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Review
. 2019 Mar 15:8:F1000 Faculty Rev-293.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.17295.1. eCollection 2019.

Bronchiectasis insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

Mark Metersky  1 , James Chalmers  2
Affiliations
Review

Bronchiectasis insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

Mark Metersky et al. F1000Res. .

Abstract

Bronchiectasis is an increasingly common disease with a significant impact on quality of life and morbidity of affected patients. It is also a very heterogeneous disease with numerous different underlying etiologies and presentations. Most treatments for bronchiectasis are based on low-quality evidence; consequently, no treatments have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of bronchiectasis. The last several years have seen numerous clinical trials in which the investigational agent, thought to hold great promise, did not demonstrate a clinically or statistically significant benefit. This commentary will review the likely reasons for these disappointing results and a potential approach that may have a greater likelihood of defining evidence-based treatment for bronchiectasis.

Keywords: Bronchiectasis; Clinical trial; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: MLM’s institution has received funding for a clinical trial sponsored by Insmed, and he has served as a consultant to Savara and Insmed and was reimbursed for his time. JDC has received research funding from GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Insmed, and Novartis and has served as a consultant to Aradigm, Grifols, Insmed, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Zambon, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Napp. No competing interests were disclosed.No competing interests were disclosed.

References

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