Halobetasol, Tazarotene Combination Therapy Demonstrate Lasting Efficacy for Plaque Psoriasis

The following article is part of conference coverage from the 2018 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dermatology Advisor’s staff will be reporting breaking news associated with research conducted by leading experts in dermatology. Check back for the latest news from Fall Clinical Derm 2018.

Individuals with psoriasis who used halobetasol and tazarotene (HP/TAZ) lotion showed fast and lasting improvement when the treatment was used for 1 year. This research was presented at the 2018 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, held October 18-21, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The open-label, multicenter study included 555 individuals with plaque psoriasis ranging from moderate to acute with a mean age of 51.9 years.

Participants in this study were given HP/TAZ lotion treatment once daily for 8 weeks, after which the lotion was administered when needed. The study researchers defined treatment success as a 0 or 1 score on Investigator Global Assessment, indicating psoriasis that had completely or mostly cleared. If success had not been achieved at 8 weeks, daily treatment was administered for 4 additional weeks. At week 12, all participants were assessed, and any who achieved at least 1-grade improvement received further management in 4-week rounds. Those who had not achieved success were given daily treatments, while treatment was paused for those who had achieved success until the subsequent assessment. No participants were administered treatment for more than 6 continuous months.

Among patients who were treated with HP/TAZ lotion, 57.3% (n=318) experienced treatment success in the course of the study. The majority of success came within the initial 8 weeks (n=173), and some achieved success within 4 weeks (37.4%) and 2 weeks (12.6%). Only 6.6% of individuals who achieved success and then discontinued treatment had sustained success, while 28.3% required retreatment after ≥2 months and 55.3% required retreatment after ≥1 month. Earlier studies showed similar results, in which 55% of those for whom HP/TAZ lotion was successful had sustained success for at least 4 weeks.

The study researchers concluded that “HP/TAZ lotion provides rapid and sustained treatment success in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis when followed for 1 year.”

Disclosures: T. Lin is an employee of Ortho Dermatologics, and R. Pillai is an employee of Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences Inc. The study was supported by Ortho Dermatologics.

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Reference

Yamauchi PS, Weiss JS, Lin T, Pillai R. Long-term management of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis: maintenance of treatment success following cessation of fixed combination halobetasol propionate 0.01% and tazarotene 0.045% (HP/TAZ) lotion. Presented at: 2018 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference. October 18-21, 2018; Las Vegas, NV.