Blood-Based Biomarkers in Pulmonary Fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition characterised by progressive lung scarring, resulting in a median survival of 3–5 years after diagnosis. However, the rate of lung function decline varies widely among patients with different aetiologies, posing substantial challenges in clinical management. Currently, no cure exists for pulmonary fibrosis, and pirfenidone and nintedanib, approved for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment, have partial effects in slowing disease progression and variable tolerability.

This study aimed to classify patients with pulmonary fibrosis according to blood biomarkers to differentiate distinct disease patterns, known as endotypes.

Our findings showed that blood biomarker clustering in pulmonary fibrosis identified three distinct blood biomarker signatures associated with lung function and prognosis, suggesting unique pulmonary fibrosis biomarker patterns. These findings support the presence of pulmonary fibrosis endotypes with the potential to guide targeted therapy development.

Article: Cluster analysis of blood biomarkers to identify molecular patterns in pulmonary fibrosis: assessment of a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort with independent validation