Emerging Advances in Exploiting Pulmonary Administration for Treatment of Thoracic Diseases

Lina Wu^1*Gregory M Lanza^2*Jin Xie^3*Dipanjan Pan^4*

• ¹Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
• ²Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
• ³University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
• ⁴Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, United States

4 Thoracic diseases represent some of the major healthcare challenges worldwide. This field 5 has witnessed remarkable advancements in recent years, with demonstrated efficacy in managing 6 respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic 7 fibrosis, et al (1,2) . Encouragingly, emerging applications extend to respiratory infections, pulmonary 8 oncology, and even systemic disorders including diabetes, revealing broader therapeutic potential (3) . 9Despite these advances, still some challenges remain to attract wide attention from academic and 10 industrial circles. This special issue, titled "Emerging Advances in Exploiting Pulmonary 11 The field of pulmonary administration is evolving rapidly, particularly in the treatment of 37 localized lung diseases, driven by the innovations in nanotechnology, advanced aerosol systems, 38 and gene therapy, et al (4) . Nevertheless, critical challenges still need to be addressed to translate 39 promising preclinical innovations into successful clinical application. Key priorities include 40 improving alveolar targeting precision to minimize proximal airway drug loss and overcoming 41 bioavailability limitations linked to pulmonary deposition variability and metabolic clearance. (5,6) 42Ensuring nanocarrier safety and developing scalable production methods for complex systems (e.g., 43 lipid nanoparticles, exosomes) remain vital for clinical adoption. Interdisciplinary approaches-44 such as AI-optimized carrier design, patient-tailored therapies based on anatomical and biomarker 45 data, and strategies to bypass pulmonary barriers (e.g., mucus clearance, epithelial junctions). (7)(8)(9) It 46 can be anticipated that targeted pulmonary therapies will continue to serve as pivotal contributors 47 to global respiratory disease management, driven by rapid interdisciplinary advancements in 48 precision medicine.