The Potential of Anti-IgE in Food Allergy Therapy.

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Food allergy is an inappropriate immune response to certain food components. With its increasing prevalence over the past two decades, and potentially fatal consequences, food allergy has become a formidable public health issue. There is currently no effective therapy to treat food allergy. Patients are compelled to resort to strict avoidance of allergenic foods, and they must have quick access to emergency care in the event of accidental exposure. Clearly, there is an urgent need for treatment options. Allergen-specific and allergen-nonspecific therapeutic measures are being actively explored through ongoing research. The data thus far have identified the promise of oral immunotherapy (OIT) among allergen-specific and anti-IgE administration among allergen-nonspecific treatment modes. Indeed, results from three recent trials employing anti-IgE as an adjunctive therapy with OIT have indicated an outstanding potential to safely and rapidly desensitize patients with severe food allergies. The existing data set, however, is severely limited and is derived from diverse study designs that, in turn, have individual shortcomings. Readouts from current and proposed multicenter clinical trials following a well-designed uniform treatment protocol will be highly valuable for carrying out comparative analysis and to draw concrete inferences that will pave the way for approved food allergy therapy.