Treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis in adults: An expert consensus statement using a Delphi method to produce a decision-making algorithm

Abstract

Background: New highly effective drugs for moderate-to-severe cutaneous psoriasis are regularly marketed, and the hierarchy of treatments thus requires frequent review.

Objectives: A Delphi method was used to enable a structured expert consensus on the use of systemic treatments and phototherapy among adults with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Methods: The Delphi method consists in achieving a convergence of opinions among a panel of experts using several rounds of questionnaires with controlled feedback between rounds. A two-part Delphi questionnaire was administered online to French psoriasis experts. In the first part, 180 items related to the prescription of systemic treatments and phototherapy for adult patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis were grouped into 21 sections covering different lines of treatment and different forms of cutaneous psoriasis. The experts voted on each proposal using an ordinal 7-point Likert scale. The second part comprised 11 open-ended questions about special indications for each therapeutic class. These were converted into 101 questions for subsequent rounds. Consensus was deemed to have been reached if more than 80% of the experts agreed with a given proposal.

Results: Three rounds of questionnaires were sequentially sent to 35 participants between November 2021 and March 2022. Thirty-three (94%) completed all three rounds. For plaque psoriasis, only methotrexate was recommended by the experts as first-line systemic treatment (89% of votes). Cyclosporin was advocated in pustular and erythrodermic psoriasis, and acitretin was suggested for hyperkeratotic and palmoplantar psoriasis. In the event of failure of or intolerance to non-biological systemic treatments, guselkumab, risankizumab, ixekizumab or secukinumab were recommended by more than 80% of the experts. Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) inhibitors remain useful for patients with cardiovascular risk factors. Special indications were provided for each therapeutic class (methotrexate/narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy, psoralen/ultraviolet A phototherapy, cyclosporin, acitretin, apremilast, TNF inhibitors, interleukin (IL)-12/23 inhibitors, IL-17(R)A inhibitors, and IL-23 inhibitors).

Conclusions: This expert consensus statement indicate that newly available IL-17 and IL-23 inhibitors may be favored over TNF and IL-12/23 inhibitors as first-line biologics. The Centre of Evidence of the French Society of Dermatology has drawn up a decision-making algorithm to guide clinicians in the therapeutic management of moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Keywords: Biologic; Delphi; Guideline; Psoriasis.