Age alone should not limit use of systemic therapies in people aged over 65 with psoriasis, the authors of a systematic review say.

The Dutch researchers aimed to pull together the evidence for both conventional and biologic therapies for psoriasis in this age group, examining 31 studies including a total of almost 40,000 patients.

Overall, only limited data was available for specific agents and the quality of evidence was low for conventional therapies, they  reported in JAMA Dermatology.

Studies were available on methotrexate sodium, cyclosporine and acitretin including between 74 and 178 seniors and these showed a 75% reduction in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI-75) of between 27% and 53% after 12-16 weeks’ treatment, they said.