American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialAprepitant For Cough in Lung Cancer: A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial and Mechanistic Insights.
Rationale: Effective cough treatments are a significant unmet need in patients with lung cancer. Aprepitant is a licensed treatment for nausea and vomiting, which blocks substance P activation of NK-1 (neurokinin 1) receptors, a mechanism also implicated in cough. Objectives: To assess aprepitant in patients with lung cancer with cough and evaluate mechanisms in vagal nerve tissue. ⋯ Substance P depolarized both guinea pig and human vagus nerve. Aprepitant significantly inhibited substance P-induced depolarization by 78% in guinea pig (P = 0.0145) and 94% in human vagus (P = 0.0145). Conclusions: Substance P activation of NK-1 receptors appears to be an important mechanism driving cough in lung cancer, and NK-1 antagonists show promise as antitussive therapies.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2021
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyReduced All-Cause Mortality in the ETHOS Trial of Budesonide/Glycopyrrolate/Formoterol for COPD: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Multi-Center Parallel-Group Study.
Rationale: In the phase III, 52-week ETHOS (Efficacy and Safety of Triple Therapy in Obstructive Lung Disease) trial in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (NCT02465567), triple therapy with budesonide/glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate (BGF) significantly reduced all-cause mortality compared with glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate (GFF). However, 384 of 8,509 patients were missing vital status at Week 52 in the original analyses. Objectives: To assess the robustness of the ETHOS mortality findings after additional data retrieval for patients missing Week 52 vital status in the original analyses. ⋯ Deaths from cardiovascular causes occurred in 0.5%, 0.8%, 1.4%, and 0.5% of patients in the BGF 320, BGF 160, GFF, and BFF groups, respectively. Conclusions: Using final retrieved vital status data, triple therapy with BGF 320 reduced the risk of death compared with GFF, but was not shown to significantly reduce the risk of death compared with BFF, in patients with COPD. Triple therapy containing a lower dose of inhaled corticosteroid (BGF 160) was not shown to significantly reduce the risk of death compared with the dual therapy comparators.