Immune monitoring for precision medicine in allergy and asthma

Abstract

'Precision Medicine' embodies the analyses of extensive data collected from patients and their environments to identify and apply patient-specific prophylactic strategies and medical treatments to improve clinical outcomes and healthcare cost-effectiveness. Many new methods have been developed for evaluating the activity of the human immune system. Such 'immune monitoring' approaches are now being used in studies of allergy and asthma in the hope of identifying better correlates of disease status, predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and potential side-effects of treatment. Together with analyses of family histories, genetic and other biometric data, and measurements of exposures to environmental and other risk factors for developing or exacerbating disease, immune monitoring approaches promise to enable 'Precision Medicine' for allergic diseases and asthma.