Ghent Belgium—A drug used for asthma and atopic dermatitis shows promise for improvement of nasal polyps in patients with chronic sinusitis, even if the nasal polyposis has not been responsive to intranasal corticosteroids alone. A recent report in JAMA discussed a trial of the medication dupilumab for the condition at 13 sites in the United States and Europe. A study team led by of Ghent University Hospital researchers randomly assigned 60 adults with chronic sinusitis and nasal polyposis not responsive to intranasal corticosteroids to dupilumab by injection or placebo plus mometasone furoate nasal spray for 16 weeks. With the primary measured outcome being a change in endoscopic nasal polyp score based on polyp size, dupilumab treatment was found to be associated with significant improvements in endoscopic, clinical, radiographic, and pharmacodynamic end points by the end of the trial. Study authors note that dupilumab was generally well tolerated, and no serious adverse events were considered to be related to use of the medication.

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