Définition du succès en matière de traitement de la HS, sélection biologique et dépistage des comorbidités : entretien avec le Dr Jennifer Hsiao

Dermatologists now have three approved biologics for the treatment of moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS); bimekizumab joined adalimumab and secukinumab in November 2024 as the first dual IL-17A and IL-17F inhibitor for the disease.³ All three are injectable agents that target tumor necrosis factor-α or IL-17 signaling; oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibition is the closest mechanism to them. In an interview published on HCPLive, Jennifer L. Hsiao, MD, a professor of dermatology at the University of California East and co-director of a HS specialty clinic, answered questions about how to define treatment success, make choices among biologics, and where oral JAK inhibition might fit in.

I tell my patients: I want you to report less discharge and less pain on your next visit. If you have new lesions, I hope they are fewer, smaller, and go away faster. This really shows a decreased frequency of flare-ups, as well as decreased flare severity and duration.

Because when patients come in, you can evaluate and tell me, ‘Yes, I had a few new lesions, but they were smaller and went away faster, so maybe the medication is working for me.’ Or ‘I don’t think this medication is working at all because I’m still getting new lesions.’ So setting treatment expectations is really important for treatment adherence.

Biological Choice: Which One to Start With, When to Switch?

HCPLive: How do you decide which of the approved biologics to start with and when to switch?

Jennifer Hsiao, MD: “Right now, we are really fortunate to have 3 FDA-approved therapies. We have adalimumab, a TNF-α inhibitor; secukinumab, an IL-17A inhibitor; and our IL-17A/IL-17F inhibitor, bimekizumab. At this point, adalimumab and secukinumab are approved for patients 12 years and older, which helps with our treatment choices in terms of age range.

At this stage, I really think about the patient’s preferences. A patient may come in and say, ‘I heard this about this drug. I definitely don’t want to start on it.’ It’s also important to take into account what patients have heard; because if you have options and someone is strongly against one for a particular reason, you may not be able to push it on that visit. Patient comorbidities also play a role, and ultimately, access plays a role as well.

If a patient is willing to try a medication, I really want to get that medication into their hands as quickly as possible. With delays, patients may say, “You know, there’s more than enough difficulty with this,” and you may miss a window of time when they’re open to starting therapy. Insurance formulas often come into play here, and I think strong bridges and patient assistance programs can be helpful. But ultimately, our goal is to identify the patient during that window of opportunity, hopefully in early moderate disease, start them on one of the three therapies we have available, and help them start to mitigate disease progression or at least feel better at the moment.

How Long Should Treatment Last?

HCPLive: How long do you give a patient before deciding that a therapy isn’t working, and how do you discuss that timeline with patients?

Jennifer Hsiao, MD: “The medications we’re talking about here aren’t like an antibiotic, where you take it for a week and it kills the infection. We emphasize in HS that there’s a lot of inflammation that we really need to get under control. So I see a timeframe of 3 to 4 months for re-evaluation, and you have to set that up from the beginning. That way, patients can stick with the therapy even if it takes a little longer.

We have a limited number of therapies, and patients understand the concept of not wanting to exhaust the treatment options we have. You may not want to be deprived of a treatment that might eventually give you a good response, but you just didn’t have the stamina to keep going.

What Are Oral JAK Inhibitors?

HCPLive: Where do you place oral JAK inhibition in the HS treatment landscape?

Jennifer Hsiao, MD: “Right now, we’ll take anything that has good efficacy and safety and gets FDA approval. All the therapies that demonstrate that are welcome. Part of that is because HS is heterogeneous in terms of pathophysiology. Patients may have inflammation that’s associated with different cytokines; some are good IL-17 responders but not TNF responders, or vice versa, and others don’t respond well to either.

When considering JAK inhibitors, the first thing I am happy about is that we will have an oral option. There are still some patients who are afraid of injections, so it would be nice to be able to offer a different route of administration. Then there are the patients I mentioned; perhaps the pathophysiology of HS is not dominated by one cytokine and is more heterogeneous. By inhibiting a pathway such as the JAK-STAT signaling, it may be beneficial for these patients to affect a greater number of cytokines.

So, definitely, we need more treatments in our toolbox and it is exciting to have drugs on the horizon. I think JAK inhibitors are probably the most advanced; povorcitinib is an inhibitor that selectively targets JAK1 and recently published a paper with efficacy and safety data up to 54 weeks. It would be really exciting to have access to these drugs once they are approved.

Which Comorbidities Should Be Screened?

HCPLive: Which comorbidities should be screened in patients with HS, and what is a realistic workflow?

Jennifer Hsiao, MD: “The first thing I need to say is that we don’t have to do everything at the first visit. The first visit can be intimidating. The patient has to share their story with you, and at the same time, you as a clinician are trying to understand where the patient came from and what stage they are at, and you are creating a treatment plan. This comorbidity screening can probably also take place during your physical examination.

For cutaneous comorbidities, look for acne symptoms and check the scalp. Is there dissecting cellulitis on the scalp? You should probably also check the groin and buttocks areas; these are areas that are commonly affected by HS, so are there any pilonidal cysts? You can address these cutaneous comorbidities during your physical examination. You can also ask questions about them: Do you have lesions on your scalp? Do you have lesions on your buttocks?

For other comorbidities, you can hire a primary care provider who can help with most of them. On the dermatology side, I believe that one of my patients is a tobacco smoker, and I can recognize that; but on the first visit, it should not be brought up that they should quit smoking. It can be brought up at a later visit, after establishing a relationship with the patient, and you should clearly state that you are doing this from a general health perspective, not because you are not interested in smoking, or because you do not believe that smoking causes HS, or because they are somehow guilty of HS. Doing this is really important.