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Updated: Oct 26, 2025

Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma
Published on: November 4, 2010
Real-life effectiveness of biological therapies on symptoms in severe asthma with comorbid CRSwNP
Carlo Mümmler1,2, Kristin Dünzelmann1,2, Nikolaus Kneidinger1,2
1Department of Medicine V, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Background:
We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different antibody therapies on nasal polyp symptoms in patients treated for severe asthma.
Methods:
We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with severe asthma and comorbid CRSwNP who were treated with anti-IgE, anti-IL-5/R or anti-IL-4R. CRSwNP symptom burden was evaluated before and after 6 months of therapy.
Results:
Fifty patients were included hereof treated with anti-IgE: 9, anti-IL-5/R: 26 and anti-IL-4R: 15 patients. At baseline median SNOT-20 was similar among groups (anti-IgE: 55, anti-IL-5/R: 52 and anti-IL-4R: 56, p = 0.76), median visual analogue scale (VAS) for nasal symptoms was 4, 7 and 8 (p = 0.14) and VAS for total symptoms was higher in the anti-IL-4R group (4, 5 and 8, p = 0.002). After 6 months SNOT-20 improved significantly in all patient groups with median improvement of anti-IgE: -8 (p < 0.01), anti-IL-5/R: -13 (p < 0.001) and anti-IL-4R: -18 (p < 0.001), with larger improvement in the anti-IL-4R group than in anti-IgE (p < 0.001) and anti-IL-5/R (p < 0.001) groups. VAS nasal symptoms improved by median anti-IgE: 0 (n.s.), anti-IL-5/R: -1 (p < 0.01) and anti-IL-4R: -3 (p < 0.001), VAS total symptoms by anti-IgE: -1 (n.s.), anti-IL-5/R: -2 (p < 0.001) and anti-IL-4R: -2 (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Treatment by all antibodies showed effectiveness in reducing symptoms of CRSwNP in patients with severe asthma, with the largest reduction observed in anti-IL-4R-treated patients.
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