Adverse reactions of biological therapies in patients with psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated disorder characterized by well demarcated, erythematous plaques covered by thick, silvery-white scales, most often located on the knees, elbows, sacral area and scalp. It has a significant impact on the patient's quality of life. Biological therapies revolutionized the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris but there has been concern regarding the use of those agents due to severe adverse reactions reported in patients receiving TNF-α inhibitors for various inflammatory diseases. The aim of this paper is to review the most important adverse reactions reported in patients receiving biological treatments. The most common and severe side effects associated with biologicals are infections, cardiac adverse reactions, neurologic adverse reactions, lymphomas, non-melanoma skin cancers and hepatobiliary disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]