Malignancy and Specific Allergen Immunotherapy: The Results of a Case Series
- 29 June 2011
- journal article
- case report
- Published by S. Karger AG in International Archives of Allergy and Immunology
- Vol. 156 (3), 313-319
- https://doi.org/10.1159/000323519
Abstract
Specific immunotherapy with allergen is the only causative treatment for IgE-mediated allergies such as stinging insect allergy or hay fever and works by the induction of blocking antibodies and regulatory T lymphocytes. Does a hypothetical obstruction of tumor surveillance presupposing the induction of regulatory T cells really justify detaining immunotherapy to oncologic patients as suggested by recent guidelines? We report 6 patients (4 female, 2 male) suffering or having suffered from stage 1 cancer (4 melanomas, 1 lung cancer, 1 breast cancer) and concomitant IgE-mediated allergy. Four of them had a history of severe anaphylactic reactions to the insect yellow jacket, the 5th suffered from allergic rhinoconjunctivitis to dust mites, and the 6th to grass/rye pollen. Between 2004 and 2010, subcutaneous immunotherapy was safely performed in 5 patients without signs of tumor reactivation. The cancer in 2 of them was diagnosed immediately after specific immunotherapy had been initiated and in another 2 the active cancer phase had already finished years before; the 5th suffered from a relapse around the time of the initiation of immunotherapy. At the time of the writing of the manuscript, 4 of them had already concluded 3 years of treatment, another one almost 1 year. The melanoma in the 6th patient was diagnosed 5 months after reaching the maintenance dose. Immunotherapy with grass/rye pollen was aborted in this patient based on current guidelines. Specific immunotherapy was safely administered in patients suffering concomitantly from IgE-mediated allergy and lower stage cancer.Keywords
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