Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Mar;15(3):681-695.
doi: 10.1007/s13555-025-01360-y. Epub 2025 Feb 19.

Benefits and Satisfaction with Apremilast Treatment in Patients with Psoriasis Affecting the Genital Area: Secondary Analysis of the APPRECIATE Study

Neuza da Silva Burger  1 , Kathy V Tran  2 , Methodios Typou  3 , Rachel Sommer  4 , David Neasham  3 , Myriam Cordey  2 , Matthias Augustin  4
Affiliations

Benefits and Satisfaction with Apremilast Treatment in Patients with Psoriasis Affecting the Genital Area: Secondary Analysis of the APPRECIATE Study

Neuza da Silva Burger et al. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2025 Mar.

Abstract

Introduction: Plaque-type psoriasis affects the genital area in 7-42% of patients, and can impose significant quality of life (QoL) impairments. In this case, systemic treatment is recommended regardless of the affected body surface area. This real-world study compared treatment effects and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) between patients with and without genital lesions, undergoing apremilast treatment for 6 ± 1 months.

Methods: Secondary analyses were conducted using data from the observational, retrospective, cross-sectional APPRECIATE study. Adult patients with plaque-type psoriasis who initiated apremilast during the previous 6 ± 1 months were consecutively recruited in seven European countries between May 2016 and November 2019. At the time of study inclusion (T1), clinical and PROs were assessed by physician/patient questionnaires. Baseline data were collected retrospectively from medical records.

Results: This study included 482 patients: 108 with genital psoriasis (GenPso+) and 374 without genital lesions (GenPso-). The GenPso+ group had higher disease burden at baseline. For patients receiving ongoing treatment at T1, there was significant improvement in disease severity and marginally significant improvement in QoL impairments, independent of genital involvement. Satisfaction with medication and patient benefits also did not differ between groups.

Conclusion: This study further established the value of apremilast as a systemic treatment for patients with psoriasis, including those with genital involvement.

Trial registration: The APPRECIATE study was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ with the number NCT02740218.

Keywords: Apremilast; Genital psoriasis; Patient Benefit Index; Sex-related needs and benefits; Treatment satisfaction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of Interest: Neuza da Silva Burger has no conflicts of interest to declare. Rachel Sommer received honorary fees for participation in advisory boards from Amgen. Matthias Augustin participated in clinical trials, received honorary fees and financial support for scientific lectures and presentations on national and international congresses from Amgen, as well as from other pharmaceutical companies. Myriam Cordey and Kathy V Tran are employees and stockholders of Amgen Inc. David Neasham is employed by Amgen UK Limited. Methodios Typou was contracted employee of Amgen UK Limited at the time of the study and is currently employee of Protasys Limited. Ethical Approval: The APPRECIATE study was approved by the relevant ethics committees: Ethik Kommission Medizinische Universität Wien, Austria; Freiburger Ethik-Kommission International, Germany; Hospital Research Ethics Committee, University College Hospital, Galway, Ireland; Regionala Etikprövningsnämnden i Stockholm, Sweden; Comité cantonal d’éthique de la recherche sur l’être humain, Switzerland; West Midlands—South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee, UK. The research was conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki of 1964, as revised in 2008.Informed consent was obtained from participants before data collection.

References

    1. Parisi R, Symmons DPM, Griffiths CEM, Ashcroft DM. Global epidemiology of psoriasis: a systematic review of incidence and prevalence. J Invest Dermatol. 2013;133(2):377–85. 10.1038/jid.2012.339. - PubMed
    1. Augustin M, Sommer R, Kirsten N, et al. Topology of psoriasis in routine care: results from high-resolution analysis of 2009 patients. Br J Dermatol. 2019;181(2):358–65. 10.1111/bjd.17403. - PubMed
    1. Merola JF, Li T, Li W-Q, Cho E, Qureshi AA. Prevalence of psoriasis phenotypes among men and women in the USA. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2016;41(5):486–9. 10.1111/ced.12805. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meeuwis KAP, de Hullu JA, Massuger LFAG, van de Kerkhof PCM, van Rossum MM. Genital psoriasis: a systematic literature review on this hidden skin disease. Acta Derm Venereol. 2011;91(1):5–11. 10.2340/00015555-0988. - PubMed
    1. Meeuwis KAP, Potts Bleakman A, van de Kerkhof PCM, et al. Prevalence of genital psoriasis in patients with psoriasis. J Dermatolog Treat. 2018;29(8):754–60. 10.1080/09546634.2018.1453125. - PubMed

Associated data

LinkOut - more resources