Treatment outcomes and response pattern of ustekinumab in Korean patients with psoriasis: A retrospective single-center study

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease affecting 2-3% of the worldwide population. Ustekinumab, an IL-12/23p40 inhibitor, is a biologic reported to be effective and safe in treating psoriasis. However, there are limited data on the treatment outcomes of ustekinumab in patients with psoriasis in Korea. Objectives: To evaluate the treatment outcomes and response pattern of ustekinumab in patients with psoriasis in Korea. Methods: This was a retrospective single-center study. Eighty-four patients with psoriasis treated with ustekinumab were analyzed. Each patient's medical records, psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score, and body surface area were reviewed at baseline and up to week 52. Results: A total of 84 patients were included (male:female= 1.8:1). The mean age was 44.5 years. At week 16, 86.7% achieved PASI75, 59.0% achieved PASI90, and 20.5% achieved PASI100. By week 16, 84.8% of subjects had attained PASI75 for the head region, whereas 79.0% had attained it for the lower extremities, indicating a relatively slower treatment response of psoriatic lesions on the lower extremities. Four patients discontinued treatment due to lack of effect. No severe adverse events occurred during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Ustekinumab demonstrated highly effective and safe treatment profiles in Korean psoriatic patients, consistent with the previous reports from mainly Western countries. Psoriasis severity and treatment responsiveness may vary with body region. (Korean J Dermatol 2019;57(8):441~447).