Asthma remission in the context of other immune-mediated diseases

Remission can be defined as a temporary or enduring state in which disease activity is absent in a patient with a chronic illness. The concept of clinical remission in asthma is relatively new; the specific criteria that should comprise the definition of remission are a topic of ongoing debate. It is therefore beneficial to explore how remission has been defined and integrated successfully into management strategies for other diseases that have already traversed this journey for lessons learned. We evaluate the evolution of treat-to-target approaches for rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, which are immune-mediated diseases in which clinical remission has become widely accepted as the principal therapeutic goal. Lessons learned from the experience of defining clinical remission in rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease can help us further refine and apply the definition of clinical remission to asthma. This article is part of a supplement supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. The content of this article was developed independently by National Jewish Health and the article authors.