Psoriasis treatment (adalumimab) can cause skin cancer: There is a craze for ‘new’ treatments in psoriasis and over the last decade a class of drugs called biologicals have become extremely popular for the treatment of psoriaisis, each drug costing 8-10K GBP/ year/ patient. So are they any good and more importantly are they safe?

This report below highlights just one of the potential long term side effects of these drugs, skin cancer. Apparently the risk of one developing skin cancer, doubles, while on biologics. Though these drugs can be effective, it is important to note that these drugs are relatively new in the market and the long term side effects of these immune suppressing drugs are yet unknown. It is to be noted that a biologic called Efalizumab, had to be withdrawn from the market in 2009, due to four reports of patients taking this drug that developed the rare life-threatening brain infection, Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML) and other infections.

Multiple eruptive squamous cell carcinoma in a patient with chronic plaque psoriasis on adalimumab

Article first published online: 3 JUL 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-0960.2012.00920.x

© 2012 The Authors Australasian Journal of Dermatology © 2012 The Australasian College of Dermatologists

Early View (Online Version of Record published before inclusion in an issue)