Is Asthma Remission a New Achievable Goal? A Review of the Current Drug-Related Evidence and Predictors

Abstract

Advances in asthma therapies have shown that clinical remission may be an achievable therapeutic goal for patients with asthma. This review discusses the current definitions of remission in asthma, the predictors of remission, airway inflammation/epithelial damage in asthma remission, airway remodeling, paradigms in defining remission and super-responders, remission criteria in severe asthma studies with biologics, and future perspectives. The terminology of asthma remission basically describes a high level of disease control, which includes the absence of symptoms and exacerbations, avoiding the use of oral corticosteroids and stability of lung function with/without continuation of treatment. Predictors associated with spontaneous remission include younger age at asthma onset, milder symptoms at diagnosis, male sex, and higher baseline lung function. Biologic therapies have shown considerable success in achieving remission in asthma; however, predictors of response to these therapies remain heterogeneous and are not consistently defined across studies.