Tuberc Respir Dis.  2003 Aug;55(2):175-187. 10.4046/trd.2003.55.2.175.

Cyclophosphamide in the Treatment of Idiopathic UIP and NSIP

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. mpchung@smc.samsung.co.kr
  • 2Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although corticosteroid and cytotoxic agent such as cyclophosphamide have been used for the treatment of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP), efficacy of these toxic drugs are unclear because previous reports included the patients who did not undergo surgical lung biopsy and none evaluated the response according to histopathologic entities of IIP. To answer this, we retrospectively analyzed the treatment response and side effects of corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide therapy in patients with idiopathic UIP and NSIP.
METHODS
Among 61 patients with UIP and 26 patients with NSIP diagnosed by surgical lung biopsy at Samsung Medical Center from July 1996 to June 2002, those who received corticosteroid or cyclophosphamide therapy for at least 6 months and were followed for at least one year after the initiation of treatment were enrolled (32 UIP, 23 NSIP). Treatment response of 55 patients was assessed by ATS response criteria (clinical symptoms, pulmonary function test and radiological findings).Adverse reactions to either agent (42 cases of cyclophosphamide+/-low-dose prednisolone, 49 cases of prednisolone alone) were also analyzed.
RESULTS
Irrespective of treatment regimen, NSIP showed more favorable response than UIP (6 months: 78.3% vs. 9.4%, 12 months: 69.6% vs. 9.4%, p<0.001). Cyclophosphamide showed comparable response to corticosteroid in NSIP while its efficacy was as poor as those of corticosteroid therapy in UIP. Significant adverse reaction to drug more frequently occurred in corticosteroid group (35.7%) than cyclophosphamide group (14.3%) (p=0.017).
CONCLUSION
Cyclophosphamide is effective and more tolerable than corticosteroids in the treatment of idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia.

Keyword

Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia; Usual interstitial pneumonia; Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia; Cyclophosphamide; Prednisolone

MeSH Terms

Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Biopsy
Cyclophosphamide*
Humans
Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Lung
Lung Diseases, Interstitial
Prednisolone
Respiratory Function Tests
Retrospective Studies
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Cyclophosphamide
Prednisolone
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