Inflammatory airway diseases and clinical allergy: Inflammatory Airways Diseases and Clinical Allergy Assembly contribution to the celebration of 20 years of the ERS

Assembly 5 of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) is the Inflammatory Airway Diseases and Clinical Allergy Assembly and consists of three Scientific Groups: 1) Airway Pharmacology and Treatment; 2) Monitoring Airway Diseases; and 3) Allergy and Immunology. The original focus of the Assembly was mostly on asthma, but in recent years, it has increasingly begun to encompass chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A substantial number of pharmacologists and basic scientists have joined clinicians to work together to unravel mechanisms of and improve diagnosis and treatment of these common chronic airway diseases. The Airway Pharmacology and Treatment Group focuses its activities on the pharmacology of the drugs used in asthma and COPD, and the development of scientific rationales for new drugs. The Monitoring Airway Disease Group evolved from the Airway Regulation and Provocation Group. Initially, focus was on the evaluation of bronchial responsiveness but in the past 20 years, important new technologies have developed, such as sputum induction, and measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) and exhaled breath condensate for noninvasive evaluation of airways inflammation. The Allergy and Immunology Group focuses mainly on airway and lung immunology, a rapidly advancing field that is crucial to our understanding of cellular and molecular backgrounds of allergy and inflammatory airways diseases. The majority of adult asthma patients can now be treated by a combination of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting inhaled β2-agonists. Combination inhalers are highly effective, relatively inexpensive and safe. The scientific rationale is based on knowledge derived from both basic science and landmark clinical trials, in which prominent members of our Assembly have taken the lead 1–3. More recently, the …