Protein Biomarker Discovery and Validation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) And Asthma

There are two Phases to this study broken into two arms. In Phase I, our propose to use discovery proteomics and high throughput techniques to identify protein expression signatures. The total planned size of Phase I is 100 patients. Patients will be divided into two arms based on disease status (COPD or asthma). Active smoking will be defined as daily use of cigarettes, pipes, cigarillos or cigars at time of entry into the study and through duration of study. No active smoking defined as never smoking or having stopped smoking for 5 years or greater. In the Phase II, we aim to establish and validate the predictive value of proteomic signatures for therapeutic responses using inhaled corticosteroids. For Phase II, subjects who completed Phase I are eligible, but not required to participate in Phase II.