Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an allergic condition of the esophagus that is on the rise throughout the United States. Patients with the condition typically have inflammation throughout their esophagus and trouble swallowing food – known as dysphagia.
Without proper treatment, the lining of the esophagus becomes fibrous, and the passage becomes so narrowed, or strictured, that food can lodge in the esophagus, requiring medical attention.
Historically, obtaining treatment has been difficult for U.S. physicians. There is one approved treatment for EoE in several other countries, but it is not available for use in the United States.
This left physicians to rely on food elimination diets, off-label treatments, such as stomach acid reducers or asthma steroid medications (which are swallowed to coat the esophagus rather than inhaled), and stretching the esophagus with dilation during endoscopy. However, for many patients these methods were either not available or may not have been very effective.
To fulfill this need, Evan Dellon, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at the UNC School of Medicine and director of theCenter for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing, worked with colleagues on a clinical trial that led to approval of dupilumab for treatment in adults and adolescents with eosinophilic esophagitis.