REVIEW   Free access

Italian Journal of Dermatology and Venereology 2022 February;157(1):13-22

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8671.20.06772-3

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Tocilizumab and its usage for skin diseases

Luca MASTORINO, Gianluca AVALLONE, Paolo DAPAVO, Martina MERLI, Andrea AGOSTINI, Damiano GRANDINETTI, Maria T. FIERRO, Pietro QUAGLINO, Simone RIBERO ✉

Section of Dermatology, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

The monoclonal anti-IL6 receptor antibody called Tocilizumab is widely used by rheumatologists for joint diseases. Its application in dermatology has mainly concerned scleroderma and Systemic Sclerosis in the last years. The most varied skin diseases treated with tocilizumab, such as psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Behcet’s Syndrome, Lupus, and the already mentioned scleroderma up to multi-organ syndromes with skin involvement will be discussed. At the same time, there have been several side reactions to the drug involving the skin forcing careful skin monitoring during treatment. Despite the evidence currently available in the appropriate literature, there is no formal recommendation for any of these diseases to use Tocilizumab for therapeutic purposes. The aim of this review was to collect all the main evidence on the use and involvement of the drug in dermatological practice in order to stimulate further research or hypothesize on possible therapeutic options.

KEY WORDS: Tocilizumab; Skin diseases; Psoriasis; Behcet Syndrome; Lupus erythematosus, systemic; Dermatitis, atopic