Journal of Asthma and Allergy (May 2021)
Precision Medicine for Paediatric Severe Asthma: Current Status and Future Direction
Abstract
Manisha Ramphul,1 David KH Lo,1,2 Erol A Gaillard1,2 1Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Leicester Children’s Hospital, University Hospitals Leicester, Leicester, UK; 2Department of Respiratory Sciences, Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (Respiratory Theme), University of Leicester, Leicester, UKCorrespondence: Erol A GaillardUniversity of Leicester, Department of Respiratory Sciences, NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (Respiratory Theme), PO Box 65, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, LE2 7LX, UKEmail [email protected]: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, characterised by different phenotypes and endotypes. Precision medicine in asthma refers to the implementation of a targeted therapy for each individual child, based on the identification of treatable traits, including environmental, immunological and genetic factors. Severe asthma in children is associated with increased hospitalisation rates, a lower quality of life, increased healthcare costs and an increased mortality. In the era of new molecular biologics treatments, it is essential to improve deep phenotyping of children with severe asthma in order to deliver the most effective treatment to each individual child. In this review, we discuss the personalised approach to the assessment and management of severe asthma. We explore the indications and use of the currently licensed biologics, as well as the potential of other emerging treatments.Keywords: child, omalizumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, benralizumab, dupilumab