Drug Combo Improves Lung Disease Survival
September 02, 2009
UIC News Release
CONTACT: Sam Hostettler, (312) 355-2522, samhos@uic.edu
UIC Study: Drug Combo Improves Lung Disease Survival
Sufferers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have a greater
chance of survival when treated with a combination of drugs that
includes tiotropium, according to research at the University of
Illinois at Chicago.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease makes breathing hard and worsens
over time. COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of
mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and other
symptoms. Smoking is the primary cause of the disease, according to the
National Institutes of Health.
More than 12 million people are currently diagnosed with COPD, and an
additional 12 million likely have the disease and don't know it,
according to NIH. It is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United
States and a major cause of disability. There is no cure, but
treatments and lifestyle changes can help COPD sufferers feel better,
stay more active, and slow the progress of the disease. Treatments
include medicines, vaccines, pulmonary rehabilitation, oxygen therapy
and surgery.
In the new study, Todd Lee, associate professor of pharmacy practice,
and his research team compared more than 42,000 cases of COPD patients
in the Veterans Health Administration two and a half years prior to
tiotropium's 2004 entry into the marketplace and two and a half years
after.
The study concluded that patients who were treated with tiotropium plus
an inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting beta-agonist lived longer
and had fewer COPD-related hospital stays.
Tiotropium is an inhaled powder that opens up the airways in the lungs.
Inhaled corticosteroids reduce inflammation in the lungs, while
beta-agonists cause the airways to open more fully.
Most studies on tiotropium have been clinical trials. Those studies
showed that the drug improves lung function, symptoms and quality of
life, Lee said. But while evidence on the efficacy of the drug
accumulates through prospective trials, Lee said it is important to
examine outcomes in look-back studies because the patient populations
may be vastly different.
Patients in Lee's study were at least 45 years old and diagnosed with
COPD over a 12-month period. They must have received COPD medications
from the VA and switched to a regimen that included tiotropium or
inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting beta-agonists.
Deaths were reduced by 40 percent in patients using the regimen of
tiotropium plus inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting beta-agonists
compared to those treated with inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting
beta-agonists without tiotropium, Lee said.
The study is published in the August 2009 issue of Archives of Internal
Medicine. It was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Co-authors on the paper are Caitlyn Wilke, pharmacy practice fellow at
UIC; Dr. Min Joo, clinical instructor of pulmonary, critical care and
sleep medicine at UIC; Kevin Stroupe, research associate professor at
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Dr. Jerry
Krishnan, associate professor of medicine and health studies at the
University of Chicago Medical Center; Glen Schumock, associate
professor and director of the Center for Pharmacoeconomic Research at
UIC; and Simon Pickard, associate professor of pharmacy practice at
UIC.