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Finding Relief: A New Direction for Treating Nasal Polyps

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A man with gray hair wearing a gray shirt holds his hand to his face, in pain from nasal polyps.

Imagine waking with a stuffy nose, relying on decongestants and nasal sprays to help you breathe, only to leave you drowsy. A neti pot or steam offers momentary help, but the day ends as it began, trapped in a cycle of temporary relief and constant discomfort.

This is what it’s like to suffer from nasal polyps, small growths of tissue that block the sinuses.

While treatments like glucocorticoids and surgery are commonly used, they often fall short and can come with long-term side effects. For many patients, this means the polyps return, bringing back frustrating and sometimes painful symptoms.

That’s where Joseph Han, MD comes in. A professor of Otolaryngology at the Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences EVMS Medical Group at Old Dominion University, Dr. Han is deeply committed to helping patients find more effective, lasting relief and return to a normal life.

“Many patients have already had several surgeries by the time they come to me,” said Dr. Han. “Some are misdiagnosed, and many hadn't received the right treatment. To better understand each patient’s condition, we use biomarker testing, which helps us choose more effective treatments with fewer side effects.”

Dr. Han, who also serves as chief of Rhinology & Endoscopic Sinus and Skull Base Surgery and Division of Allergy, has an extensive background in lab research. He started this particular work at the University of Virginia and continued it at EVMS, where he discovered there are certain cytokines in patients who have chronic sinus problems with nasal polyps. Cytokines help cells communicate with each other and play a key role in how the immune system responds to illness or injury.

His discovery led him to propose a treatment that targets cytokines. He convinced pharmaceutical companies to run clinical trials for patients with tough-to-treat symptoms and recurring polyps, even after surgery.

In the study, adults who had been diagnosed by a physician with severe chronic sinus problems and nasal polyps were randomly placed into two groups. Everyone received standard treatment, but one group also got a 210 mg dose of tezepelumab, while the other received a placebo. After one year, those who took tezepelumab had noticeable improvements — their nasal polyps were smaller, and symptoms like congestion were less severe.

The results, said Dr. Han, were the best so far for a biologic for adults suffering with these symptoms. “[The results] were better than we expected.”

To learn more about personalized treatment options or to schedule a consultation, contact Dr. Han at EVMS Medical Group at Old Dominion University Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgeons. Relief might be closer than you think.

Read more about Dr. Han’s research in The New England Journal of Medicine.