Do Squamous Cell Carcinomas Develop More Rapidly in Patients Treated with Etanercept?

Watch for nonmelanoma skin cancer in patients with previous UV therapy who are receiving biologic therapy.

Etanercept and other tumor necrosis factor antagonists have been linked to an increased risk for nonmelanoma skin cancers. Patients with psoriasis are often treated with ultraviolet light (UV) therapy, including psoralen-UVA (PUVA) therapy in the past. PUVA recipients subsequently managed with cyclosporin seem, like transplant recipients, to develop increased rates and numbers of nonmelanoma skin cancers and to experience a reversal in the relative frequency of basal cell carcinomas to squamous cell carcinomas (usual BCC:SCC ratio, 4:1).

These authors report findings on four patients with psoriasis treated with etanercept who developed multiple SCCs. Three had previously received PUVA therapy, and the fourth had prior UVB therapy. All had hi…

Reviewing Author

Jeffrey P. Callen, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory board XOMA; Eli Lilly; Celgene

Equity Various trust accounts

Editorial boards JAMA Dermatology; UpToDate

Leadership positions in professional societies Association of Professors of Dermatology (President-Elect)