Reaching for best practices in food oral immunotherapy: Report on the second annual Food Allergy Support Team meeting

Improving Clinical Practice Through Patient Registries in Allergy and Immunology

Patient registries are a mechanism for collecting data on allergic and immunologic diseases that provide important information on epidemiology and outcomes that can ultimately improve patient care. Key criteria for establishing effective registries include the use of a clearly defined purpose, identifying the target population and ensuring consistent data collection. Registries in allergic diseases include those for diseases such as inborn errors of immunity (IEI), food allergy, asthma and anaphylaxis, pharmacological interventions in vulnerable populations, and adverse effects of pharmacologic interventions including hypersensitivity reactions to drugs and vaccines. Important insights gained from patient registries in our field include contributions in phenotype and outcomes in IEI, the risk for adverse reactions in food-allergic patients in multiple settings, the benefits and risk of biologic medications for asthma during pregnancy, vaccine safety, and the categorization and genetic determination of risk for severe cutaneous adverse reactions to medications. Impediments to the development of clinically meaningful patient registries include the lack of funding resources for registry establishment and the quality, quantity, and consistency of available data. Despite these drawbacks, high-quality and successful registries are invaluable in informing clinical practice and improving outcomes in patients with allergic and immunological diseases.

Identifying thresholds of reaction for different foods

Current food allergy management universally treats all patients with food allergy as being at risk for anaphylaxis (with the exception perhaps of pollen food allergy syndrome). Thus, patients are told to avoid the allergenic food in all potentially allergic forms and amounts. However, research over the past 2 decades has shown that many patients will tolerate small amounts of the allergen without any allergic reaction. Thus, if one were able to identify the threshold of reactivity, this could change management. At the population level, establishing levels at which the vast majority of patients (e.g., 95%) do not react could have public health ramifications, such as altering labeling laws. At the individual patient level, personal threshold levels could determine avoidance strategies, affect quality of life, and alter treatment decisions, e.g., oral immunotherapy starting doses. In this review, threshold data for various allergens and their potential effect on the management of the patient with food allergy are examined.

Peanut allergy: risk factors, immune mechanisms, and best practices for oral immunotherapy success

INTRODUCTION

Peanut oral immunotherapy (pOIT) is the only FDA-approved treatment for food allergy and its adoption amongst allergist immunologists and their patients is growing. pOIT is the subject of numerous clinical trials, however, the focus is often on treatment efficacy, safety, and tolerability, rather than identifying patients most likely to benefit from pOIT. Here, we review existing data on the clinical and immunological outcomes of pOIT that inform best practices for pOIT candidate selection.

AREAS COVERED

In this review, we describe the natural history of peanut allergy, summarize immunological and clinical outcomes of pOIT at different ages, discuss the optimization of pOIT in key age groups, and finally suggest an ideal age range at which to initiate pOIT for best outcomes.

EXPERT OPINION

pOIT is currently underutilized by patients and allergist-immunologists. Developing guidelines for selecting appropriate patients and optimizing treatment may help to increase access to pOIT. Many aspects of pOIT need additional study to further our understanding of the optimal timing to start pOIT, with careful consideration to clinical, immunological, and quality of life outcomes.

Practical aspects of oral immunotherapy: The importance of optimal office design and workflow

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is an emerging treatment, but it is more than products and protocols. Office setup, including spacing, staffing, and logistics, is critical to assess to fully implement OIT into clinical practice. To provide insights into what needs to be considered in setting up an office to practically implement OIT into clinical practice. Most of the clinical research about OIT focuses on the products and protocols used for OIT. However, to safely and effectively integrate this into clinical practice, there are many practical aspects that need to be considered. Proper staffing, office space, scheduling, and on-call responsibilities all need to be considered because OIT will impact all of these aspects of practice. We provide suggestions and considerations as you think through these vital logistics in your office. These are practical considerations that must be determined to effectively handle OIT in an office setting. OIT products and protocols are one aspect of OIT. Actually delivering the treatment with staff, office space, and handling the patient needs after hours is really when OIT becomes more of a reality for the physician and the patient.

Long term oral immunotherapy management and assessment of success

There is limited data addressing the optimal dose, dosing frequency, and duration of OIT maintenance. Using higher maintenance doses, more frequent dosing, and a long dosing duration makes it more likely that sustained unresponsiveness will be achieved but also increases the burden of care on the OIT patient and family. The OIT maintenance regimen should be individualized based on the treatment goals of the patient and family.

Oral Immunotherapy in Children: Clinical Considerations and Practical Management

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) in pediatric patients provides an alternative option to the current standard of care in food allergy, which is allergen avoidance and reactive treatment. Because patients are exposed to one or more food allergens during treatment, OIT is associated with adverse events and can be a cumbersome process for children, their caregivers, and clinicians. However, there have been an overwhelming number of studies that show high efficacy in both single- and multi-allergen OIT, and that quality of life is greatly improved for both patients and their families after undergoing immunotherapy. This review discusses clinical considerations for OIT in pediatrics, including efficacy and safety, practical management, and future directions of treatment.

An Approach to the Office-Based Practice of Food Oral Immunotherapy

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) provides an active treatment option for patients with food allergies. OIT may improve quality of life and raise the threshold at which a patient with food allergy may react to an allergen, but it is a rigorous therapy that requires a high degree of commitment by the clinician, patients, and families. Recent guidelines from the Canadian Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology have provided a framework for the ethical, evidence-based, and patient-oriented clinical practice of OIT, and the European Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology guidelines have also recommended that OIT can be used as a potential treatment. The recent Food and Drug Administration approval of an OIT pharmaceutical has accelerated the adoption of OIT. This review provides a summary of the recent Canadian Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology guidelines and a consensus of practical experience of clinicians across the United States and Canada related to patient selection, office and staff preparation, the general OIT process, OIT-related reaction management, and treatment outcomes.

A High Proportion of Canadian Allergists Offer Oral Immunotherapy but Barriers Remain

BACKGROUND

Limited data on clinical implementation of oral immunotherapy (OIT) have been reported with incomplete evaluation of barriers.

OBJECTIVE

To survey Canadian allergists on their current practice of OIT and barriers to implementation and expansion of OIT.

METHODS

A survey investigating current practice and logistical and clinical barriers to offering or expanding OIT was distributed to all Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology allergists.

RESULTS

Of 90 responding allergists, 52.2% reported offering OIT, most commonly to peanut. Food sublingual immunotherapy was offered by 7% of allergists. Having received training for OIT was associated with currently performing OIT (P = .008); 44.7% of allergists offering OIT had received training on OIT, and 81.4% not offering OIT had no training. A total of 87% of allergists performing OIT reported lack of efficacy data and lack of support staff and clinic space, and concerns about increased oral challenges (84%) were "moderately" to "extremely" important barriers to expanding OIT. For clinicians not offering OIT, concerns about safety (95%), after-hours support (95%), efficacy (93%), medicolegal risk (93%), and long-term practice implications (93%) were prioritized as significant barriers. Qualitative assessment suggested concerns about the practical challenges associated with OIT, the need for increased safety and efficacy data, and a desire for OIT guidelines and training.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of OIT faces many barriers, both clinical and logistical. Increasing high-quality safety and efficacy data may support those hesitant to offer OIT, and improving funding may address the practical infrastructure challenges. In addition, training will help expand access for allergists interested in performing OIT.

Unmet needs of children with peanut allergy: Aligning the risks and the evidence

BACKGROUND

Peanut allergy is a potentially severe and lifelong allergy, with few effective treatments or preventive measures.

OBJECTIVE

To convene an expert panel of allergists, pediatricians, and advocates to discuss and highlight unmet needs in the prevention and management of peanut allergies.

METHODS

Literature searches of PubMed were performed. The panel evaluated published data on the prevention of peanut allergy, treatment of existing peanut allergy, and management of reactions after unintentional peanut exposures.

RESULTS

The following key unmet needs in the prevention and management of peanut allergy were identified: (1) enhancing and optimizing implementation of early peanut introduction as a means of preventing the development of peanut allergy, (2) developing knowledge translation strategies regarding the safety and efficacy data for current and emerging immunotherapies for peanut-allergic children to support their use in clinical practice, and (3) promoting understanding of true exposure risk in allergic individuals and ensuring access to epinephrine for unintentional exposures that provoke severe reactions. Practitioners should help educate caregivers about the actual risks associated with peanut allergy and its prevention and management so that treatment decisions can be evidence based rather than fear based. Support tools are needed to help address caregiver goals, expectations, and psychological barriers, as well as identify facilitators for prevention and treatment strategies.

CONCLUSION

There are significant unmet needs in our understanding of peanut allergy; addressing these needs will help to enhance understanding of how to most effectively prevent and treat peanut allergy, as well as educate the food-allergic and nonallergic community regarding current evidence-based practices.

Peanut Oral Immunotherapy: a Current Perspective

Purpose of the Review

Peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) is one of the most studied experimental therapies for food allergy. With the recently FDA-approved peanut product, Palforzia, the goal of this article is to review the most recent data from clinical trials, discuss recent trends, and anticipate future developments.

Recent Findings

The latest research suggests that peanut OIT could be a promising option for peanut-allergic patients, with the majority of participants in research studies achieving the primary efficacy endpoint of desensitization, as well as sustained unresponsiveness in select populations. Some studies also showed improvements in food allergy-related quality of life. However, peanut OIT is not without risk or side effects, including potentially serious allergic reactions.

Summary

Future research will need to evaluate the short- and long-term effectiveness of the therapy in the real-world setting, predictors of important treatment outcomes, and the use of adjunctive therapies that may mitigate some of these allergic reactions.