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Precision medicine in pediatric sepsis
Mihir R Atreya1, Hector R Wong
1Division of Critical Care Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Insights
Precision medicine offers a new approach to treating pediatric sepsis by identifying patient subgroups likely to benefit from targeted therapies. This strategy aims to improve outcomes in severe pediatric infections.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric critical care medicine
- Translational research
- Bioinformatics and computational biology
Background:
- Pediatric sepsis is a complex condition with high mortality and limited treatment options.
- Previous immunomodulator trials in sepsis have lacked efficacy despite biological rationale.
- A precision medicine approach is needed to tailor interventions for pediatric sepsis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the application of precision medicine in pediatric sepsis.
- To identify patient subgroups who may benefit from targeted therapeutic interventions.
- To enhance clinical trial design and patient selection for sepsis therapies.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing 'omics data' and bioinformatics to identify pediatric septic shock endotypes.
- Employing multibiomarker strategies for risk stratification at disease onset.
- Developing predictive and prognostic enrichment strategies for clinical trials.
Main Results:
- Identification of distinct molecular endotypes and biological pathways in pediatric septic shock.
- Development of methods to identify high-risk pediatric sepsis patients using biomarkers.
- Potential for optimizing patient selection in clinical trials through enrichment strategies.
Conclusions:
- Precision medicine can subclassify and risk-stratify pediatric sepsis patients for targeted therapies.
- Robust research, rigorous trials, and big data infrastructure are essential for precision sepsis medicine.
- A bedside-to-bench-to-bedside model can provide clinicians with decision-making tools for pediatric sepsis.
Purpose Of Review:
Pediatric sepsis is a heterogeneous state associated with significant morbidity and mortality, but treatment strategies are limited. Clinical trials of immunomodulators in sepsis have shown no benefit, despite having a strong biological rationale. There is considerable interest in application of a precision medicine approach to pediatric sepsis to identify patients who are more likely to benefit from targeted therapeutic interventions.
Recent Findings:
Precision medicine requires a clear understanding of the molecular basis of disease. 'Omics data' and bioinformatics tools have enabled identification of endotypes of pediatric septic shock, with corresponding biological pathways. Further, using a multibiomarker-based approach, patients at highest risk of poor outcomes can be identified at disease onset. Enrichment strategies, both predictive and prognostic, may be used to optimize patient selection in clinical trials and identify a subpopulation in whom therapy of interest may be trialed. A bedside-to-bench-to-bedside model may offer clinicians pragmatic tools to aid in decision-making.
Summary:
Precision medicine approaches may be used to subclassify, risk-stratify, and select pediatric patients with sepsis who may benefit from new therapies. Application of precision medicine will require robust basic and translational research, rigorous clinical trials, and infrastructure to collect and analyze big data.
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