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Oral Agents for Psoriasis

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Evidence-Based Psoriasis

Part of the book series: Updates in Clinical Dermatology ((UCD))

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Abstract

A variety of oral agents are part of the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Types of oral agents that are used to treat psoriasis include cytotoxic and immunomodulatory drugs such as methotrexate, cyclosporine, and apremilast. Another oral agent, acitretin, is a systemic retinoid that affects epidermal proliferation and differentiation as well as immunomodulation. Oral agents for psoriasis are effective as monotherapy and may also be used in combination with other treatment modalities. Important factors to consider when selecting an oral agent include effectiveness, comorbid conditions, drug side effects, lifestyle considerations, risk factors, drug availability, patient preference, and financial cost of treatment. MTX, cyclosporine, and acitretin have long been used in the treatment of psoriasis for decades and require careful monitoring due to their generally unfavorable side effect profiles, whereas, apremilast, a much newer oral therapy, has far fewer adverse effects. This chapter will review the evidence for use of each of these oral agents in the treatment of psoriasis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Kristen M. Beck, Ladi Afifian & Di Yan

  2. Department of Dermatology, UCSF Psoriasis Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Eric J. Yang & Tina Bhutani

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  1. Kristen M. Beck
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  2. Eric J. Yang
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Correspondence to Tina Bhutani .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology UCSF Psoriasis Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

    Tina Bhutani

  2. Department of Dermatology UCSF Psoriasis Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

    Wilson Liao

  3. Department of Dermatology Psoriasis and Skin Treatment Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

    Mio Nakamura

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Beck, K.M., Yang, E.J., Afifian, L., Yan, D., Bhutani, T. (2018). Oral Agents for Psoriasis. In: Bhutani, T., Liao, W., Nakamura, M. (eds) Evidence-Based Psoriasis. Updates in Clinical Dermatology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90107-7_4

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