Late Breaking Abstract - Patients with severe eosinophilic asthma benefit from the treatment with Anti-IL-5 Reslizumab – a real life study from Austria

Abstract

Introduction: Eosinophilic asthma is a distinct asthma phenotype characterized by high numbers eosinophils that are driven by Interleukin (IL)-5. Anti-IL-5 Reslizumab has been shown to successfully reduce exacerbation rates and improve quality of life in clinical trials. However, patients in clinical trials are known to be selected based on very strict criteria, which hardly reflect the reality and real life data are still lacking. Objective: To investigate the effect of Reslizumab in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) in a real life setting. Methods: In this prospective real life study 25 patients from Austria with SEA were treated with monthly i.v. injections of Reslizumab according to the manufactures’ instructions. Lung function, serum eosinophils, exhaled nitric oxide, steroid sparing effect and asthma control have been evaluated since the beginning of the treatment. Results: A significant improvement of asthma control measured by the asthma control test and a significant reduction of the use of systemic steroids was found after four months of treatment with Reslizumab. No significant improvement in the lung function could be observed. However, in some patients forced exspiratory volume in 1sec improved remarkably even 24 hours after the first injection of Reslizumab. Three patients stopped the treatment with Reslizumab because there was no beneficial effect. No severe adverse events occurred. Conclusion: In real life conditions, most patients with SEA benefit from the treatment with Reslizumab, mainly shown by improvement of asthma control and reduction or even cessation of systemic steroids. These results support the use of Reslizumab in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma who are inadequately controlled with the best standard care treatment