Etanercept for psoriasis: two case reports.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder. Recent advances in the understanding of its immunological basis have led to its redefinition as being T-cell mediated. New biological agents have been developed as effective selective target therapies and promise to be an alternative to conventional systemic medications. Etanercept is a recombinant human protein recently approved for psoriatic arthritis treatment that has activity against tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). It is composed of the human TNF receptor linked to the Fc portion of human IgG1. TNF-alpha seems to play a key role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Therefore, etanercept TNF antagonism is an effective approach for severe psoriasis. We describe two case reports of severe recalcitrant psoriasis, also with arthritis, that showed a remarkable improvement with etanercept, with no adverse events.