Prospective Study of the Combination of Golimumab and UVB-311nm Phototherapy in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis and Psoriatic Skin Lesions

Psoriatic skin lesions of patients with psoriatic arthritis who receive standard treatment with golimumab (50 mg or 100 mg s.c. once a month depending on total body weight whether below or above 100 kg, respectively) are exposed to UVB-311nm phototherapy on a randomized body half (left or right; head exempt) 3 x per week for six weeks and/or until complete response (defined as reduction in PASI to < 3). A patient qualifies if A) golimumab was started within a week or B) after 3 months of golimumab treatment the PASI reduction is smaller than 90%. PASI score, patient visual analogue score (VAS) for therapeutic response, and patient VAS for severity of skin lesions is assessed weekly; and at follow-up visits at month 3, 6, and 12. The primary hypothesis is that phototherapy increases the PASI reduction on the exposed body site by more than 20%. Paired Wilcoxon testing for differences in PASI and patient VAS scores is done; Fisher exact test is applied to determine differences in complete remission, PASI reduction > 90%, > 75% and/or 50% between body sites.