Topical Cycling and Systemic Eligibility in Patients With Psoriasis in Japan

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Real-world evidence
• Psoriasis treatment

Background:

• Topical therapy is the standard first-line treatment for psoriasis.
• Systemic therapy is recommended for severe cases or treatment failure.
• A Japanese Delphi Consensus defined topical therapy failure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe topical therapy patterns in Japanese psoriasis patients.
• To evaluate systemic therapy eligibility using Delphi criteria.
• To identify potential undertreatment in Japanese adults with psoriasis.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of DeSC insurance claims data (2017-2024) for topical treatment patterns.
• Application of Japan Delphi Study recommendations to UPLIFT survey data (Japanese subgroup).
• Evaluation of systemic therapy initiation and eligibility criteria.

Main Results:

• 9.5% of 6361 psoriasis patients initiated systemic therapy, with a mean delay of 712.5 days.
• Most patients used combination topical therapies, with a mean of 3.8 unique classes before systemic treatment.
• 92.7% of 137 Japanese patients met at least one Delphi criterion for systemic treatment eligibility.

Conclusions:

• Many Japanese adults with psoriasis eligible for systemic therapy may be undertreated.
• Clinical application of systemic treatment eligibility criteria is needed.
• Improved patient outcomes may result from timely systemic therapy initiation.