Hot Topic: Precision Medicine for Asthma-Has the Time Come?

Asthma is a common inflammatory airway disease, which affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Although conventional drugs are effective for most of the patients with mild-to-moderate asthma, they are less effective for patients with difficult-to-treat or severe asthma. Identification of asthma endotypes and biomarkers will lead to more precise approaches to treat asthma.

Asthma subphenotypes and endotypes have been described based on clinical variables and sputum granulocytes. A recent asthma endotype study has been summarized based on the combination of T2 (FeNO) and non-T2 (IL-6) biomarkers. Discovery of potential biomarkers for asthma has been discussed in the context of omics approaches. Current biologic drugs for asthma have been summarized, and the future direction of precise treatment of asthma has been suggested. This review provides a concise overview of the current state of subphenotypes, endotypes, biomarkers, omics approaches, and biologic drugs in asthma.