Mast cells, a type of white blood cell, are present in the airways of severe asthmatics even in the face of aggressive treatment. In a new, proof-of-principle study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, NHLBI-funded researchers found that targeting the mast cells with imatinib, a drug used in cancer treatments, improved airway hyperresponsiveness, a measure of the sensitivity of the airway, and decreased the number of mast cells present in the airway.
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