What do they have in commonasmathe chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and two rare diseases such as eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and the hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES)? They are all caused by an overstimulation of the immune system characterized by an increase in the blood of a type of white blood cell called eosinophils.
There is therefore a single, predominant etiopathogenetic factor in the genesis of these different eosinophilic diseases. For this reason, therapy must include precision treatments that are able to act specifically on the triggering cause, i.e. the excessive presence of eosinophils, such as interleukin-5 (IL-5), a protein produced by cells of the immune system which promotes the development, proliferation and survival of eosinophils.
Mepolizumab: a drug for several eosinophilia-related diseases
The monoclonal antibody mepolizumab, which six years ago represented the turning point in the treatment of severe asthma, has also shown to be effective for the other three pathologies linked to eosinophilia. Mepolizumab is a biological drug, which has a proven and proven efficacy and safety profile both in clinical trials and in treated patients.
severe asthma
“With mepolizumab, respiratory medicine has moved from one-size-fits-all medicine to precision medicine for severe asthma,” he explains. George Walter Canonica, Head of Center for Personalized Medicine: Asthma and Allergology, Humanitas University & Research Hospital. “By preventing IL-5 from binding to its receptor on the surface of eosinophils, the mechanism of action of this monoclonal antibody is of great importance, given the fundamental role of eosinophils in inflammation which underlies the new indications for four pathologies”.
Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis
The most significant of the new mepolizumab indications by incidence is certainly chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis. “It is a chronic inflammatory disease of the nose and upper respiratory tract capable of strongly impacting the quality of life of patients with persistent and debilitating symptoms such as loss of smell, nasal congestion and reduced quality of sleep” he adds Paul CastelnuovoProfessor of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Insubria (Varese) and Director of the ENT Department of the University Hospital, Macchi Foundation Circle Hospital in Varese.
Patologie rare EGPA ed HES
The rare diseases EGPA and HES are multiorgan systemic diseases which, in the absence of early diagnosis and adequate follow-up, can significantly compromise the patient’s quality of life. “We started from the study of severe asthma and the search for solutions that would allow the disease to be controlled and hospitalizations avoided, arriving at the only precision therapy currently available also for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis, EGPA and HES” he comments Elizabeth Campagnoli, Specialty Medical Head GSK. “This milestone was also recognized by AIFA-Italian Medicines Agency, which awarded mepolizumab the status of innovativeness for EGPA and HES”.