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news.Amgen has revealed that treatment with its rheumatoid arthritis drug, Enbrel, had a positive effect on the activities of daily living for patients with psoriasis, according to a patient questionnaire.
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Data from the questionnaire showed that, at three months, nearly 30% of psoriasis patients who were taking Enbrel (etanercept) reported that they were ‘not at all’ bothered by their psoriasis, as indicated by their achieving a zero score on the dermatology life quality index (DLQI) measure.
The DLQI is a patient questionnaire widely used in clinical practice which measures the impact of their disease on patient’s feelings, daily activities, leisure activities, work, school and personal relationships, as well as how they feel about treatment and their symptoms. The best possible DLQI score to achieve is zero, indicating that psoriasis did not interfere with their lives at all.
Many patients treated with Enbrel experienced improvements in their symptoms and how they felt about their disease as early as one week. Additionally, many patients also reported that the condition of their skin no longer affected social or leisure activities, prevented them from working or studying, or restricted intimacy.
“People with moderate-to-severe psoriasis may face a lifetime of physical and emotional challenges that can have a devastating impact on their personal lives, even leading to extreme embarrassment and social isolation,” said Dr Alice Gottlieb of the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.
“We know that Enbrel can be extremely effective in treating the physical symptoms of the disease, and it is impressive to see that Enbrel treatment also helped improve important aspects of patients’ personal lives.”
In addition to DLQI data, statistically significant improvements were seen in many people treated with Enbrel across a variety of measurements, including mean improvement from baseline in the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI), a measure of disease severity and in the patient’s assessment of psoriasis and itching.
These new psoriasis data on Enbrel are consistent with previous studies showing that Enbrel treatment provided significant relief of psoriasis symptoms.
Enbrel is manufactured by Immunex Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amgen, and is marketed by Amgen and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, in North America.