Dual biologic therapy for recalcitrant psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis

Abstract

Numerous biologic medications are available to treat psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis; however, many patients experience differential responses of their skin and joints to the same agent. In patients who do not respond to biologic monotherapy or combination of a biologic with an oral systemic agent, dual biologic therapy is a possible treatment option. Dual biologic therapy is rarely reported in the psoriatic literature (Table I).1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 We present a patient with severe psoriatic skin and joint disease who has been treated with multiple combinations of dual biologic therapy, including ustekinumab plus etanercept for 12 months, secukinumab plus etanercept for 6 months, and guselkumab plus etanercept for 15 months. Throughout the patient's treatment, adverse events only occurred with the ustekinumab plus etanercept combination and consisted of an increased incidence of urinary tract and upper respiratory infections, including a hospitalization for H2N1 flu. Table I Reported cases of dual biologic therapy for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis