Approaches to the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

There was a general consensus at the workshop that pulmonary fibrosis is a highly lethal lung disorder and that current therapies for this disease have little effect on the natural history of the disease. There was also broad consensus that much has been learned about the pathogenesis of this disease in recent years and this information can be used to direct new therapies for this disease. As a complement to the findings from studies on pulmonary fibrosis itself, there has also been significant development of new therapies for other disorders that might be useful in treating patients with pulmonary fibrosis. The following is a list of some of the issues and recommendations that were generated from this workshop.