If cavity wall thickness decreases, what does it mean?

@helen1000 Here is the underlying article from NIH:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11604412/
Here is an excerpt of interest:
"...The study findings are clinically relevant and promising. The autologous transplantation of P63+ lung progenitor cells may restore airway structural integrity in bronchiectasis. Previous studies have revealed that in the lung lesions of people with COPD and cystic fibrosis, stem cells undergo pathological changes that lead to chronic inflammation and unresolved pulmonary damage.9,10 Therefore, targeted therapy at the stem cell level may be essential to the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases, as confirmed by the findings of Yan et al. in bronchiectasis.

While the study has shown promising results, some questions need to be addressed. First, the generalizability of the findings should be further tested in a study with larger sample sizes and multi-center study designs. It would be interesting to determine whether autologous cell transplantation would be equally effective among patients with severe gas exchange dysfunction... A longer follow-up will provide sufficient evidence to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy, particularly in terms of exacerbation frequency and overall mortality.

Despite the challenges for genetic editing of the stem cells and optimization of the cell sources and delivery methods, cell therapy represents an innovative strategy for chronic respiratory diseases that cannot be reversed by conventional therapy. Fortunately, the preliminary data of the current phase 1/2 trial are promising. Further optimization of the cell transplantation therapy among patients with bronchiectasis needs to be explored in phase 3 clinical trials. Cellular regenerative therapy has now come into reality as a better cure for debilitating airway diseases such as bronchiectasis."

One caution - autologic, cell specific stem cell transplantation - where the patient's own cells must be harvested via bronchoscopy & cell brushing, then grown in a lab before infusion, are EXTREMELY limited and costly at this point. It will be many years before we can walk into a lab at the local hospital and walk out with our own, lab-grown P63+ progenitor cells implanted or infused.

@sueinmn Thanks so much for pointing up the most important part. That is so helpful! I think NJH is also doing research on Stem cell therapy. Let's watch the most updated news on how stem cell therapy helps with lung disease. I have seen a few articles in the past, and I am sure it will develop faster in the near future. Google and other M7 companies put huge investment in AI and some of them are applying in medical technology.