficacy compared with placebo, adalimumab, and ustekinumab.6-8 Some real-life experiences have also been published, with results in line with those observed in clinical trials.
The study reported here is a monocentric retrospective real-world experience including 102 patients, all followed for at least 16 weeks. Out of this cohort, 95 completed 52 weeks of treatment, while 54 of them reached at least 2 years of follow-up.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We conducted a non-interventional retrospective single-center study by analyzing our psoriasis database records between 2019 and 2022. One hundred and two patients were included, and all received at least 16 weeks of treatment. Patient eligibility for guselkumab treatment was assessed following the Italian adaptation of EuroGuiDerm guidelines.3 Before starting guselkumab, all patients underwent screening for tuberculosis, HIV, and viral hepatitis.3 Each patient received guselkumab 100 mg at week 0 and week 4, and then every 8 weeks, according to the summary of product characteristics.9