Association between exposure to topical tacrolimus or pimecrolimus and cancers.

Background: The Food and Drug Administration has issued a public health advisory regarding cancer risk from topical calcineurin inhibitors.

Objective: To compare the rates of cancer among patients with common dermatologic conditions who were exposed or not exposed to topical calcineurin inhibitors.

Methods: A retrospective cohort observational study used data from an integrated healthcare delivery system on 953,064 subjects with diagnoses of atopic dermatitis or eczema between 2001 and December 2004.

Would elimination of copayments for phototherapy decrease the cost of treating psoriasis with systemic biologics? A cost analysis.

Phototherapy is a proven treatment method for the treatment of psoriasis, yet is typically underutilized because of the frequency of physician visits and copayments required for each session (typically 2-5 treatments/wk). Injectable biologic therapies are effective but costly. The objective of this study was to explore how changes in copayment strategies for phototherapy may affect biologic usage.