Ground-breaking eczema treatment trial offered Sydney grandma quick relief

A Sydney grandmother who took part in a world-first clinical trial for a new eczema treatment has said it changed her life.

Helen Stenton said the usual redness and itchiness associated with her condition subsided soon after she began participating in the trial.

She signed up to the trial after trying treatments ranging from wet dressing through to chemotherapy over a period of decades.

"I had pain, I had anxiety because it was always itchy and people would say stop scratching," Ms Stenton told 9NEWS.

The trial treatment is called Dupilumab and is a weekly injection of a molecule that targets the inflammatory process, by blocking certain pathways that are key drivers of the condition.

"When we block these pathways what happens is the inflammatory action that is associated with eczema is dampened down… because it's dampened down the eczema improves," dermatologist and Associate Professor Stephen Shumack said.

The treatment is not currently approved for clinical use in Australia, but that could change in the next 12 to 18 months.

Smaller studies are also being conducted in children, and the treatment is the first in a new class – known as "biological agents" – that are in the pipeline.