Investigación y Desarrollo

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

Venkataramana K. Sidhaye1,2, Kristine Nishida1 and Fernando J. Martinez3

ABSTRACT

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fourth leading cause of deathABSTRACT Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fourth leading cause of deathworldwide 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 andclinical presentation, making it difficult to understand disease aetiology and define robust therapeuticstrategies. Given the complexity of the disease we propose a precision medicine approach to understandingand better treating COPD. It is possible that multiOMICs can be used as a tool to integrate data frommultiple fields. Moreover, analysis of electronic medical records could aid in the treatment of patients andin the predictions of outcomes. The Precision Medicine Initiative created in 2015 has made precisionmedicine approaches to treat disease a reality; one of these diseases being COPD.