Combination of Etanercept and Twice-Weekly Administration of Cyclosporin in Psoriasis Unsatisfactorily Controlled by Etanercept Monotherapy: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Combination of systemic biological and traditional agents is increasingly used for the treatment of “high-need” patients with psoriasis. There are only limited data on the combination of cyclosporine (CsA) with biologicals. We report our experience concerning the use of etanercept in combination with CsA, given at a dose of 3–5mg/kg two days per week, in patients with insufficient response of psoriasisto etanercept monotherapy. The retrospective analysis of 17 patients showed that the addition of CsA for 2–8 months was capable of inducing a relevant clinical benefit in a total of 12 patients. The combination treatment was tolerated by all patients except one who had to stop CsA treatment because of repeated hypertensive crises.