title: Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT): a prototype of Precision Medicine.
abstract: Precision medicine is a medical model aiming to deliver customised healthcare - with medical decisions, practices, and/or products tailored to the individual patient informed but not directed by guidelines. Allergen immunotherapy has unique immunological rationale, since the approach is tailored to the specific IgE spectrum of an individual and modifies the natural course of the disease as it has a persistent efficacy after completion of treatment. In this perspective Allergen Immunotherapy - AIT has to be presently considered a prototype of Precision Medicine. Precise information and biomarkers provided by systems medicine and network medicine will address the discovery of Allergen immunotherapy biomarkers for (i) identification of the causes, (ii) stratification of eligible patients for AIT and (iii) the assessment of AIT efficacy. This area of medical technology is evolving rapidly and, compelemented by e-health, will change the way we practice medicine. It will help to monitor patients' disease control and data for (i) patient stratification, (ii) clinical trials, (iii) monitoring the efficacy and safety of targeted therapies which are critical for reaching an appropriate reimbursement. Biomarkers associated with e-health combined with a clinical decision support system (CDSS) will change the scope of Allergen immunotherapy. The cost/effectiveness of Allergen immunotherapy is a key issue for successful implementation. It should include the long-term benefits in the pharmaco-economic evaluation, since no other allergy treatment has this specific characteristic. AIT is the prototype of current and future precision medicine.
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Diseases -DIMI Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genova, IRCCS AOU San Martino, Genova, 16132 Italy.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Canonica
authors.affiliation: Upper Airways Research Laboratory, ENT-Department, University of Ghent, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bachert
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium ; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hellings
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary and Allergic Diseases and Clinical Allergology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Valovirta
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medecine, Karolinska Institutet, Sachs' Children's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wickman
authors.affiliation: Stallergenes, Antony, France.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: De Beaumont
authors.affiliation: University hospital, Montpellier, MACVIA-LR, Contre les Maladies Chronique spour un Vieillissement Actif en Languedoc Roussilon, European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing Reference Site, Montpellier, France ; INSERM, VIMA : Ageing and chronic diseases Epidemiological and public health approaches, U1168 Paris, France ; UVSQ, UMR-S 1168, Université Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Versailles, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bousquet
keywords: AIT; Allergen immunotherapy; Allergy; Personalized medicine; Precision medicine