[Role of ICS/LABA on COPD treatment]

In the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchodilators such as long acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and long acting β agonist(LABA) play key roles for improving respiratory function and symptoms, and reducing risk of exacerbation. However, inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), a key medicine for bronchial asthma, is limitedly used in COPD treatment. Japanese Respiratory Society recommends to use ICS for severe COPD patients who have been frequently exacerbated, because previous clinical studies indicated that ICS reduces exacerbation in moderate to severe COPD patients. Asthma sometimes overlaps with COPD, and symptoms of those patients are not well controlled by the bronchodilation therapy alone. Therefore, ICS/LABA or ICS/LAMA should be prescribed to those overlapped patients. Concentration of exhaled nitrogen oxide and percentage of peripheral eosinophil may be good biomarkers for discriminating the COPD patients who have good response to ICS treatment.