Asthma-COPD overlaps (ACO) have emerged as a significant clinical focus as the coexistence of asthma and COPD features are found to increase the disease burden. With limited insights, these overlaps have been a challenge to current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, say the latest findings in a study published in European Respiratory Review. The report emphases that elucidating the underlying mechanisms in ACO is challenging because of its complexity and heterogeneity, but it may be achieved through alternative approaches such as defining and targeting treatable traits. “However, it is essential in the meantime to develop animal models that best reflect the natural progression and pathophysiology of human ACO to improve the current understanding of key disease mechanisms and identify better diagnostic markers as well as targeted treatments. State-of-the-art technologies including “-omics”-based technologies will be invaluable in comprehensively characterising the important immune pathways, cell-to-cell interactions and structural and functional changes that occur in the lung during the development and progression of ACO,” the report said. Stressing the need for understanding ACO traits, the report said it will also provide insights into the driving factors of ACO and help expedite mechanistic discoveries and the development of relevant pre-clinical testing platforms for future investigations for more effective and better-targeted therapies.