RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Practical aspects of targeting IL-6 in COVID-19 disease
JF Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
JO Cleve Clin J Med
FD Cleveland Clinic
DO 10.3949/ccjm.87a.ccc018
A1 Cassandra Calabrese
A1 Prabalini Rajendram
A1 Gretchen Sacha
A1 Leonard Calabrese
YR 2020
UL http://www.ccjm.org/content/early/2020/05/12/ccjm.87a.ccc018.abstract
AB Severe cases of COVID-19 are often attended by a syndrome that has been described as “cytokine storm,” with some features shared with macrophage activation syndrome. A variety of experimental therapies targeting this hyperinflammatory state are now being applied in hospitals around the world. Among the most widely used treatments are monoclonal antibodies targeting interleukin-6 (IL-6) or the IL-6 receptor. Anti-IL-6 drugs are being widely used experimentally and as off-label therapy for patients with COVID-19 who are sick and deteriorating but have a reasonable chance of recovering, but they are still unproven and unapproved for this use. The pandemic has created major ethical and practical questions about patient selection and nonapproved use vs use in the context of a randomized clinical trial.