Cell therapies for lung disease

The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that chronic lung disease will become the third leading cause of mortality worldwide by the year 2030. While most of this burden rests on the shoulders of resource-poor countries having arisen from environmental pollution and smoking, the burden of disease in resource-rich nations will not be insignificant. Chronic lung diseases cost USD$154 billion in health care within the United States alone (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 2005). This chapter will focus on the most common lung diseases in neonates, children, and adults and cell therapies directed at these diseases.