Cystic Fibrosis (CF) gene therapy boost

A clinical trial using gene therapy to treat cystic fibrosis has shown to stabilise and slightly improve cystic fibrosis in some of the 136 patients.

The study, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine, involved patients inhaling healthy copies of the genes that cause CF once a month for one year.

The lungs of some of the patients showed no decline for the duration of the trial and the lungs which were most clogged before the start of the trial showed a 3% improvement. In contrast the lungs of patients, who did not take part in the gene therapy showed a decline in lung function of 3-4% on average over the same period of time.

Cystic Fibrosis Trust chief executive Ed Owen said: “The advantage of gene therapy is that it attacks the basic defect of cystic fibrosis and that has the potential to reduce the daily routine of drugs that those with cystic fibrosis endure each day and (offers the possibility) of long-term improvement to transform their lives”.

Read the full BBC report.

Read the article in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine.