Biomarkers Needed
In addition to results from head-to-head clinical trials evaluating treatments, Dr. Mease notes reliable, valid biomarkers to help clinicians evaluate patients with psoriasis are desperately needed. For example, it would be extremely helpful if biomarkers could be developed and applied to patients with psoriasis to predict who will develop psoriatic arthritis, or to differentiate patients with concomitant psoriasis and osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia from patients with psoriatic arthritis. It would also be useful if, when psoriatic arthritis is present, novel biomarkers could be used to gauge disease activity or predict response to specific treatments.
In patients with psoriasis, clinicians must seek to identify those with psoriatic arthritis early in the course of disease while avoiding misdiagnosis of patients with skin and musculoskeletal conditions that don’t fit the psoriatic arthritis diagnosis. Hopefully, the ability to identify patients with psoriatic arthritis and to help these individuals consistently select the best treatments for their disease domains will become a reality. At that time, treatment choices will be more than superficial. They will, instead, be clear, targeted and evidence based for all patients.
Jason Liebowitz, MD, completed his fellowship in rheumatology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, where he also earned his medical degree. He is currently in practice with Skylands Medical Group, N.J.
References
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