Reply to: “Comment on ‘Review of patient registries in dermatology’”

Reply to: ‘‘Comment on ‘Review of patient registries in dermatology’’’ To the Editor: We thank Zweegers et al for suggesting additional helpful, important registries. The psoriasis registries they described provide important complements to randomized control trial (RCT) data. Registries provide information about real-world effectiveness, about how well drugs work over the course of long-term, chronic diseases, and perhaps most importantly, about drug safety, as clinical trials tend not to be large enough or long enough to fully elucidate rare risks. A limitation of patient registries is that patients are generally not randomized to different treatment groups, making it essential to address potential biases in treatment assignment when making comparisons between different treatment groups. Registries can provide information that reflects how patients experience diseases and treatments in the real-world and may offer information that is more generalizable than the information obtained from RCTs. Registries and RCTs are complementary, and the data gleaned from these resources together help physicians and patients to make more informed decisions about the management of dermatologic diseases. Gabriella DiMarco, BS,a Dane Hill, MD,a and Steven R. Feldman, MD, PhDa,b,c Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology,a Department of Pathology,b and

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Department of Public Health Sciences,c Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Funding sources: None. Disclosures: The Center for Dermatology Research is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Galderma Laboratories, LP. Dr Feldman is a consultant and speaker for Galderma, Stiefel/ GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott Labs, Warner Chilcott, Janssen, Amgen, Photomedex, Genentech, BiogenIdec, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Dr Feldman has received grants from Galderma, Astellas, Abbott Labs, Warner Chilcott, Janssen, Amgen, Photomedex, Genentech, BiogenIdec, Coria/Valeant, Pharmaderm, Ortho Pharmaceuticals, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Roche Dermatology, 3M, Bristol Myers Squibb, Stiefel/GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Medicis, Leo, HanAll Pharmaceuticals, Celgene, Basilea, and Anacor, and has received stock options from Photomedex. Dr Feldman is the founder and holds stock in Causa Research. Dr Hill’s translational research is funded by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC. Gabriella DiMarco has no conflicts to disclose. Correspondence to: Steven R. Feldman, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1071 E-mail: [email protected] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2016.06.028

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