Efficacy and safety of nintedanib in advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Phase 3 trials have shown that nintedanib reduces the decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) in patients with mild-to-moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) with acceptable safety profiles; however, its effects on advanced IPF are unclear. We investigated the efficacy and safety of nintedanib in patients with advanced IPF. METHODS: Prospective data were obtained from 108 IPF patients administered at least one dose of nintedanib. Of these patients, 47.2% had advanced IPF (FVC < 50% predicted, or diffusing capacity < 30% predicted). RESULTS: The median treatment duration was 42.2 weeks. Nintedanib significantly reduced the decline rate in both FVC (− 0.55% [before] vs. -0.32% [after] predicted/month, p = 0.020) and total lung capacity (TLC) (− 0.35% vs. -0.06% predicted/month, p < 0.001) in all patients. A significant improvement in FVC decline rate after treatment was also observed in the advanced group (− 0.77% vs. -0.22% predicted/month, p = 0.003), but not in the non-advanced group (− 0.41% vs. -0.33% predicted/month, p = 0.564). Adverse events occurred in 97.2% of the cohort, including diarrhoea (50.0%) and anorexia (45.4%). Following adjustment for treatment duration, no inter-group difference in odds ratio was observed for the occurrence of adverse events. However, the advanced group showed a higher frequency of treatment interruption (68.0% vs. 40.0%), mainly as a result of disease progression (47.1% vs. 36.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy and safety profiles of nintedanib in the advanced group were comparable to those in the non-advanced group except for a higher frequency of discontinuation, which may be due to the advanced status itself. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12931-018-0907-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.