Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory disease, which ranges in severity from mild to severe. Although topical therapies are frequently used to treat mild disease, they are not routinely used to treat patients with moderateto-severe disease who have a larger proportion of their body surface area (BSA) affected (C 5% BSA). Based on well-controlled trials in adults with mild-to-severe disease, fixed-dose combination calcipotriol 50 lg/g ? betamethasone dipropionate 0.5 mg/g (Cal/BD) cutaneous foam has been approved (EnstilarÒ, LEO Pharma) in the USA and EU for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris for up to 4 weeks in adults. In this post-hoc subgroup analysis, we used pooled data from phase II/III trials to investigate the efficacy and safety of Cal/BD cutaneous foam in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Methods: Patients included in this analysis had psoriasis affecting 5-15% BSA and a physician's global assessment (PGA) C 3. Endpoints included: treatment success by PGA (rating: clear/almost clear), patient's global assessment (PaGA) at week 4 (rating: clear/very mild) and safety. Results: A total of 340 patients in the three randomized trials met the BSA/PGA inclusion criteria, of whom 254 were treated with Cal/BD foam and 86 with vehicle foam. Treatment success by PGA and PaGA at week 4 was achieved in 143 (58.1%) and 138 (56.1%) patients receiving Cal/BD foam, respectively, versus three (3.6%) and 14 (16.7%) patients receiving vehicle foam. Sixty-six adverse events (AEs) occurred in 47 (18.5%) patients receiving Cal/BD foam and 11 AEs occurred in 11 (12.8%) patients receiving vehicle foam. Three severe AEs and 15 non-serious treatment-related AEs occurred in patients receiving Cal/BD foam. Conclusion: The results from three clinical trials analyzed together show that topical Cal/BD foam is well tolerated and efficacious for treating patients with moderate-to-severe disease. Data support Cal/BD foam as a potential topical therapy for moderate-to-severe psoriasis.
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