Feature Channels: Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

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Scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas have found that a protein responsible for transporting glucose — a kind of sugar — into cells is present in significantly higher levels in lung squamous cell carcinoma than in lung adenocarcinoma.

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The results of the trial, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrate that patients treated with a potential new medicine and antibody, called benralizumab, were more than four times likely to reduce their usage of oral corticosteroids than those taking a placebo.

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A new study by UCLA scientists has found that the breakthrough immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab can be more effective in improving survival in people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) if they have previously received radiation therapy, compared to those without a history of radiation treatment.

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These studies were funded through a collaboration with AstraZeneca to evaluate the effectiveness of osimertinib in EGFRm+ non-small cell lung cancer

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For patients with advanced cancer, aggressive care — chemotherapy, mechanical ventilation, acute hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions — at the end of life is commonplace. Yet until now, little is known about the relationship between patients’ and families’ satisfaction with this aggressive care within the last 30 days of life.

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A team of researchers from the University of Delaware have discovered how to label and light the sugar backbone of a bacterial cell wall. The findings will advance immune system research.

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In a new study presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference, adult asthma patients treated with bronchial thermoplasty (BT) had fewer severe exacerbations and were able to reduce their ER visits and hospitalizations in the two years following treatment. Approved by the FDA in 2010, BT is a new device-based therapy that uses a series of three radio-frequency treatments to open the airways of adults with severe, persistent asthma whose symptoms are not adequately controlled by inhaled corticosteroids or long-acting beta-agonists.

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While the number of hospitalizations for COPD in the United States fluctuated within a narrow range between 2005 and 2014, in-hospital deaths decreased substantially during that same time, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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A lung cancer diagnosis appears to put patients at the greatest risk of suicide when compared to the most common types of non-skin cancers, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often respond to standard chemotherapy, only to develop drug resistance later, and with fatal consequences. But what if doctors could identify those at greatest risk of relapse and provide a therapy to overcome or avoid it?

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By providing UK Orofacial Pain Clinic patients with a smartphone application that teaches diaphragmatic breathing, a team from the UK Center for Research on Violence Against Women hypothesizes victims of sexual and physical violence will learn to regulate their body’s sympathetic (flight or fight) tone and manage their pain.

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In a new study, CT-measured vascular pruning – the diminution of distal pulmonary blood vessels (vessels on the outer edges of the lungs) – was associated with increased risk of death in smokers without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study was presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Online pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was found to be as effective as face-to-face rehabilitation programs at improving patients’ exercise capacity and symptom control, according to new research presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 23, 2017, the American Thoracic Society will lead ATS members, pulmonary clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates in the ATS Rally on Capitol Hill: Lab Coats for Lungs.

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One Michigan Medicine researcher is a part of the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute group that recently created a new COPD National Action Plan. Released at the American Thoracic Society’s International Conference in Washington, D.C., it outlines key goals.

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A new study has found that children, especially boys, whose mothers were exposed to higher levels of outdoor particulate air pollution at the same time that they were very stressed were most likely to develop asthma by age six. The study was presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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According to a new survey, patients with lung disease report that they are unable to obtain home oxygen equipment that meets their needs thereby forcing them to become isolated. The study was presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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An investigational biologic may reduce the need for adults with severe asthma to take an oral corticosteroid to control their asthma, according to a randomized controlled trial presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference. Study findings are being reported simultaneously online, ahead of print in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Viral acute respiratory infections (ARIs) may lead to oxidative stress in some infants, and play a major role in the development of recurrent wheezing in early childhood, according to a new study presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference. Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the production of free radicals (atoms that can cause cellular damage in the body) and the ability of the body to counteract their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants.

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Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists have created a graphene-based sensor that could lead to earlier detection of looming asthma attacks and improve the management of asthma and other respiratory diseases, preventing hospitalizations and deaths.

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Among 12- to 17-year-olds who have never used tobacco products, nearly half were considered receptive to tobacco marketing if they were able to recall or liked at least one advertisement, report researchers at University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center and Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center, in a new national study. Receptivity to tobacco ads is associated with an increased susceptibility to smoking cigarettes in the future.

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High levels of air pollution over time may get in the way of a good night’s sleep, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference. “Prior studies have shown that air pollution impacts heart health and affects breathing and lung function, but less is known about whether air pollution affects sleep,” said lead author Martha E. Billings, MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington. “We thought an effect was likely given that air pollution causes upper airway irritation, swelling and congestion, and may also affect the central nervous system and brain areas that control breathing patterns and sleep.”

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Approximately one in four (22.1 percent) adults prescribed an antibiotic in an outpatient setting (such as a doctor’s office) for community-acquired pneumonia does not respond to treatment, according to a new study presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Two T cell biomarkers appear to predict the survival trajectory of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a lung disease that has a varied, but ultimately devastating, impact on patients, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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Supervising the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in elementary school children with asthma may not improve asthma symptoms, prevent school absences or reduce health care use, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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In a new study that analyzed data from the large French CUB-REA database, high volume intensive care units (ICUs) were found to have lower death rates from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) than low and moderate volume ICUs. The researchers also found that, overall, among the 35 ICUs in the CUB-REA registry, ICU mortality decreased despite an increase in ARDS severity. The study was presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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Smokers with diminished chest muscle may face a greater risk of death than those smokers with more chest muscle, whether they have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or not, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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After an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, people with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or people at risk for CVD appear more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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Directly observed therapy (DOT) for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) was associated with a 77 percent decrease in mortality in the United States, compared to self-administered therapy from 1993 to 2013, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.

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A new technology – ‘dialysis for the lungs’ – which could save thousands of lives in Intensive Care Units is being taken forward by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast in one of the biggest clinical trials in the world in the area of respiratory failure.

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FDA approves brigatinib as a second-line therapy for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer

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On Tuesday, May 23, 2017, the American Thoracic Society will lead ATS members, pulmonary clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates in the ATS Rally on Capitol Hill: Lab Coats for Lungs. The rally will bring attention to recent policies that threaten to undermine many of the ATS’s advocacy priorities including: research funding, tobacco regulation, affordable health care, and clean air.

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Lung cancer tumors were prevented in mice by a novel small molecule that directly activates a tumor suppressor protein.

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TMA-funded research fellow Xavier Suárez-Calvet, PhD is putting together pieces of the puzzle of dermatomyositis that may someday lead to more effective treatments for this rare autoimmune disease of the muscles.

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New lung “organoids”—tiny 3-D structures that mimic features of a full-sized lung—have been created from human pluripotent stem cells by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). The team used the organoids to generate models of human lung diseases in a lab dish, which could be used to advance our understanding of a variety of respiratory diseases.

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UCLA scientists have discovered a dendritic cell vaccine that amplifies the response of the immune system in people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of lung cancer. The study, which is the first to test the vaccine in humans, has important clinical implications as the method could boost the cancer-killing power of anti-PD-1 immunotherapies that are currently being evaluated in NSCLC and other advanced cancers, which are very difficult to treat successfully.

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Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that a cancer stem cell vaccine, engineered to express a pro-inflammatory protein called interleukin-15 (IL-15) and its receptor (IL-15Ralpha), caused T cell production in animal models and enhanced immune responses against tumors.

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What does asthma have in common with anxiety? New research shows that both can be treated with chemical compounds that exploit the calming effect of certain neurotransmitters. It could lead to fewer kids having to use an inhaler to take steroids.

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Hypoxia reverses brain damage caused by mitochondrial dysfunction, HHMI team finds. The approach might one day point to new therapies for people with Leigh syndrome and other mitochondrial disorders.

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Dr. Ming-Hui Zou, director of the Center for Molecular & Translational Medicine and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine, has received a five-year, $2.3 million federal grant to study how to reduce tumor growth in lung cancer.

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A newly identified molecular chain of events in a mouse model of prostate cancer highlights novel targets to treat it and other cancers. A Penn team discovered that the overexpression of a protein called PKCε with the loss of the tumor suppressor Pten causes the progression of prostate cancer.

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Robert J. Cerfolio, MD – whose innovations in robotics have led to practice-changing advances in lung cancer surgery – will join NYU Langone as chief of clinical thoracic surgery. He also will become the first director of the Lung Cancer Center at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.

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Immunotherapy, which has achieved remarkable results in late-stage lung cancer patients, can also hold great hope for newly diagnosed patients, cutting the deadly disease off before it has the chance to take hold and offering a potential cure, according to a new Mount Sinai study published today in Cell.

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Children with chronic lung diseases often must wait months or even years for a transplant, while large, immobile hospital equipment that could help them breathe easier actually may worsen their condition by overtaxing already damaged lungs.

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Montefiore-Einstein Researchers Present Findings at 2017 PAS Annual Meeting

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In support of World Asthma Day, May 2, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), of which the American Thoracic Society is a founding member, urges more availability to effective medications and health care for persons with asthma. It is estimated that between 300 and 400 million people worldwide suffer from asthma and about 250,000 people die each year – that is 1300 deaths every day. Most of them occur in low- and middle income countries. Asthma affects 14 percent of all children worldwide and its prevalence is rising. It is a major cause of school absenteeism and preventable hospital admissions.

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May is Asthma Awareness Month, and the National Institutes of Health is finding solutions to improve the health of the nearly 25 million people in the United States who currently have asthma. In recent decades, the prevalence of asthma has been increasing, resulting in millions of urgent medical visits and missed days of work and school each year.

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According to a new multicenter study, nearly half of previously employed adult survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome were jobless one year after hospital discharge, and are estimated to have lost an average of $27,000 in earnings.

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The Cotran Early Career Investigator Award recognizes early career investigators with demonstrated excellence as an investigator with recently established or emerging independence and with a research focus leading to an improved understanding of the conceptual basis of disease.