Rethinking Early Airway Clearence Therapies

The REACT trial consists of two parallel, randomized studies; the Hypertonic Saline Study and the Dornase Alfa Study.

Health outcomes among people with cystic fibrosis (CF) have been steadily improving, most recently with the advent of highly effective modulator therapy (HEMT). While therapies like hypertonic saline (HS) and dornase alfa (DA) improved outcomes in the past, they are often burdensome. Now that almost 90% of the North American CF population is being treated with elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI) or vanzacaftor/tezacaftor/deutivacaftor (VTD), this trial will evaluate whether these newer treatments make daily HS or DA unnecessary. The trial begins with a 6-week run-in period where participants continue ETI or VTD but stop using HS and DA. Eligible participants are then assigned to either the HS Study or the DA Study for one year. Within those groups, they are randomized to either daily use of HS or DA or as needed use only during respiratory illnesses. The study aims to find out if lung health is similar between children and teens taking HEMT who use HS or DA treatments daily and those who use HS or DA treatments only when they are sick.