David Baty can remember the first time his son Spencer, then three years old, ate peanuts. He took the peanuts his dad gave him, and then he asked his dad for an ice pack. Spencer put it on his tongue as his cheeks started to get red.
“It took us a little while — we didn't even suspect a food allergy because none of us were allergic to foods — then it hits us: This is a food allergy. This is a reaction,” said David Baty.
Spencer is 11 now. In the 8 years since, his family has struggled to avoid peanuts and a slew of other foods he is allergic to.
About a year ago, the Baty family found some relief. They were part of a national study of an experimental treatment for peanut allergies. Spencer now wears a patch, called the Viaskin Peanut, that releases a little bit of peanut protein into his skin.
Dr. Stephen Tilles with the Seattle Food Allergy Consortium is the Seattle-area principle investigator for this study. He said Viaskin helps patients with allergies develop immune responses to peanuts. The patch uses the same protein that causes a dangerous reaction in the body, but through a different dose and entry route – the skin – changing the body’s reaction.
“You can fool the immune system, or at least help the immune system realize that this is not a threat, and it can become more appropriately bored by the protein rather than calling in all of the ugly troops,” Tilles said.
[asset-images[{"caption": "The cup on the left holds the amount of peanut Spencer Baty, 11, could be exposed to before the study. On the right is the amount of peanuts he can be exposed to now. Also pictured is the Viaskin Peanut patch Spencer and other study participants wear every day. ", "fid": "115537", "style": "offset_left", "uri": "public://201502/IMG_2105.JPG", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Amina al-Sadi"}]]Spencer used to react to even a tiny bite of a peanut, and now with the patch, he can eat as many as 10 peanuts. He said it's kind of nice to know he has a little bit of a cushion now.
Tilles said that the results of the study are exciting, but notes that patients aren’t yet to the point where they can be eating peanuts every day.
“We may well find out later whether after one stops the patch, whether that protection continues. That's the difference between desensitization and tolerance – it’s kind of like the Holy Grail in this business,” Tilles said.
Phase three of the peanut study is expected to begin in early 2016. Tilles is encouraged by the “efficacy and effectiveness” of the treatment through phase two.
“This is the first time in my career where we're able to look at food allergy patients in the eye and say there's very likely going to be an approved treatment in the next five years,” he said.
Produced for the Web by Kara McDermott.
This piece originally aired Feb. 23, 2015.
