Razionale scientifico

There are many reasons why chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) deserves to be high on the list of disease targets and research. COPD is still a major public health problem because it has a high prevalence and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, creating a formidable challenge for the health-care systems. COPD is one of the most frequent causes of unscheduled visits in the offices of general practitioners and specialists and of emergency ward visits and hospital admissions. Furthermore, COPD causes 3.2 millions of deaths worldwide and represents one of the top causes of death among the Italian population. In addition, COPD care, both directly and indirectly, uses a substantial amount of the resources of the Italian National Health Service, with a significant impact on social expenses. Despite recent trends in reduction of COPD standardized mortality rates and some recent successes in anti-smoking efforts in a number of Western countries, the overarching demographic impact of ageing in an ever-expanding world population (~8.2 billion in October 2025), joined with other factors such as the high rates of cigarette smoking, will ensure that COPD will remain a challenge for clinicians within the 21st century epidemiological point of view. Current personalised treatment of COPD is still unable to completely modify the natural history of the disease in its different and complex clinical phenotypes or to fully satisfy the expectations of the patients. In addition there are molecular links, still largely under-investigated, between COPD, lung cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) - all smoking-related diseases but with different clinical-pathological expressions. It is particularly relevant that in a large longitudinal study of asymptomatic patients with mild-to-moderate COPD, ~33% of subjects died of lung cancer over ~15 years, suggesting that lung cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in COPD patients. These patients share a common environmental risk factor (smoking) and a genetic predisposition. Moreover, there are no prognostic biomarkers to monitor the natural history of the disease in a simple and non-invasive way. For all these reasons, this meeting will represent an important place of discussion between Italian and international experts on the most recent available evidence on the molecular pathogenesis of COPD and novel ongoing therapeutic approaches. The Academic Pulmonology team at the University of Parma wishes to stay at the cutting edge of COPD research with the aim of discovering new therapeutic targets and new prognostic biomarkers, which may in the future allow us to better control the disease.

Luogo

Starhotels Du Parc
Viale Piacenza 12/c, Parma (PR)

Programma

Responsabili del corso

• Gaetano Caramori

  Responsabile scientifico

  Specializzazione: Malattie dell'apparato respiratorio

  Struttura: Università degli Studi di Parma

  Ruolo: Direttore della Clinica Pneumologica del Maggiore; Professore Ordinario di Malattie dell'apparato respiratorio

Relatori e docenti

• Ian Adcock

  Relatore

• Luca Ampollini

  Moderatore

  Specializzazione: Chirurgia Toracica

  Struttura: Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Parma

  Ruolo: Chirurgo Toracico, Professore Associato di Chirurgia Toracica

• Diego Ardigo

  Relatore

  Specializzazione: Fisiopatologia Cardiovascolare

  Struttura: CHIESI, Parma

  Ruolo: Head of Research & Development, Global Rare Diseases

• Mona Bafadhel

  Moderatore

  Specializzazione: Respiratory Physician

  Struttura: King's College London

  Ruolo: Director of the King's Centre for Lung Health; Chair of Respiratory Medicine

• Simona Barbaglia

  Moderatore

  Specializzazione: Patient Advocacy Management

  Struttura: Associazione Nazionale Pazienti Respiriamo Insieme APS, Padova

  Ruolo: Presidente

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