Cyclophosphamide ‘offers no survival benefit’ with fibrosis flares
Adding the agent to high-dose glucocorticoids for flares of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis might even be harmful, study suggests
Patients with an acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treated with high-dose glucocorticoids showed a trend towards increased mortality with added pulsed cyclophosphamide, researchers have found.
The French study findings provide evidence against the use of the IV therapy in such patients, the authors say.
The phase III Cyclophosphamide added to Glucocorticoids in acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (EXAFIP) trial funded by Roche, was carried out in 31 hospitals across France between 2016 and 2018.
In the study, 120 patients were randomised to placebo or four pulses of cyclophosphamide (600mg/m2) adjusted for patient characteristics and with a maximum dose of 1.2g, given on days 0, 15, 30 and 60.
