Alefacept

Excerpt

Available therapies for psoriasis are problematic for several reasons. For example, retinoids are teratogenic, cyclosporine causes renal toxicity, and methotrexate is hepatotoxic. Because of these safety concerns, women should be off retinoids for 3 years before becoming pregnant, cyclosporine is not approved for continuous use beyond 1 year, and methotrexate use requires a liver biopsy at cumulative doses >1.5g. Psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA), the only existing treatment that provides long-lasting efficacy, carries the risk of skin cancer; this risk increases substantially after patients have had >200 PUVA treatments. The dosing regimens of current therapies also are inconvenient. Some require daily dosing (acitretin, cyclosporine) or multiple weekly treatments (phototherapy) to achieve clinical benefit. …