BACKGROUND: Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor being investigated for 
psoriasis. A Phase 3 withdrawal/re-treatment study (NCT01186744; OPT 
Retreatment) showed tofacitinib re-treatment was effective in patients with 
chronic plaque psoriasis.
OBJECTIVES: To describe the effects of tofacitinib withdrawal/re-treatment on 
health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and disease symptoms measured by 
patient-reported outcomes (PROs).
METHODS: The study was divided into initial treatment, treatment withdrawal, and 
re-treatment periods. Initial treatment: patients were randomized to receive 
tofacitinib 5 (n = 331) or 10 mg (n = 335) BID for 24 weeks. Treatment 
withdrawal: patients who achieved both ≥ 75% reduction in Psoriasis Area and 
Severity Index (PASI) score from baseline and Physician's Global Assessment of 
'clear'/'almost clear' at Week (W)24 received placebo (withdrawal) or the 
previous dose (continuous treatment). Re-treatment: at relapse (> 50% loss of 
W24 PASI response) or at W40, patients received their initial tofacitinib dose. 
PROs included: Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Itch Severity Item (ISI), 
Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Patient's Global Assessment (PtGA).
RESULTS: After initial treatment with tofacitinib 5 and 10 mg BID, substantial 
and significant improvements were reported for mean DLQI (baseline: 12.6 and 
12.6; W24: 5.1 and 2.6) and ISI (baseline: 6.7 and 6.9; W24: 2.9 and 1.6). 
Patients continuously treated with tofacitinib 5 and 10 mg BID maintained those 
improvements through Week 56 (DLQI: 3.0 and 2.1; ISI: 2.3 and 1.4). By W40, 
patients withdrawn from tofacitinib 5 and 10 mg BID showed worsening in DLQI 
(5.0 and 6.2) and ISI (3.7 and 4.0) scores; improvements were regained upon 
re-treatment (W56, DLQI: 3.4 and 2.4; ISI: 2.2 and 1.6). Similar results were 
reported for PtGA and SF-36.
CONCLUSION: Continuous tofacitinib treatment provided sustained improvement in 
HRQoL and disease symptoms. Patients randomized to treatment withdrawal lost 
initial improvements. Upon re-treatment, improvements were recaptured to levels 
comparable to those seen with continuous treatment.