The role of biological therapy with monoclonal antibodies in elderly patients with severe asthma

<bold>Background:</bold> Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that affects millions of adults, and reduces patients quality of life(QoL). Several studies proven that biological therapy(BT) may be effective in the improvement of lung pulmonary function(LPF), asthma control(AC) and QoL. In this study, the authors propose to evaluate LPF, AC, asthma exacerbations(AE) and QoL before and after BT. Method: Retrospective study including older asthma patients under BT followed in a Severe Asthma Unit in a Portuguese hospital. Data was collected from the patient's clinical files:demographic characteristics, type of BT, LPF, AE and questionnaires to assess AC and QoL before and 12months after BT. <bold>Results:</bold> Of the 47patients,30 were female, mean age 74years old. 21 under mepolizumab, 17omalizumab, 8benralizumab and 1reslizumab. LFT was assessed at baseline and after BT. There was an increase of FEV1 in all patients. Regarding AC, the mean value of ACT score before treatment was 14,5 and 12months after was 20,7 points. Regarding AE, before BT all the patients had AE in the last year, and 12months after BT, only 36.1%had AE, of which only 4patients required hospitalization. We also found an improvement in the patient's QoL, measured by mini-AQLQ from 3.2 to 5.1 points. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> This study demonstrates that the diagnostic investigation of asthma should be carried out regardless of the patient's age and that BT can be an effective therapy even in elderly asthmatic patients, by improving LPF, by reducing AE and improving QoL. Although in the short term, BT may be associated with higher costs, in the long term it appears to reduce healthcare costs as it reduces the need to access healthcare services.