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Hot Topic: Precision Medicine for Asthma—Has the Time Come?

  • Asthma (V Ortega, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Asthma is a common inflammatory airway disease, which affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Although conventional drugs are effective for most of the patients with mild-to-moderate asthma, they are less effective for patients with difficult-to-treat or severe asthma. Identification of asthma endotypes and biomarkers will lead to more precise approaches to treat asthma.

Recent Findings

Asthma subphenotypes and endotypes have been described based on clinical variables and sputum granulocytes. A recent asthma endotype study has been summarized based on the combination of T2 (FeNO) and non-T2 (IL-6) biomarkers. Discovery of potential biomarkers for asthma has been discussed in the context of omics approaches. Current biologic drugs for asthma have been summarized, and the future direction of precise treatment of asthma has been suggested.

Summary

This review provides a concise overview of the current state of subphenotypes, endotypes, biomarkers, omics approaches, and biologic drugs in asthma.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Genetics, Genomics and Precision Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Arizona, 1230 N Cherry Avenue, PO Box 210242, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA

    Xingnan Li

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  1. Xingnan Li
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Correspondence to Xingnan Li.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Asthma

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Li, X. Hot Topic: Precision Medicine for Asthma—Has the Time Come?. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 19, 45 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-019-0881-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-019-0881-3

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