Ricerc@Sapienza

Omalizumab, a monoclonal antibody against IgE, may be effective on nasal polyps, but its use is not currently authorized to treat that disease. We report the cases of three patients who were given omalizumab for asthma after undergoing nasal surgical polypectomy. Although such procedure is frequently followed by polyp recurrence, none of the three patients developed this complication, and in one subject the regression of initial polyp return was registered after starting omalizumab. Our data support the hypothesis that omalizumab may be useful to treat nasal polyposis.

Eosinophilic asthma is characterized by high eosinophil levels in induced sputum and peripheral blood. Elevated airway eosinophil counts can be detected in more than 50% of asthmatics and associated with more symptoms, frequent exacerbations, and greater airflow limitation. Increased blood eosinophils (BEs) also predict a greater response to new biological therapies (mepolizumab, reslizumab). Higher pretreatment BE levels are also related to a better response to omalizumab,3 which reduces BE, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), serum periostin, and exacerbations.