QBX258 treatment increased quality of life and reduced pathologic changes in skin including hyperkeratosis, cytokine production, fibrosis and immune cell recruitment. was to test the efficacy BDNF of QBX258, a monoclonal IL4/IL13 neutralizing antibody, in women with breast cancerCrelated lymphedema (BCRL). We enrolled nine women with unilateral stage I/II BCRL and treated them once monthly with intravenous infusions of QBX258 for 4 months. We measured limb volumes, bioimpedance, and skin tonometry, and analyzed the quality of life (QOL) using a validated lymphedema questionnaire (Upper Limb Lymphedema 27, ULL-27) before treatment, immediately after treatment, and 4 months following treatment withdrawal. We also obtained 5 mm skin biopsies from the normal and lymphedematous limbs before and after treatment. Treatment was well-tolerated; however, one patient with a history of cellulitis developed cellulitis during the trial and was excluded from further analysis. We found no differences in limb volumes or bioimpedance measurements after drug treatment. However, QBX258 treatment improved skin stiffness ( 0.001) and improved QOL measurements (Physical 0.05, Social = 0.01). These improvements returned to baseline after treatment withdrawal. Histologically, treatment decreased epidermal thickness, the number of proliferating keratinocytes, type III collagen deposition, infiltration of mast cells, and the expression of Th2-inducing cytokines in the lymphedematous skin. Our limited study suggests that immunotherapy against Th2 cytokines may improve skin changes and QOL of women with BCRL. This treatment appears to be less effective for decreasing limb volumes; however, additional studies are needed. = 0.046; Physique 1a). The increased average volume in our cohort was primarily related to one individual who experienced a 27% increase after completion of treatment. Regrettably, this patient developed metastatic disease approximately 3 months after the end of treatment and was removed from the study; as a result, washout arm volume measurements were not obtained for this individual. Open in a separate window Physique 1 Effects of QBX258 treatment on arm volume, bioimpedance (L-Dex), and tonometry measurements. (a) Quantification of arm volumes at baseline, following 4-month treatment with QBX258 (treatment), and 4 months after cessation of treatment (washout). Changes in each patient are shown over time. (b) L-Dex measurements at baseline, following treatment, and following washout period with QBX258. (c) Tonometry measurements at baseline, following treatment, and following washout period with QBX258. Bioimpedance values (L-Dex) in all patients were outside the normal range ( 10) in all phases of the study CCT128930 (Physique 1b). There were no statistical differences between pretreatment and post-treatment, or post-treatment and washout time points. In contrast, we noted reductions in skin tonometry after treatment, and these changes persisted in the washout period (Physique 1c; 0.01 baseline vs. treatment; 0.01 CCT128930 baseline vs. washout). 3.4. Quality of Life Outcomes Changes in lymphedema related quality of life as assessed by the ULL-27 questionnaire are offered in Physique 2. We noted improvements (increases) in physical (Physique 2a) and interpersonal domains (Physique 2b) when comparing the post-treatment scores with pretreatment values. The average CCT128930 increase in the physical domain name was 13 points ( 0.035). Similarly, the scaled scores for the interpersonal domain name improved after treatment (11.9-point increase; 0.01). Improvements in both scales were lost and returned to pretreatment levels when patients were re-examined after the washout period (i.e., 4 months after the last treatment). We did not note changes in the psychological domain name at any time point (Physique 2c). Open in a separate window Physique 2 Effects of QBX258 CCT128930 treatment on quality CCT128930 of life measured using the ULL-27. (a) Quantification of physical score at baseline, following treatment, and following washout period in each patient over time. Average score for the cohort SD is usually shown below the graph. (b) Quantification of interpersonal score at each time point for all those patients. (c) Quantification of psychological score at each time point for all those patients. 3.5. Histologic Analysis We compared histologic changes in the skin of the normal and lymphedematous limbs before and after treatment with QBX258. We found no histologic changes in the skin of the normal limb following drug treatment (not shown); in contrast, histologic and immunofluorescent analysis of skin biopsies obtained from the same anatomic location of the lymphedematous limb exhibited marked changes following drug treatment. QBX258 Treatment Decreases Hyperkeratosis and Fibrosis Biopsy specimens.