Abstract
There is an urgent need to define new treatment strategies for severe persistent asthma. Using a severe asthma clinic model, it is possible to systematically assess diagnosis, self-management skills, and treatment efficacy. The addition of single-patient trials of therapy is useful to detect individual responders to drugs where use is limited because of access, cost, or toxicity. Omalizumab is effective in severe asthma, however access is restricted by cost and availability. We conducted single patient efficacy trials of omalizumab in 12 subjects with severe refractory asthma. There were 2 definite and 6 partial responders. Patients with difficult/therapy resistant or refractory asthma can respond to omalizumab, and this response can be detected in individual patients using a single patient controlled trial conducted in the setting of a severe asthma clinic.
MeSH terms
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Adrenal Cortex Hormones / administration & dosage
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Adrenal Cortex Hormones / adverse effects
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Adult
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Aged
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Ambulatory Care Facilities / economics
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Ambulatory Care Facilities / statistics & numerical data
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Anti-Asthmatic Agents / administration & dosage*
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Anti-Asthmatic Agents / adverse effects
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Anti-Asthmatic Agents / economics
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Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
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Antibodies, Monoclonal / administration & dosage*
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Antibodies, Monoclonal / adverse effects
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Antibodies, Monoclonal / economics
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Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
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Asthma / drug therapy*
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Asthma / immunology
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Asthma / physiopathology
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Australia
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Cost-Benefit Analysis
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Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
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Drug Resistance / physiology
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Female
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Humans
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Immunoglobulin E / drug effects
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Immunoglobulin E / immunology
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Immunosuppressive Agents / adverse effects
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Injections, Subcutaneous
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Omalizumab
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Quality of Life
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Treatment Outcome
Substances
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Adrenal Cortex Hormones
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Anti-Asthmatic Agents
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Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
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Antibodies, Monoclonal
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Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
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Immunosuppressive Agents
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Omalizumab
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Immunoglobulin E