Anti-IL17 blockade leads to maintained pain reduction in patients with HS

Please note a new, peer-reviewed version of this article is now available.

A pooled analysis from 2 phase 3 trials found that secukinumab treatment entailed a numerically greater pain reduction than placebo in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). More than 65% of patients with moderate/severe pain at baseline, decreased to mild/no pain after 52 weeks.

Dr John Ingram (Cardiff University, UK) presented the post-hoc analysis of the phase 3 SUNSHINE (NCT03713619) and SUNRISE (NCT03713632) trials that focused on pain ameliorations with secukinumab for HS treatment [1]. Previously, the 2 identical trials had found the superiority of the IL-17A inhibitor over placebo for a bi-weekly dosing (Q2W) with 300 mg at week 16. Within the 2 trials, pain was measured by the Patient’s Global Assessment (PGA) of skin pain on a numeric rating scale (NRS). The current analysis evaluated changes in skin pain at its worst in different categories of intensity: no pain: NRS 0, mild pain: NRS >0–≤6, moderate pain: NRS >6–≤8, and severe pain: NRS >8.

SUNSHINE and SUNRISE included over 1,000 participants with a mean age of 36.2 years, 56.3% were women, and the mean baseline pain was NRS 5.2. At week 16, secukinumab numerically decreased pain in comparison to placebo: Q2W NRS -1.4, Q4W NRS -1.1 versus placebo NRS -0.5. These pain ameliorations were continued to week 52, with a numerically greater decrease on secukinumab Q2W (NRS -1.8) than Q4W (NRS -1.5).

Looking at reductions after 1 year by pain category, 8.3% of the participants on Q2W secukinumab with moderate pain and 8.6% with severe pain at baseline achieved a status of no pain. Also, 63.3% and 45.7% of these groups experienced a reduction to mild pain, respectively. After dichotomising into NRS >6 and NRS≤6, 65.3% (Q2W) and 70.1% (Q4W) of those with moderate/severe pain at baseline had mild/no pain after 52 weeks.

In their conclusion, the authors added that secukinumab treatment also entailed a decreased use of pain medication over time and an improvement in quality of life.

1. 
   
   1. Ingram JR, et al. Secukinumab provides sustained improvements in pain in patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa: A post-hoc analysis of the SUNSHINE and SUNRISE phase 3 trials. P0045, EADV Congress 2023, 11–14 October, Berlin, Germany.

 

Copyright ©2023 Medicom Medical Publishers

 



Posted on 16 October 202330 November 2023