{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nNontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) comprise a diverse group of organisms that can cause pulmonary and extrapulmonary disease. Their management is challenging, because many NTM species exhibit intrinsic antimicrobial resistance; current multidrug treatment regimens have limited efficacy and tolerability; and the number of immunocompromised individuals at risk of NTM disease is increasing. Phage therapy has recently emerged as a potential therapeutic option for refractory NTM pulmonary disease (NTM-PD). This scoping review aimed to map and critically assess the existing evidence on the clinical use of phage therapy for NTM-PD and its reported outcomes.Methods\n\nPubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science and Embase were searched for studies published between August 2015 and August 2025, in any language, addressing phage therapy in NTM-PD. Additional backward and forward citation searches were conducted to identify further relevant studies.Results\n\nFive studies met the inclusion criteria: four single-patient case reports and one small case series representing 20 unique patients treated with phage therapy. Of these, 18 had pulmonary NTM disease, mostly involving drug-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus infections treated under compassionate-use protocols or individualised regimens. Reported clinical and microbiological outcomes were inconsistent: some patients showed transient improvement or culture conversion, while others had no measurable benefit. Phage resistance was uncommon but incompletely assessed, and immune-mediated neutralisation emerged as a future concern. No serious adverse events were described.Conclusions\n\nCurrent evidence supports the feasibility but not the efficacy of phage therapy for NTM-PD. Published data are limited to isolated, heterogeneous cases and lack standardised definitions or controlled comparisons. Well-designed, prospective clinical trials are needed to clarify its therapeutic potential and optimise future application.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Serviço de Pneumologia, Unidade Local de Saúde Gaia/Espinho, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.",
    "Equal contribution as first authors.",
    "Serviço de Pneumologia, Unidade Local de Saúde da Região de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal.",
    "Serviço de Pneumologia, Unidade Local de Saúde da Região de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.",
    "Serviço de Pneumologia, Centro Hospitalar Médio Tejo, Torres Novas, Portugal.",
    "Serviço de Pneumologia, Unidade Local de Saúde de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.",
    "EPIUnit ITR, Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.",
    "Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.",
    "Equal contribution as last authors.",
    "Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA Porto), Porto, Portugal."
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Mafalda Pais",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-7803-2450"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Rita Santos Martins",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1604-7669"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Andreia Andrade",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5738-4725"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Catarina Giesta"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Margarida Cruz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Catarina Hilário"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        7,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Mariana Vieira",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2406-3159"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        7,
        8
      ],
      "name": "João Pedro Ramos",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1450-6670"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        7,
        9,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Raquel Duarte",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2257-3099"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/17ajfpeeb5z07.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1183/20734735.0054-2026",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13750319",
  "id": "17ajfpeeb5z07",
  "issns": [
    "1810-6838",
    "2073-4735"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/43011913",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2713|Mycobacterium research and diagnosis"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7225733420",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13750319?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13750319",
  "pmid": "43011913",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/17ajfpeeb5z07.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-12T15:25:13Z",
      "native_id": "MED:43011913",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/43011913"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2713|Mycobacterium research and diagnosis",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Phage therapy for nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease: a scoping review.",
  "title_text": "Phage therapy for nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease: a scoping review.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-13T15:20:23Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/17ajfpeeb5z07",
  "venue": "Breathe (Sheffield, England)",
  "versions": []
}