Glucocorticoids Versus Placebo for the Treatment of Acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (EXAFIP2)

December 14, 2023 updated by: Fondation Hôpital Saint-Joseph

Glucocorticoids Versus Placebo for the Treatment of Acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF) is associated with a poor prognosis, with a 3-month mortality rate of over 50%. To date, no treatment has been proven to be effective in AI-FPI. The interest of glucocorticoids is controversial and needs to be confirmed. This confirmation is mandatory to validate the improvement of the prognosis of EA-IPF under this treatment but also to search for unsuspected deleterious effects as it has been shown with immunosuppressants in stable idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most frequent idiopathic interstitial lung disease (ILD) in adults. Its prognosis is poor with a median survival time ranging from 2 to 3 years. Acute exacerbation of IPF (IPF-AE) is defined as acute, clinically significant respiratory deterioration characterized by evidence of new widespread alveolar abnormalities. Recently, diagnosis criteria were defined now allowing standardized diagnosis of IPF-AE and thus its study. IPF-AE is a major event of the disease having a 5 to 10% annual incidence. In-hospital mortality after IPF-AE exceeds 50% and current evidence suggests that up to 46% of deaths in IPF patients are associated with IPF-AE.

For the time being, no treatment has been proved to be effective in IPF-AE. While the clinical practice guideline suggests treatment with steroids, this recommendation is based only on expert opinion (low level evidence). Retrospective studies suggested the efficacy of thrombomodulin, cyclophosphamide or of therapeutic strategy including plasma exchange, rituximab and intravenous immunoglobulins. A recent Japanese randomized trial failed to show the efficacy of thrombomodulin alfa. Investigators performed a randomized trial assessing the role of cyclophosphamide on top of pulse steroid (EXAFIP-NCT02460588) and showed that cyclophosphamide did not reduce the 3-month mortality. A study assessing the effect of therapeutic plasma exchange, rituximab and intravenous immunoglobulins for severe form of IPF-AE patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is still ongoing (NCT03286556). Presently, the clinical benefit of corticosteroids is questioned. Indeed, 2 retrospective series reported an absence of outcome improvement by corticosteroids among IPF-AE patients and even suggested a potential detrimental outcome.

It is therefore necessary to set-up a placebo-controlled randomized trial: investigator's goal is to test the hypothesis that a corticosteroid treatment is highly efficient in IPF-AE, compared to placebo.

This underlines that, as no good evidence is available to support the use of glucocorticoids in IPF-AE, randomized controlled trials are also needed to address their efficacy and safety in this indication.

The choices of glucocorticoids' dosage, primary objective (mortality) and primary assessment criteria (all cause mortality rate at Day 30) are driven by investigator's previous study, EXAFIP. In this study, glucocorticoids dosage was as follow: intravenous methylprednisolone, 10 mg/kg/d (without exceeding 1000 mg/d), 3 days in a row shift to prednisone at 1 mg/kg/d for 1 week, and 0.75 mg/kg/d for 1 week, then 0.5 mg/kg/d for 1 week, and 0.25 mg/kg/d for 1 week, and 10 mg/d if weight > 65 kg; 7.5 mg if weight ≤ 65 kg until M6. The 1-month mortality of patient under this high dose of glucocorticoids was 20%.

In view of the poor prognosis of IPF-AE, it seems also important to evaluate the effect of treatment on overall mortality at Day 90.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

110

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Helene BEAUSSIER, PharmD, PhD
  • Phone Number: +33 144127883
  • Email: crc@ghpsj.fr

Study Locations

      • Angers, France
        • Recruiting
        • Chu Angers
        • Contact:
          • Frederic GAGNADOUX
      • Besançon, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHU de Besancon
        • Contact:
          • Mathilde DUPREZ, MD
      • Bobigny, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Hôpital Avicenne
        • Contact:
          • Hilario NUNES, MD
      • Bordeaux, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHU Bordeaux
        • Contact:
          • Elodie BLANCHARD, MD
      • Caen, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHU caen
        • Contact:
          • Emmanuel BERGOT, MD
      • Clermont-Ferrand, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Chu Clermont-Ferrand
        • Contact:
          • Camille ROLLAND DEBORD, MD
      • Créteil, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHIC
        • Contact:
          • Quentin GIBIOT, MD
      • Dijon, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHU de Dijon
        • Contact:
          • Philippe BONNIAUD, MD
      • Grenoble, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • CHU Grenoble
        • Contact:
          • Sebastien QUETANT, MD
      • Lille, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • CHRU Lille
        • Contact:
          • Victor VALENTIN, MD
      • Lyon, France
        • Recruiting
        • Hospices Civils de Lyon
        • Contact:
          • Vincent COTTIN, MD
      • Marseille, France
        • Recruiting
        • Hopital Nord
        • Contact:
          • Martine REAYNAUD GAUBERT, MD
      • Montpellier, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • CHU de Montpellier
        • Contact:
          • Arnaud BOURDIN, MD
      • Nancy, France
        • Recruiting
        • Chu Nancy
        • Contact:
          • Anne GUILLAUMOT, MD
      • Nantes, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • CHU de Nantes
        • Contact:
          • Stéphanie DIROU, MD
      • Nice, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • CHU Nice
        • Contact:
          • Sylvie LEROY, MD
      • Paris, France
        • Recruiting
        • Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou
        • Contact:
          • Jean PASTRE, MD
      • Paris, France
        • Recruiting
        • Hopital Tenon
        • Contact:
          • Jacques CADRANEL, MD
      • Paris, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Hôpital Saint-Louis
        • Contact:
          • Abdellatif TAZI, MD
      • Paris, France
        • Recruiting
        • Hôpital Bichat
        • Contact:
          • Bruno CRESTANI, MD
      • Paris, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Hôpital FOCH
        • Contact:
          • Alexandre CHABROL, MD
      • Paris, France, 75014
        • Recruiting
        • Hopital Paris Saint-Joseph
        • Contact:
          • Jean-Marc NACCACHE, MD
      • Paris, France
        • Recruiting
        • Hôpital Kremiln Bicetre
        • Contact:
          • David MONTANI, MD
      • Reims, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHU Reims
        • Contact:
          • Francois LEBARGY, MD
      • Rennes, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHU Rennes
        • Contact:
          • Stephane JOUNEAU, MD
      • Rouen, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • CHU Rouen
        • Contact:
          • Stéphane DOMINIQUE, MD
      • Strasbourg, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • CHU Strasbourg
        • Contact:
          • Sandrine HIRSCHI, MD
      • Toulouse, France
        • Recruiting
        • CHU Toulouse
        • Contact:
          • Gregoire PREVOT, MD
      • Tours, France
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Chu Tours
        • Contact:
          • Thomas FLAMENT, MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Patient is ≥ 18 years of age
  2. IPF or IPF (likely) diagnosis defined on 2018 international recommendations
  3. Definite or suspected Acute Exacerbation defined by the international working group criteria after exclusion of alternative diagnoses of acute worsening

    *The criteria of IPF-AE are as follows:

    • Previous or concurrent diagnosis of IPF (a)
    • Acute worsening or development of dyspnea typically < 1-month duration
    • Computed tomography with new bilateral ground-glass opacity and/or consolidation superimposed on a background pattern consistent with usual interstitial pneumonia pattern (b)
    • Deterioration not fully explained by cardiac failure or fluid overload Patients who fail to meet all 4 criteria due to missing computed tomography should be considered as having "suspected Acute Exacerbation".

      1. If the diagnosis of IPF is not previously established, this criterion can be met by the presence of radiologic and/or histopathologic changes consistent with usual interstitial pneumonia pattern on the current evaluation.
      2. If no previous computed tomography is available, the qualifier "new" can be dropped from the third criterion.
  4. For women of childbearing age: efficient contraception for the duration of the study*

    *Effective contraception is defined as any contraceptive method that is used consistently and appropriately and has a low failure rate (i.e., less than 1% per year)

  5. Affiliation to the social security
  6. Patient able to understand and sign a written informed consent form or in case of incapacity of the patient to a relative whom understand and sign a written informed consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Identified etiology for acute worsening (i.e.: infectious disease)
  2. Known hypersensitivity to glucocorticoids or to any component of the study treatment
  3. Patient requiring mechanical ventilation or already on mechanical ventilation
  4. Active bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infection. On swab collected, only positive for SARS-CoV-2, Influenzae A, Influenzae B and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) result, are considered active viral infection. The others viruses (i.e. Rhinovirus, Adenovirus…) are not considered to be responsible of pneumonia.
  5. Active cancer
  6. Patient on a lung transplantation waiting list
  7. Treatment with glucocorticoids > 1 mg/kg/d from more than 7 days in the last 15 days
  8. Patient participating to another interventional clinical trial
  9. Documented pregnancy or lactation
  10. Patient under tutorship or curatorship
  11. Patient deprived of liberty
  12. Patient under court protection

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: MethylPrednisone/Prednisone
  • Day 1, 2 and 3: Intravenous Methylprednisolone 10 mg/kg/d (without exceeding 1000 mg/d) Vials of injectable solution of methylprednisolone® are diluted in 100 ml of NaCl 0.9% or G5%. Perfusion duration is between 20 to 30 minutes. The commercialized form for methylprednisolone injectable solution is not imposed and is taken from the stock of each pharmacy of the participating centers.
  • From day 4 to Day 30: Oral Prednisone slow tappering

    • 1 mg/kg/d for 7 days
    • 0.5 mg/kg/d for 7 days
    • 0.25 mg/kg/d for 7 days,
    • 10 mg/d until Day 30. For 10mg/kg, 1 mg/kg, 0.5 mg/kg, 0.25 mg/kg; rounding to 5 decimal lower if decimal ≤ 7 and the top ten if decimal ≥ 8.

Patients will be enrolled during their hospitalization in pneumology department, as part of current practice, within 7 days of the screening visit. The investigator will perform randomization by connecting to the eCRF, randomization be stratified for the severity of IPF and the treatment with antifibrotic therapy (Nintedanib or Pirfenidone) (yes/no).

If patient is randomized in Glucocorticoids Group:

  • Day 1, 2 and 3: Intravenous Methylprednisolone 10 mg/kg/d (without exceeding 1000 mg/d). Vials of injectable solution of methylprednisolone® are diluted in 100 ml of NaCl 0.9% or G5%. Perfusion duration is between 20 to 30 minutes.
  • From day 4 to Day 30: Oral Prednisone slow tappering

    • 1 mg/kg/d for 7 days
    • 0.5 mg/kg/d for 7 days
    • 0.25 mg/kg/d for 7 days,
    • 10 mg/d until Day 30. For 10mg/kg, 1 mg/kg, 0.5 mg/kg, 0.25 mg/kg; rounding to 5 decimal lower if decimal ≤ 7 and the top ten if decimal ≥ 8.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
  • Day 1, 2 and 3: Intravenous Methylprednisolone-Placebo
  • From Day 4 to Day 30: Oral Prednisone-Placebo

Patients will be enrolled during their hospitalization in pneumology department, as part of current practice, within 7 days of the screening visit. The investigator will perform randomization by connecting to the eCRF, randomization be stratified for the severity of IPF and the treatment with antifibrotic therapy (Nintedanib or Pirfenidone) (yes/no).

If patient is randomized in Placebo Group:

Day 1, 2 and 3: Intravenous Methylprednisolone-Placebo From Day 4 to Day 30: Oral Prednisone-Placebo The Methylprednisolone-Placebo corresponds to 100 ml of NaCl 0.9 % or G5%. Perfusion duration is between 20 to 30 minutes.

For the Prednisone-Placebo, the placebo was an oral solution formulated with a bittering agent (pharmaceutical excipient). Specifically, in place of prednisone, sucrose octaacetate (defined as a GRAS-'Generally Recognized as Safe' excipient by the EMA) was used at 5 mg/mL.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Efficacy of glucocorticoids compared to placebo on mortality
Time Frame: Day 30
This outcome corresponds to the all-cause mortality rate at day 30.
Day 30

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to death at Day 30
Time Frame: Day 30
This outcome corresponds to the vital status assessment at Day 30 with time (in days) between randomization and death.
Day 30
Time to death at Day 90
Time Frame: Day 90
This outcome corresponds to the vital status assessment at Day 90 with time (in days) between randomization and death.
Day 90
Death or transplantation at Day 90
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the vital status and transplantation at Day 90.
Day90
Respiratory disease-specific mortality rate at Day 30
Time Frame: Day 30
This outcome corresponds to the mortality linked to the respiratory disease: cause of death assessment at Day 30.
Day 30
Respiratory disease-specific mortality rate at Day 90
Time Frame: Day 90
This outcome corresponds to the mortality linked to the respiratory disease: cause of death assessment at Day 90.
Day 90
Time to worsening
Time Frame: Day30
This outcome corresponds to the time (in days) from randomization to worsening from day4 to day30 (end of study treatment).
Day30
Percentage of patients admitted to ICU
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the percentage of patients admitted to ICU from randomization to ICU's admission.
Day90
Percentage of patients requiring invasive ventilation
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the percentage of patients requiring invasive ventilation from randomization to invasive ventilation.
Day90
Length of hospital stay
Time Frame: Day 90
This outcome corresponds to the length of hospital-stay: Time (in days) from randomization to hospital withdraw.
Day 90
Radiological evolution
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the progression of pulmonary fibrosis: Chest HRCT scan comparison before Acute Exacerbation (if available) and at Day 90. Chest CT scans exacerbation, were analyzed by 2 thoracic radiologists' expert in interstitial lung diseases (PYBrillet, MPDebray). Before chest CT scans were evaluated for the pattern of ILD, according to the 2018 ATS/ERS classification for the diagnosis of IPF. The extent of interstitial fibrosing features on "Before" and "D90" CT scan was calculated by summing the extent of honeycombing, the extent of ground glass attenuation causing traction bronchiectasis both to the nearest 5% of the whole lungs, and the extent of reticular opacities. For this latter, the extension was estimated to the nearest 10% at three lung zones (delimited by the carina and the lowest inferior pulmonary vein for both lungs) and averaged between these 3 zones.
Day90
Pulmonary function tests evolution: Forced Vital Capacity
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the Absolute change in percent Forced Vital Capacity: Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) comparison before Acute Exacerbation (if available) and at Day 90.
Day90
Pulmonary function tests evolution: DLCO
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the Absolute change in percent DLCO: Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) comparison before Acute Exacerbation (if available) and at Day 90.
Day90
Occurence of Infectious disease
Time Frame: Day 90
This outcome corresponds to the occurence of infectious disease from D1 to Day 90.
Day 90
Occurence of Diabetes mellitus
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the occurence of diabetes mellitus by Capillary blood glucose monitoring and/or fasting blood glucose daily from D1 to Day 90.
Day90
Occurence of Cardiovascular disorder
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the occurence of cardiovascular disorder (heart rate, blood pressure, clinical history daily) from D1 to Day 90.
Day90
Occurence of Neuropsychological disturbances
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the occurence of neuropsychological disturbances from D1 to Day 90.
Day90
Occurence of Clinical laboratory evaluation
Time Frame: Day 90
This outcome corresponds to the occurence of clinical laboratory evolution (blood count, serum chemistries and creatinin measurement) from Day 4 to Day 90.
Day 90
Compare both arms in terms of Dyspnea
Time Frame: Day1, Day30, Day90
This outcome corresponds to the 0-100-mm visual analogue (VAS) scale anchored with 0 ''no breathlessness'' and 10 or 100 ''worst imaginable breathlessness", at Day1, Day 30 and Day 90.
Day1, Day30, Day90
Compare both arms in terms of Anxiety
Time Frame: Day 90
This outcome corresponds to theHospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADs), daily from randomization to hospital withdraw, Day 30 and Day 90. The HAD scale is an instrument that screens for anxiety and depressive disorders. It includes 14 questions rated from 0 to 3. Seven questions relate to anxiety (Total A) and seven others to the depressive dimension (Total D), thus making it possible to obtain both scores (maximum score for each score = 21).
Day 90
Compare both arms in terms of Depression
Time Frame: Day90
This outcome corresponds to the Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADs), from Day 1 to Day 90. The HAD scale is an instrument that screens for anxiety and depressive disorders. It includes 14 questions rated from 0 to 3. Seven questions relate to anxiety (Total A) and seven others to the depressive dimension (Total D), thus making it possible to obtain both scores (maximum score for each score = 21).
Day90
Compare both arms in terms of Clinical status at day 15
Time Frame: Day15
This outcome corresponds to the -category ordinal scale: 1: not hospitalized and no limitations of activities, 2: not hospitalized, with limitations of activities, home oxygen requirement, or both, 3: hospitalized, not requiring supplemental oxygen and no longer requiring ongoing medical care (used if hospitalization was extended for infection-control or other nonmedicala reason, 4: hospitalized requiring any supplemental oxygen, 5: hospitalized, requiring use of high high-flow oxygen device or noninvasive ventilation, 6: hospitalize, receiving invasive mechanicalventilation or extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), 7: death.
Day15

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Study Director: Jean-Marc NACCACHE, Fondation Hôpital Saint-Joseph

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 26, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 25, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 9, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 29, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

January 9, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 15, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 14, 2023

Last Verified

December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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