Canadian Consortium on Airway Mucus Occlusions in Asthma, COPD and Chronic Cough (CANMuc)

January 5, 2026 updated by: McMaster University

Canadian Consortium for Understanding the Role of Airway Mucus Occlusions in Asthma, COPD and Chronic Cough

Chronic lung diseases affect one in five Canadians, causing symptoms such as cough, breathlessness, and wheeze. Despite advancements in medical care, these conditions not only impact individuals and their close circles but also present substantial clinical and economic challenges at a national level. This grant is dedicated to addressing three prevalent lung diseases: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and chronic cough. An alliance of clinicians, scientists, knowledge users, and patient partners from across Canada have come together to establish the Canadian Consortium for Understanding the Role of Airway Mucus Occlusions in Asthma, COPD, and Chronic Cough - "CANMuc." Mucus plays a pivotal role in the symptoms and severity of lung diseases, but its clinical assessment has been challenging. Fortunately, recent medical advances, particularly chest computed tomography (CT), facilitate visualizing and quantifying mucus in patients with lung diseases. Our goal is to initially assess mucus plugging in a diverse group of Canadians without lung disease and then compare these findings to those with asthma, COPD, and chronic cough. The investigators will recruit 100 healthy volunteers for comprehensive clinical and research evaluations, including sputum analyses, breathing tests, quality of life assessments, cough monitoring, and CT scans. In addition, testing will be conducted twice, two years apart, in 240 adult and 50 pediatric participants. This approach will enable the investigators to understand the burden of mucus and how it changes over time, explore proteins or chemicals in mucus that predict mucus persistence, and identify biomarkers that can help guide physicians to prescribe targeted treatments that might work better than others. The CANMuc team's findings will guide strategies for identifying and treating mucus plugging, inform policymakers, and share knowledge with Canadians living with asthma, COPD, and chronic cough.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

240

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6Z 1Y6
        • Not yet recruiting
        • St. Paul's Hospital
        • Contact:
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8N 4A6
        • Recruiting
        • St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
        • Contact:
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5B7
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Robarts Research Institute
        • Contact:
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8L6
        • Not yet recruiting
        • The Ottawa Hospital
        • Contact:
    • Quebec
      • Québec, Quebec, Canada, G1V 4G5
      • Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, J1H 5N4

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

A coalition of 25 clinicians and scientists from across Canada have united to establish the Canadian Consortium for understanding the role of airway mucus occlusions in chronic cough, COPD, and asthma (CANMuc).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Males and females (≥18 years old)

Asthma: Respiratory physician confirmed diagnosis of moderate-to-severe asthma and Historical objective evidence of asthma and/or specialist/respirologist confirmation (post-bronchodilator reversibility and/or methacholine bronchoprovocation test <8 mg/mL)

COPD: Respiratory physician confirmed diagnosis of COPD that is moderate-to-severe according to GOLD criteria (post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC<LLN and FEV1< 80%pred) and CAT score ≥10 or mMRC score ≥ 2

Chronic cough: Refractory Chronic Cough (RCC) and Unexplained Chronic Cough (UCC) lasting >1 year with Normal chest radiograph and no airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC >Lower Limit of Normal)

Healthy participants: No history of respiratory disease or other pulmonary disorders and no use of inhaled medications or corticosteroids with normal spirometry and Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnea Scale =<1

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant or breastfeeding
  • Current smoker or >10 yr pack history or smoked within the last 6 months
  • Exacerbation within 4 weeks of recruitment
  • Preterm birth (≤36 weeks gestation) or perinatal complications
  • History of other pulmonary disorders
  • Specialist/Respirologist suspects primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)
  • Current use of mucolytic medications
  • Memory, cognitive, or psychiatric limitations that may prevent optimal participation
  • Treatment with current biologic therapy: anti-IgE mAb within 130 days, anti-IL-4/4R, IL-5/5R, IL-13, or TSLP within 2 months or 5 half-lives whichever is longer prior to visit 1

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Control group
Other: Observational
This is a 24-month observational study in adults in three disease domains, consisting of screening visit, baseline visit, quarterly telemonitoring visit and end of monitoring period
Asthma
Other: Observational
This is a 24-month observational study in adults in three disease domains, consisting of screening visit, baseline visit, quarterly telemonitoring visit and end of monitoring period
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Other: Observational
This is a 24-month observational study in adults in three disease domains, consisting of screening visit, baseline visit, quarterly telemonitoring visit and end of monitoring period
Chronic cough
Other: Observational
This is a 24-month observational study in adults in three disease domains, consisting of screening visit, baseline visit, quarterly telemonitoring visit and end of monitoring period

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Computed Tomography mucus score
Time Frame: Baseline/Day 0 and End of Assessment/48 months
Quantify CT mucus score and evaluate its cross-sectional and longitudinal relationship with sputum rheology and inflammatory phenotype in a healthy cohort compared to disease groups at baseline and follow-up
Baseline/Day 0 and End of Assessment/48 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

McMaster University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 11, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 27, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 27, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 5, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 7, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 5, 2026

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CANMuc01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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