A new international clinical study has found hope for thousands of patients with severe asthma, suggesting that a monthly injection could reduce or even replace daily steroid use.
Asthma affects more than 260 million people worldwide. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness. Up to 10% of asthmatics suffer from a severe form of the disease, and in the most extreme cases, asthma can be fatal.
For most, the disease is controlled with inhaled medications, but patients with severe asthma often have to take cortisone on a daily basis. However, long-term use of corticosteroids is associated with serious side effects, such as osteoporosis, diabetes and an increased risk of infections.
Now, according to the study results, participants who received tezepelumab injections every four weeks were able to reduce or even completely stop taking steroids without adverse effects. Tezepelumab works by blocking a protein associated with inflammation in the airways, thereby reducing asthma attacks.
The study
The clinical trial, led by King’s College London and published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, involved almost 300 adults with severe, uncontrolled asthma who were taking 5 to 40 mg of steroid tablets daily (“Oral corticosteroid reduction and discontinuation in adults with corticosteroid-dependent, severe, uncontrolled asthma treated with tezepelumab (WAYFINDER): a multicentre, single-arm, phase 3b trial“). The patients, from 11 countries including the UK, US, France, Germany, Mexico and Spain, received tezepelumab monthly.
After a year of treatment, the researchers found that:
- More than half of the participants had stopped taking steroids completely without their asthma getting worse.
- Almost 90% had reduced their steroid dose to low levels.
- A third of the patients had stopped taking steroids after just six months.
- Two thirds of the patients had not experienced any asthma attacks.
- The results of the study, presented at the British Thoracic Society’s winter conference, also showed that tezepelumab significantly improved asthma symptoms, lung function and overall quality of life.
Tezepelumab suppresses allergic symptoms and improves chronic sinus inflammation, making the results particularly encouraging for those with severe asthma in both the upper and lower airways.
At the same time, experts point out the importance of continuing research, despite funding difficulties in the field of lung diseases. As they said, studies like this demonstrate that scientific progress can provide treatments with real benefit for patients’ lives.
