Psoriasis in the Era of Targeted Cancer Therapeutics: A Systematic Review on De Novo and Pre-existing Psoriasis in Oncologic Patients Treated with Emerging Anti-neoplastic Agents

New advancements in medicine have paved the way for targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), which have become mainstays of cancer therapy.

Targeted therapies work by pinpointing specific molecules in cancer pathways and inhibiting their function, while ICIs target irregularities in the immune system and DNA repair, participating in the induction of cell death.

Although these agents have demonstrated great efficacy in treating a diverse set of cancers, they can frequently provoke serious dermatologic adverse effects.

The side effects caused by an ICI are classified as immune-related adverse events since ICIs are immunomodulating, while the cutaneous side effects of targeted therapies are known as dermatologic adverse effects.

Multiple studies have reported psoriasis and psoriasiform eruptions among the side effects observed in neoplastic patients receiving targeted therapies or ICIs.

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease characterized by overactive T-cells and keratinocytes.

To conduct this review, we retrieved 1363 studies from the PubMed database published between 2008 and 2023 using the terms “psoriasis” AND “cancer treatment.”

Many of these studies aimed to understand how patients with cancer receiving treatment may develop or even achieve psoriasis remission.

Given that cancer and psoriasis involve a delicate balance between immune activation and suppression, ICIs and targeted therapies might produce varying effects.

The aim of this review was to explore the relationship between psoriasis and cancer therapeutics while also highlighting the need to prioritize proper management of cutaneous side effects in neoplastic patients.