@article{3113288,
    title = "Long-term clinical effects of interferon gamma-1b and colchicine in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis",
    author = "Antoniou, K.M. and Nicholson, A.G. and Dimadi, M. and Malagari, K. and Latsi, P. and Rapti, A. and Tzanakis, N. and Trigidou, R. and Polychronopoulos, V. and Bouros, D.",
    journal = "The European respiratory journal",
    year = "2006",
    volume = "28",
    number = "3",
    pages = "496-504",
    doi = "10.1183/09031936.06.00032605",
    keywords = "carbon monoxide;  colchicine;  gamma1b interferon;  prednisolone, adult;  aged;  arterial oxygen tension;  article;  clinical trial;  computer assisted tomography;  controlled clinical trial;  controlled study;  diarrhea;  disease severity;  drug dose reduction;  drug dose regimen;  drug efficacy;  drug safety;  drug tolerability;  drug withdrawal;  female;  fever;  flu like syndrome;  follow up;  forced expiratory volume;  headache;  histopathology;  human;  human tissue;  idiopathic disease;  long term care;  low drug dose;  lung biopsy;  lung fibrosis;  major clinical study;  male;  mortality;  multicenter study;  myalgia;  outcome assessment;  patient assessment;  practice guideline;  prediction;  priority journal;  questionnaire;  randomized controlled trial;  respiratory tract infection;  rigor;  symptom;  total lung capacity;  treatment duration, Adult;  Aged;  Aged, 80 and over;  Antineoplastic Agents;  Colchicine;  Female;  Humans;  Interferon-gamma, Recombinant;  Male;  Middle Aged;  Pulmonary Fibrosis;  Respiratory Function Tests;  Treatment Outcome;  Tubulin Modulators",
    abstract = "Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)/usual interstitial pneumonia is a deadly disease with no effective treatment. The purpose of this randomised prospective multicentric study was to characterise the clinical effects of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) 1b administered subcutaneously thrice weekly versus colchicine for 2 yrs. This study had no pre-specified end-points. Fifty consecutive IPF patients were randomised. Patients with mild-to-moderate IPF were eligible for the study if they had histologically proven IPF, or, in the absence of surgical biopsy, fulfilled the European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society criteria. In the intent-to-treat population, five out of 32 (15.6%) IFN-γ-1b patients and seven out of 18 (38.8%) colchicine patients died after a median follow-up period of 25 months Patients treated with IFN-γ 1b showed a better outcome after 2 yrs of therapy, and fewer symptoms, as assessed using the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire, after 12 months of therapy. Also, the IFN-γ-1b group exhibited a higher forced vital capacity (percentage of the predicted value) after 24 months of treatment. No significant differences were detected in resting arterial oxygen tension, total lung capacity (% pred), transfer factor of the lung for carbon monoxide (% pred) and high-resolution computed tomographic scoring between the two treatment groups. These data suggest that long-term treatment with interferon gamma 1b may improve survival and outcome in patients with mild-to-moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Further studies are needed to verify these results. Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2006."
}