Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: lessons from clinical trials over the past 25 years.

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and ultimately fatal disease. A major breakthrough in treatment came when, after decades of clinical trials which failed to identify an efficacious treatment regimen, two therapies were successful in Phase-III trials. The advent of these therapies, nintedanib and pirfenidone, meant that for the first time IPF patients had two treatment options that could reduce disease progression. This review summarises the key lessons to be obtained from the clinical trials that led to the current international clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of IPF and provides insights for the design of future clinical trials that are needed if we are to improve outcomes that are clinically meaningful to IPF patients.

• Authors: Ganesh Raghu
• Journal: The European respiratory journal (Eur Respir J) Vol. 50 Issue 4 (10 2017) ISSN: 1399-3003 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 29074545 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright ©ERS 2017.

Chemical References

• Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
• Indoles
• Pyridones
• pirfenidone
• nintedanib

Topics

• Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal (therapeutic use)
• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Disease Progression
• Humans
• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (drug therapy)
• Indoles (therapeutic use)
• Pyridones (therapeutic use)
• Treatment Outcome