Effectiveness of Cyclophosphamide and Immunosuppressants in Systemic Sclerosis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease: A Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE

The present meta-analysis compares the effectiveness of cyclophosphamide (CYC) as an immunosuppressant in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) with placebo, and other immunosuppressants.

METHODOLOGY: The study involved randomized trials and observational studies identified through a systematic literature search using various databases, such as Elton B Stephens Company (EBSCO) Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed Central, Cochrane Library, and ScienceDirect. These studies compared the effectiveness of CYC with placebo or other immunosuppressants in terms of lung parameters. Meta-analysis and network meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments.

RESULTS

Upon comparison, azathioprine (AZA) was favored over CYC for forced vital capacity (FVC) (d = 1.02, p = 0.00) and diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (d = 0.88, p = 0.00). No significant difference in FVC between CYC and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was found, although CYC was slightly preferred (d = -0.12, p = 0.60). CYC was beneficial over placebo in reducing the Dyspnea Index score (d = 0.78, p = 0.00) but not in improving DLCO. Network analysis revealed that CYC had the highest FVC outcome p-scores (0.6559), while rituximab (RTX) had the lowest (0.3410). For DLCO, AZA had the highest p-score (0.5707), followed by placebo (0.5180).

CONCLUSION

While suggesting the potential benefits of CYC and AZA, the study findings do not decisively support the superiority of CYC over other treatments for most SSc-ILD lung function parameters. This emphasizes the need for rigorous, ongoing research to refine treatment strategies and address unresolved questions regarding the efficacy and safety profile of CYC.