Real-world experiences: Efficacy and tolerability of pirfenidone in clinical practice

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 1; p. e0228390
• Main Authors: Fang, Chuling, Huang, Hui, Guo, Jian, Ferianc, Martin, Xu, Zuojun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 30.01.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aged; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - administration & dosage; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - adverse effects; Biology and Life Sciences; Biopsy; Body mass; Body Mass Index; Body size; Carbon monoxide; Carbon Monoxide - chemistry; Care and treatment; CAT scans; China; Clinical medicine; Clinical trials; Computed tomography; Connective tissue diseases; Connective tissues; Development and progression; Diffusion rate; Diseases; Drug dosages; Female; Fibrosis; Hospitals; Humans; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - classification; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - diagnostic imaging; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - drug therapy; Indexing; Lung diseases; Male; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medical schools; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Nintedanib; Patients; Physical Sciences; Pirfenidone; Pulmonary fibrosis; Pyridones - administration & dosage; Pyridones - adverse effects; Research and Analysis Methods; Respiratory tract diseases; Retirement benefits; Retrospective Studies; Safety; Skin; Statistical analysis; Supervision; Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Treatment Outcome; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Vital Capacity; Work experience; China; Beijing China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228390

The safety of pirfenidone on pulmonary fibrosis patients with other kinds of interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) in addition to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is unknown. Furthermore, its effectiveness-related factors on IPF patients are not quite explored. A retrospective study, on patients prescribed pirfenidone for pulmonary fibrosis, was conducted to assess effectiveness on IPF patients and tolerability of all patients with lung fibrosis. The effectiveness of pirfenidone was tested on 110 IPF subjects receiving treatment for ≥3 months by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Response-linked factors and progression-free survival (PFS) were also analyzed. The data about safety outcomes and drug dose adjustments were collected from all included subjects. A total of 176 subjects were included: 117 were IPF, 19 connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD), and 40 unclassifiable ILD. Out of the 110 IPF subjects, 89 subjects were assessed as stable and 21 as progressive, out of which 10 died of acute exacerbation and 11 progressed. The effectiveness was significantly related to their baseline body mass index (BMI). IPF subjects with BMI>25kg/m2 or diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide (DLco)>30% had higher PFS rate. The most common adverse events were skin-related and gastrointestinal-related. Drug discontinuation owing to adverse events occurred similarly in these three groups. Pirfenidone was well tolerated in most of the lung fibrosis patients besides IPF, with a similar pattern of adverse events. Nearly 80% of IPF subjects were assessed as stable. More benefits were seen in IPF patients with higher BMI or mild-to-moderate disease.