200,000 people in the UK have ‘hidden’ lung disease
Bronchiectasis is the third most common lung disease in the UK, but despite this it is sometimes considered a ‘hidden’ disease due to a lack of public awareness, investment and research. Now a multi-million pound clinical trial is due to start in September to investigate whether existing drugs can be used to treat this debilitating lung disease.
The disease permanently damages and dilates the bronchi (tubes of the lungs), causing persistent breathing difficulties and recurring lung infections.
There is currently no treatment or cure and the number of people affected is increasing as the population ages – currently one in 200 people in the UK (around 200,000 people) have the disease, a figure that has increased by 40% in the past decade and is expected to increase by a further 20% over the next decade.
Researchers from the European Bronchiectasis Research Network EMBARC are working on the AIRNET (Anti-Inflammatory Repurposing Network) project, which is investigating whether three existing anti-inflammatory drugs can be repurposed to treat the disease.
Patients in the UK will be given one of the three drugs and monitored for a month at one of several trial sites across the UK to determine whether the drugs reduce lung inflammation. Led by Professor James Chalmers from the University of Dundee, the trial is funded by the not-for-profit charity LifeArc, and first results are expected within 18 months.
The trial is supported as part of LifeArc’s Chronic Respiratory Infection Translational Challenge, which is dedicated to driving new medical discoveries that improve the lives of patients with bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis.
