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ORLANDO – Omalizumab increased reaction-free rapid drug desensitization for patients with hypersensitivity to chemotherapy, according to research presented at the joint congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and the World Asthma Organization.
“In about 99% of patients, a desensitization protocol will be effective enough to allow patients to receive the relevant chemotherapy treatment,” Dr. Hong said in an interview. “However, in a small minority of patents, no matter what we try, we simply cannot desensitize them – those are the patients we looked at in this study.”
Patients received 300 mg of omalizumab every 4 weeks for three treatment sessions. During the 12-week treatment period, patients continued their normal chemotherapy regimens via rapid drug desensitization following protocols previously published by Castelles et al.
The primary outcome was the number of rapid drug desensitizations that were free from hypersensitivity reactions. In a secondary analysis, the researchers compared results of chemotherapy skin tests taken before and after the trial.
Of the five patients included in the study, four were female, received carboplatin, and had a skin tests, while the fifth patient was male, received rituximab, and did not receive a skin test.
In an intention-to-treat approach, Dr. Hong and his colleagues reported that 33% of all rapid drug desensitizations for omalizumab had no reaction.
In the poster, the researchers noted that these data could be significant because the 95% confidence interval for nonreactivity on omalizumab ranged from 11% to 98%.
“This is a unique situation,” Dr. Hong said in an interview. Because ovarian cancer diagnoses tend to come later in the disease course, patients often can receive extended chemotherapy regimens to treat disease metastases.
He speculated that there could be more uses for omalizumab. “In this study, we looked at the most sensitive patients, but perhaps this drug could have a significant impact on patients with a more mild form of sensitivity,” Dr. Hong said. “Maybe [omalizumab] could take the place of desensitization for patients with a milder sensitivity – we don’t know.”
Dr. Hong reports no relevant financial disclosures. Novartis Pharmaceuticals funded this research and provided omalizumab.
SOURCE: Hong DI et al. AAAAI/WAO Joint Congress, Poster L33.
ORLANDO – Omalizumab increased reaction-free rapid drug desensitization for patients with hypersensitivity to chemotherapy, according to research presented at the joint congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and the World Asthma Organization.
“In about 99% of patients, a desensitization protocol will be effective enough to allow patients to receive the relevant chemotherapy treatment,” Dr. Hong said in an interview. “However, in a small minority of patents, no matter what we try, we simply cannot desensitize them – those are the patients we looked at in this study.”
Patients received 300 mg of omalizumab every 4 weeks for three treatment sessions. During the 12-week treatment period, patients continued their normal chemotherapy regimens via rapid drug desensitization following protocols previously published by Castelles et al.
The primary outcome was the number of rapid drug desensitizations that were free from hypersensitivity reactions. In a secondary analysis, the researchers compared results of chemotherapy skin tests taken before and after the trial.
Of the five patients included in the study, four were female, received carboplatin, and had a skin tests, while the fifth patient was male, received rituximab, and did not receive a skin test.
In an intention-to-treat approach, Dr. Hong and his colleagues reported that 33% of all rapid drug desensitizations for omalizumab had no reaction.
In the poster, the researchers noted that these data could be significant because the 95% confidence interval for nonreactivity on omalizumab ranged from 11% to 98%.
“This is a unique situation,” Dr. Hong said in an interview. Because ovarian cancer diagnoses tend to come later in the disease course, patients often can receive extended chemotherapy regimens to treat disease metastases.
He speculated that there could be more uses for omalizumab. “In this study, we looked at the most sensitive patients, but perhaps this drug could have a significant impact on patients with a more mild form of sensitivity,” Dr. Hong said. “Maybe [omalizumab] could take the place of desensitization for patients with a milder sensitivity – we don’t know.”
Dr. Hong reports no relevant financial disclosures. Novartis Pharmaceuticals funded this research and provided omalizumab.
SOURCE: Hong DI et al. AAAAI/WAO Joint Congress, Poster L33.
ORLANDO – Omalizumab increased reaction-free rapid drug desensitization for patients with hypersensitivity to chemotherapy, according to research presented at the joint congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and the World Asthma Organization.
“In about 99% of patients, a desensitization protocol will be effective enough to allow patients to receive the relevant chemotherapy treatment,” Dr. Hong said in an interview. “However, in a small minority of patents, no matter what we try, we simply cannot desensitize them – those are the patients we looked at in this study.”
Patients received 300 mg of omalizumab every 4 weeks for three treatment sessions. During the 12-week treatment period, patients continued their normal chemotherapy regimens via rapid drug desensitization following protocols previously published by Castelles et al.
The primary outcome was the number of rapid drug desensitizations that were free from hypersensitivity reactions. In a secondary analysis, the researchers compared results of chemotherapy skin tests taken before and after the trial.
Of the five patients included in the study, four were female, received carboplatin, and had a skin tests, while the fifth patient was male, received rituximab, and did not receive a skin test.
In an intention-to-treat approach, Dr. Hong and his colleagues reported that 33% of all rapid drug desensitizations for omalizumab had no reaction.
In the poster, the researchers noted that these data could be significant because the 95% confidence interval for nonreactivity on omalizumab ranged from 11% to 98%.
“This is a unique situation,” Dr. Hong said in an interview. Because ovarian cancer diagnoses tend to come later in the disease course, patients often can receive extended chemotherapy regimens to treat disease metastases.
He speculated that there could be more uses for omalizumab. “In this study, we looked at the most sensitive patients, but perhaps this drug could have a significant impact on patients with a more mild form of sensitivity,” Dr. Hong said. “Maybe [omalizumab] could take the place of desensitization for patients with a milder sensitivity – we don’t know.”
Dr. Hong reports no relevant financial disclosures. Novartis Pharmaceuticals funded this research and provided omalizumab.
SOURCE: Hong DI et al. AAAAI/WAO Joint Congress, Poster L33.
REPORTING FROM AAAAI/WAO JOINT CONGRESS
Key clinical point: Omalizumab increased reaction-free rapid drug desensitization for patients with hypersensitivity to chemotherapy.
Major finding: Despite low enrollment, omalizumab appeared to significantly increase the number of reaction-free rapid drug desensitizations.
Data source: A 12-week, open-label, non-randomized trial of omalizumab.
Disclosures: Dr. Hong reports no relevant financial disclosures. Novartis Pharmaceuticals funded the research and provided omalizumab.
Source: Hong DI et al. AAAAI/WAO Joint Congress, Poster L33.