Tocilizumab, an IL6-receptor antibody, proved effective as adjuvant therapy for cytokine storm induced by severe infection in patients with hematologic malignancy.
Ann Hematol
; 102(4): 961-966, 2023 Apr.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2285943
ABSTRACT
Patients with hematological malignancies who experience severe infections are at risk of developing dangerous complications due to excessive inflammatory cytokines. To improve the prognosis, it is crucial to identify better ways to manage the systemic inflammatory storm after infection. In this study, we evaluated four patients with hematological malignancies who developed severe bloodstream infections during the agranulocytosis phase. Despite receiving antibiotics, all four patients presented elevated serum IL-6 levels as well as persistent hypotension or organ injury. Adjuvant therapy with tocilizumab, an IL-6-receptor antibody, was administered, and three of the four patients showed significant improvement. Unfortunately, the fourth patient died due to multiple organ failure caused by antibiotic resistance. Our preliminary experience suggests that tocilizumab, as an adjuvant therapy, may help alleviate systemic inflammation and reduce risk of organ injury in patients with elevated IL-6 levels and severe infection. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the effectiveness of this IL-6 targeting approach.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Hematologic Neoplasms
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann Hematol
Journal subject:
Hematology
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00277-023-05146-0
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