Health researchers at Newcastle Hospitals are leading a £1.9m trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, to compare the most effective treatments for moderate psoriasis.
Psoriasis is a long-term skin condition which causes red, thickened and scaly skin. It affects around three percent of the population and has a significant impact on quality of life.
Patients with moderate psoriasis are often treated with methotrexate, an immunosuppressant which slows down the immune cells that mistakenly attack healthy tissue and reduces inflammation.
Newer medicines are now available to treat psoriasis, including biologic medicines such as adalimumab, that work by blocking cell signals that cause psoriasis.
Biologics are usually well-tolerated, have fewer side effects than methotrexate, and require less hospital visits for patients.
First trial of its kind
Currently, only patients with severe psoriasis are prescribed adalimumab, largely due to strict eligibility criteria. However, no trials to date have compared adalimumab with methotrexate for moderate psoriasis.
The MethOrMab trial is led by Dr Philip Hampton, consultant dermatologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, part of Newcastle Hospitals. He said:
“Traditional therapies like methotrexate have been used for over 50 years to treat various skin conditions, including psoriasis.
“While effective for some patients, methotrexate can have significant side effects, ranging from stomach upset, lethargy, mouth ulcers and headaches. Patients require frequent monitoring to check the immune system and liver health.
“Biologics, on the other hand, are usually well-tolerated by patients and require fewer visits to hospital, often only one a year once patients are established on treatment.
“In this study, we hope to gather much-needed information on which treatment is the most effective for moderate disease.
“We hope the results lead to meaningful changes for patients with greater use of biologic drugs in moderate psoriasis.”
More information and how you could take part
The study will recruit a total of 310 adult patients with moderate psoriasis at 15-20 UK hospital dermatology departments.
As part of the trial, patients will be randomly selected to receive either methotrexate or adalimumab.
Both treatments will be self-injected, and patients will be given training by the hospital team on how to do this.
This is an ‘observer blind’ study which means that the patient and doctor know which treatment has been allocated. Teams who are responsible for scoring the severity of psoriasis will not know which treatment the patient has received.
The trial is managed by Newcastle University’s Clinical Trials Unit and supported by Newcastle Hospitals’ dermatology research team.
Eligible patients can be assessed to join the study if they are in the catchment area of a trial recruitment centre.
More information is available on the trial website.
