Antifibrotics effective for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treated with antifibrotics had significantly greater PFS than patients not treated, according to a study.

In this single-center retrospective observational study at a specialized interstitial lung disease center, progression-free survival (PFS), mortality and drug tolerability were compared between 104 patients with IPF on antifibrotic therapies and 64 patients in an untreated control group.

At 6 months, PFS was significantly greater in the antifibrotic group (75.0%) compared with the control group (56.3%); PFS was not significant at 12 or 18 months between groups.

Independent predictors of 12-month mortality included:

Baseline Body Mass Index of≤25
Baseline diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide percentage predicted of ≤35
Antifibrotic discontinuation within 3 months
By 3 months and 6 months, discontinuation was significantly higher for patients on pirfenidone than those on nintedanib; there was no significant difference at 12 months.

Reference
Wright WA, Crowley LE, Parekh D, et al. Real-world retrospective observational study exploring the effectiveness and safety of antifibrotics in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2021;8(1):e000782. doi: 10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000782. PMID: 33771813.