Precision medicine in COPD: where are we and where do we need to go?

• Published in: European respiratory review Vol. 27; no. 149; p. 180022
• Main Authors: Sidhaye, Venkataramana K, Nishida, Kristine, Martinez, Fernando J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England European Respiratory Society 30.09.2018
• Subjects: Clinical Decision-Making; Early Diagnosis; Genetic Markers; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Humans; Lung - drug effects; Lung - physiopathology; Phenotype; Precision Medicine; Predictive Value of Tests; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - drug therapy; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - genetics; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - metabolism; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0905-9180; 1600-0617
• DOI: 10.1183/16000617.0022-2018

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fourth leading cause of death worldwide in 2015. Current treatments for patients ease discomfort and help decrease disease progression; however, none improve lung function or change mortality. COPD is heterogeneous in its molecular and clinical presentation, making it difficult to understand disease aetiology and define robust therapeutic strategies. Given the complexity of the disease we propose a precision medicine approach to understanding and better treating COPD. It is possible that multiOMICs can be used as a tool to integrate data from multiple fields. Moreover, analysis of electronic medical records could aid in the treatment of patients and in the predictions of outcomes. The Precision Medicine Initiative created in 2015 has made precision medicine approaches to treat disease a reality; one of these diseases being COPD.