Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) of clear/almost clear (0/1) skin is a high standard to achieve after 16 weeks of treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) and does not capture clinically meaningful responses in other patient domains, such as improvement in itch and/or quality of life. To better evaluate the effect of tralokinumab in adolescents, we assessed the clinically meaningful impact of tralokinumab versus placebo in patients who did not meet IGA 0/1 at week 16 without rescue medication in ECZTRA 6. METHODS: These post hoc analyses included adolescents from the ECZTRA 6 (NCT03526861) phase 3 trial who did not achieve IGA 0/1 at week 16 without rescue medication (referred to as IGA >1). Clinically meaningful responses were defined as either ≥50% improvement from baseline in Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI-50), ≥3-point improvement in Adolescent Worst Pruritus Numeric Rating Scale (itch NRS), or ≥6-point improvement in Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) at week 16. RESULTS: Among IGA >1 patients (n = 247), significantly greater percentages receiving tralokinumab (150 mg or 300 mg) versus placebo achieved EASI-50 (31.2% or 41.3% versus 10.0%), ≥3-point improvement in itch NRS (21.6% or 22.8% versus 8.0%), or ≥1 clinically meaningful measure (36.4% or 52.5% versus 21.1%) at week 16. The majority of IGA >1 patients who continued with open-label tralokinumab beyond week 16 achieved EASI-50 and ≥3-point improvement in itch NRS and about 40% met EASI-90 at week 52. CONCLUSIONS: Clinically meaningful responses in both clinician-measured and patient-reported outcomes were observed in tralokinumab-treated (150 mg or 300 mg) adolescents who did not achieve IGA 0/1 at week 16 without rescue medication. Utilizing validated outcome measures of both efficacy and patient quality of life, alongside IGA scores, can enhance clinical decision-making regarding tralokinumab treatment responses in adolescents with moderate-to-severe AD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT03526861 (ECZTRA 6); study start date: 19 June 2018; primary completion date: 15 April 2020; study completion date: 16 March 2021. A Graphical Abstract is available for this article.