A registry-based study provides further evidence that treatment with dupilumab significantly reduces severity and symptoms of atopic dermatitis (AD) in clinical practice.
Dupilumab also decreased severity-associated biomarkers in pediatric patients with moderate to severe AD, researchers in the Netherlands reported.
Obtaining serum biomarkers is not the current standard in everyday practice, but studying them may improve understanding of who might respond best to dupilumab, said Jessica Hui, MD, a pediatric allergist and immunologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, in an email comment to Medscape Medical News.
“AD is heterogeneous, as each patient may have different presentations and underlying biology,” said Hui, who wasn’t involved in the research. “Studying biomarkers can eventually assist us in providing targeted therapy to each individual patient.”
Hui added, “As blood biomarkers can inform us of severity and treatment response, we can be hopeful that this will assist us in the management of AD patients in the future.”
Examining Effect on Disease Severity
Dupilumab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 signaling, is approved in Europe and the United States to treat moderate to severe AD in patients 6 months of age or older, and to treat certain other inflammatory conditions.
Phase 3 studies show that dupilumab is effective for improving AD symptoms and quality of life in pediatric patients, but few clinical practice studies have researched the effect of the therapy on severity- and disease-related biomarkers in this population, the study authors write.
The study was published online in Pediatric Allergy Immunology
In a new study, a team led by Esmé Kamphuis, MD, of the University of Groningen, and colleagues evaluated the efficacy and safety of a 28-week dupilumab treatment course in 61 pediatric patients with moderate to severe AD. Additionally, the investigators examined the effect of this treatment regimen on serum biomarkers associated with disease severity.
Patients in the study were registered in the multicenter BioDay registry, which includes patients with moderate to severe AD receiving biologics or small-molecule agents. The AD cohort included children between 6 and 12 years of age (n = 16) and adolescents between 12 and less than 18 years of age (n = 45), all of whom received dupilumab on a dosing regimen indicated by age and body weight.
Over one third (36.1%) of dupilumab-treated patients achieved an Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) score of “almost clear” by 28 weeks of treatment. Approximately 75.4% of patients reached an Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) of 50, 49.2% reached EASI-75, and 24.6% reached EASI-90 at the 7-month follow-up.
Among patient-reported outcomes, 84.7% experienced improvements of 4 or more points on the Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) after the 28-week dupilumab treatment. In addition, improvements of 4 or more points on the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for pruritus and pain were achieved by 45.3% and 77.4% of patients, respectively.
The most frequently reported side effects included conjunctivitis (n = 10) and headache (n = 4).
Of the 19 severity-associated serum biomarkers measured at baseline, week 4, and week 16, markers related to AD severity and treatment response significantly decreased during treatment (thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine, pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine, periostin, soluble IL-2 receptor alpha).
A predicted EASI, calculated from selected biomarkers, demonstrated a significant association with disease severity in the cohort.
Implications for Practice
When asked to comment on the study findings, Raegan Hunt, MD, the division chief of pediatric dermatology at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, said it is important to validate the changes in AD serum biomarkers in pediatric patients on dupilumab therapy, given that this treatment has historically been better studied in adults.
“This study adds to daily practice outcomes data, which in many cases is more relevant to the everyday care of patients than structured clinical trial data,” said Hunt, an associate professor at the Baylor College of Medicine.
Hunt, who didn’t participate in the study, noted that more research is needed on the adverse effects of dupilumab in the pediatric AD population.
Hui added that there is a lack of clear understanding of the exact underlying mechanisms for certain side effects, such as conjunctivitis, warranting further study.
The study’s BioDay registry is funded by Sanofi/Regeneron, AbbVie, Leo Pharma, Pfizer, and Eli Lilly. Several study co-authors report relationships with several pharmaceutical companies. Hunt and Hui report no relevant financial relationships.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2022;33:e13887. Full text
Brandon May is a freelance medical journalist who has written more than 2100 articles for medical publications in the United States and the UK. Twitter: @brandonmilesmay
For more news, follow Medscape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube
Source: Read Full Article