WCN 2023 | The role of CGRP in cluster headache

Rigmor Hojland Jensen, MD, from University of Copenhagen, Glostrup, Denmark, discusses calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a potent vasodilator which is central to the pathophysiology of both cluster headaches and migraine. Although the discovery of CGRP changed the landscape of migraine considerably, the same has not occurred in the treatment of cluster headache given its rarity and lack of research. In human provocation studies, CGRP triggers both migraine and cluster headaches, but the latter can only be triggered in certain situations, making it more difficult to determine an association between CGRP and cluster headache attacks. CGRP-targeting agents may have therapeutic potential but further studies are necessary in order to investigate this and to understand how its effects may vary in patients with chronic cluster headaches, who experience a severe burden of disease. This interview took place at the World Congress of Neurology (WCN) 2023 in Montreal, Canada.

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