Interstitial Lung Diseases: New Treatments Based on Treatable Traits
A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Respiratory Medicine".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 May 2026 | Viewed by 602
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) represent a heterogeneous group of several entities in which heterogeneity manifests at many levels, including symptoms, disease courses, radiological and histological features, and biological underpinnings. This heterogeneity has been a substantial barrier to understanding disease mechanisms and developing effective and personalized treatments, leading to suboptimal patient management.
Recent data suggest that different ILDs can share similar pathogenetic and biological pathways, and thus be amenable to the same treatments. A paradigmatic example is the progressive pulmonary fibrosis phenotype, in which nintedanib has shown efficacy regardless of ILD etiology.
A growing amount of evidence points towards the subgroup characterization of ILDs through endotypes, which are defined by specific genetic and molecular biomarkers. Advancing our understanding of pathophysiology through additional key genetic and etiological components is needed to identify endotypes and improve clinical care for these patients. To implement this strategy, a multidisciplinary approach focusing not only on systemic and pathophysiological aspects but also on somatic and psychosocial aspects of the disease is needed.
Thus, the future of ILDs lies in precision medicine approaches based on phenotypic and endotypic features, named treatable traits (TTs). Further RCTs based on relevant TTs are needed to optimize the use of both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions targeting phenotype- and endotype-driven mechanisms to improve the quality of life and outcome of ILD patients.
The aim of this Special Issue, “Interstitial Lung Diseases: New Treatments Based on Treatable Traits”, is to outline the status of knowledge in this field.
Dr. Francesco Amati
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- interstitial lung diseases
- progressive pulmonary fibrosis
- phenotypes
- endotypes
- treatment
- precision medicine
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