Blood Test Identifies Subgroup of Individuals With iMCD Who Will Respond to Treatment

Investigators have found a new precision medicine to test blood proteins that help identify individuals with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) who are more likely to respond to siltuximab.

“This discovery has the potential to improve precision medicine for iMCD, the concept that the right patient is given the right drug at the right time. Knowing which patients are likely to benefit from which drugs is a key piece of this puzzle,” David Fajgenbaum, MD, director of the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a statement.

Siltuximab is the only-FDA approved treatment for iMCD, a rare blood disorder, but half of individuals do not respond to this treatment, according to the statement.

The study results show who is more likely to respond to the treatment, while identifying those who need rapid administration of other treatments to prevent deterioration.

The study results also show that Janus kinase inhibitors, used for treating certain cancers and rheumatoid arthritis, could be treatment options for those who do not respond to siltuximab, according to the statement.

The blood test is used to identify 7 blood proteins that can effectively predict the subgroup of individuals who are most likely to respond to siltuximab.

Reference

Researchers discover test to predict which patients with rare blood disease will respond to only FDA-approved treatment, and identify alternative therapy. ScienceDaily. News release. September 2, 2021. Accessed September 3, 2021. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210902124949.htm