Feature Channels: Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

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Scientists can now grow 3-D models of lungs from stem cells, creating new ways to study respiratory diseases.

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“Pneumonia is the top infection-linked killer of children globally,” says Roomi Nusrat, MD, a member of the American Thoracic Society’s Pneumonia Working Group and Allergy, Immunology and Inflammation Assembly. “It is responsible for more than 50,000 deaths each year in the U.S.”

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Although the understanding of cough triggered by occupational and environmental causes has improved, experts say there is still a gap between current guidelines and clinical practice. A report by the CHEST Expert Cough Panel published in the journal CHEST suggests an approach to investigating occupational and environmental causes when these are suspected. The report has been endorsed by professional associations in the U.S., Canada, and Asia.

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Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new personalized assessment tool that could better predict lung cancer risk in never, light and heavy smokers using a large Taiwanese prospective cohort study.

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New study finds that beta-cryptoxanthin, a carotenoid primarily found in plants, reduces lung cancer development and invasiveness in mouse and cell models. The results support human epidemiological studies associating high beta-cryptoxanthin intake with lower risk of lung cancer in current smokers.

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The FDA granted approval to pembrolizumab for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer whose tumors express programmed death ligand-1 as determined by an FDA–approved test.

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With five simple questions and an inexpensive peak expiratory flow (PEF) meter, primary care clinicians may be able to diagnose many more patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, according to new research published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Follow-up studies will help establish if earlier identification and treatment of people with COPD improves quality of life and health outcomes.

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A recent Cochrane Review has found evidence from randomised trials, that taking an oral vitamin D supplement in addition to standard asthma medication is likely to reduce severe asthma attacks.

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A newly published study of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) concludes that long-term supplemental oxygen treatment results in little or no change in time to death, time to first hospitalizations or significant quality of life improvements for those with moderately low blood oxygen levels.

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Spurred by NYS Trade Mission to Cuba in 2015, Buffalo cancer center will conduct a clinical trial with CIMAvax-EGF, groundbreaking immunotherapy for lung cancer developed in Cuba — becoming the first American center to receive FDA authorization to sponsor a clinical trial offering a Cuban-made therapy to U.S. patients — and will work to speed this and other innovative therapies to patients worldwide through a historic new business venture with Cuban research institute

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A team of Wayne State University researchers led by Karen MacDonell, Ph.D., assistant professor of family medicine and public health sciences at Wayne State’s School of Medicine, recently received a $2.66 million award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to address research limitations on interventions and ultimately improve asthma management in racial minority populations, particularly minority adolescents and young adults.

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Pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy drug that was extensively evaluated by UCLA cancer researcher Dr. Edward Garon, has been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as first-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The first-line designation means that some patients will have access to the drug without first having to receive other treatments such as chemotherapy.

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Experiments designed to reveal how a protein protects the lungs from asthma-related damage suggest a new way to treat a rare disease marked by the inability of cells to break down fats, according to a report in EBioMedicine published online Oct. 25.

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The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) have published new guidelines for discontinuing mechanical ventilation in critically ill adults. The goal of the guidelines is to help physicians and other health care professionals determine when patients with acute respiratory failure can breathe on their own and to provide clinical advice that may increase the chances for successful extubation.

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The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a life-threatening pathogen in hospitals. About ten percent of all nosocomial infections, in particular pneumonia, are caused by this pathogen. Researchers from the University of Basel in Switzerland, have now discovered that calcium induces the switch from acute to chronic infection. In Nature Microbiology the researchers have also reported why antibiotics are less effective in fighting the pathogen in its chronic state.

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Newly expanded partnership between nation’s leading respiratory hospital and renowned New York- based health care system celebrates successes of first year of service

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Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have identified a chemical inhibitor that limits the growth of lung tumor cells. The inhibitor works by partially disrupting glycosylation, the addition of sugar chains to proteins.

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A study by researchers from The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles reveals a promising therapeutic target for improving lung function in infants.

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Steroids for women at risk of preterm birth improve lung development and reduces risk of severe respiratory distress in babies.

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Worsening depression symptoms are associated with shorter survival for lung cancer patients, particularly those in the early stages of disease, according to a new U.S. study.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study the impact of diagnostic error on outcomes for pulmonary patients and the use of lung-function testing in primary care. Studies suggest 30 to 50 percent of patients may have an incorrect diagnosis.

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Penn Medicine researchers, along with colleagues at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Boston University, have received a $5.2 million, seven-year grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms that promote lung regeneration.

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Moon Nahm’s groundbreaking research is on the threshold of aiding researchers in producing vaccines at prices that will propel their widespread use and help protect the estimated 1.6 million children, most of them under the age of 5, who die yearly from S. pneumoniae infections.

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A survey of international members of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) found that 96 percent of respondents agreed that climate change is occurring and 81 percent indicated that climate change has direct relevance to patient care. Compared to a similar survey of American ATS members, more international physician members reported that climate change was affecting their patients “a great deal” or a “moderate amount” (69 percent international vs. 44 percent U.S.).

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A Yale-led research team has identified a new blocking mechanism that acts like a dimmer switch and inhibits lung tumor cell growth.

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The Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Medical Center has named noted clinician-scientist Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD, as its new Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology.

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Researchers working in four labs at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found a chink in a so-called “undruggable” lung cancer’s armor – and located an existing drug that might provide a treatment.

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A component of red wine and grapes can help control inflammation induced by a bacterial pathogen that is linked to upper respiratory tract inflammatory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and middle ear infection (otitis media), according to a study by researchers at Georgia State University.

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Heart disease patients enrolled in a clinical trial - designed to test whether a stronger dose of the influenza vaccine can prevent death or hospitalization due to a heart attack, heart failure, stroke or pneumonia - have begun receiving their first flu shots in Toronto and Boston.

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A Yale Cancer Center team completed a multi-institutional analysis of treatment options for patients with newly diagnosed EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastases to determine the best option for treatment.

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Members of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases are funding more than thirteen international research projects into the prevention and management of chronic lung diseases.

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A new study led by Anurag Singh, MD, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute and presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2016 Annual Meeting suggests that a single high-intensity SBRT dose can be as effective as three slightly lower doses of radiation.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have discovered a previously unrecognized form of macrophage in mice; the immune cells survived chemotherapy and protected against life-threatening lung infections.

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Two new studies from the University of Iowa suggest that gene therapy may be a viable approach for treating or preventing lung disease caused by cystic fibrosis (CF).

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Jonathan Samet, M.D., M.S. of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, will tackle the issue of tobacco and health, explaining how solid research can drive gains in public health.

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The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS) have published new clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare lung disease that primarily affects women of child-bearing age.

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Cells in the lung are constantly exposed to oxygen and intermittently exposed to other environmental factors, resulting in a susceptibility to oxidative injury. Both alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and cigarette smoking heighten pulmonary oxidative stress, likely due to antioxidant depletion. Pulmonary oxidative stress damages innate immunity, which can contribute to increased pneumonia susceptibility and severity. This study sought to understand whether measures of pulmonary oxidative stress in upper airway fluid are comparable to measures in the lower airways, and whether either compartment is preferentially affected by AUDs and/or smoking. If upper airways’ and lower airways’ oxidative stress indices are similar, less invasive methods to assess pulmonary oxidative stress, such as mini-bronchoalveolar lavage (mini-BAL) or sputum evaluations, could be used in research and clinical settings.

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David Warburton, MD, of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has been awarded more than $2.3 million from the Department of Defense for the development of an innovative endoscopic device for performing noninvasive, quantitative analysis of lung epithelial cell metabolism during lung injury.

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Pediatric otolaryngologist George Harris, MD, FACS, FAAP, who specializes in aerodigestive track disorders, has joined Loyola Medicine.

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The American College of Radiology applauds members of the House Ways and Means Committee for standing against planned cuts to Medicare reimbursement for low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening.

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In a study appearing in the September 13 issue of JAMA, Jouke T. Annema, M.D., Ph.D., of the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, and colleagues examined five-year survival after endosonography vs mediastinoscopy for mediastinal nodal staging of lung cancer.

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Tuberculosis persists in many patients after they receive drug therapies, while others relapse after being successfully cured of symptoms, according to a study published in Nature Medicine. The findings highlight the importance of immune systems in eradicating the disease, and provide markers to test new treatments.