Scleroderma Lung Disease (SLS)

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of cyclophosphamide versus placebo for the prevention and progression of symptomatic pulmonary disease in patients with systemic sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Systemic sclerosis is a connective tissue disease of unknown etiology characterized by microvascular injury and excessive fibrosis of the skin and viscera. In the United States, 5,000 to 10,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. Approximately 80 percent of these persons will eventually develop some degree of lung involvement, and restrictive lung disease (interstitial fibrosis) is now the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in systemic sclerosis. An inflammatory alveolitis is thought to be the precursor of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis in systemic sclerosis. An effective treatment for SSc interstitial lung disease has yet to be identified. Cyclophosphamide (CYC) is already being widely used by rheumatologists desperate to do something to halt rapidly declining lung function in SSC patients. Thus, the time is ripe to perform a placebo-controlled trial of CYC in this disease. Pulmonary scleroderma strikes all races and is most prevalent among women during their child-bearing, child-rearing, and working years. A positive outcome from this trial, demonstrating that oral cyclophosphamide has a beneficial effect on pulmonary fibrosis, would be of great importance by offering a scientific basis for treatment. Similarly, a negative result, demonstrating no benefit from cyclophosphamide therapy, would also be important in avoiding hazardous and expensive therapy that is now being used widely. DESIGN NARRATIVE: Multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind. Subjects are recruited at 12 clinical centers and randomized to 2 mg/kg/day of cyclophosphamide or placebo. Follow-up visits for pulmonary assessments occur every three months for two years after treatment. If patients fail the cyclophosphamide treatment, they will be offered azathioprine for the remainder of the 24 month trial. The primary endpoint of the study is change in forced vital capacity at the end of 12 months of treatment. Secondary endpoints include quality of life, activity, and dyspnea indices, and carbon monoxide diffusing capacity. Recruitment ends in December, 2003.

Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, Bristol-Myers Squibb) was initiated with a dose of 1 mg per kilogram of body weight per day (to the nearest 25 mg). The doses were increased monthly by one capsule up to 2 mg per kilogram.

Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, Bristol-Myers Squibb) was initiated with a dose of 1 mg per kilogram of body weight per day (to the nearest 25 mg). The doses were increased monthly by one capsule up to 2 mg per kilogram.

The primary end point was the forced vital capacity (FVC, expressed as a percentage of the predicted value) at 12 months, after adjustment for the baseline FVC.

Inclusion Criteria: Patients with limited or diffuse systemic scleroderma if they had evidence of active alveolitis on examination of bronchoalveolar-lavage (BAL) fluid (defined as neutrophilia of ≥3 percent, eosinophilia of ≥2 percent, or both)on thoracic high-resolution computed tomography (CT), any ground-glass opacity, Onset of the first symptom of scleroderma other than Raynaud's phenomenon within the previous seven years, An FVC between 45 and 85 percent of the predicted value Grade 2 exertional dyspnea according to the baseline instrument of the Mahler Dyspnea Index (as measured with the use of the magnitude-of-task component). Exclusion Criteria: A single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DlCO) that was less than 30 percent of the predicted value, A history of smoking within the preceding six months, other clinically significant pulmonary abnormalities, Clinically significant pulmonary hypertension requiring drug therapy. Patients taking prednisone at a dose of more than 10 mg per day, those who had previously been treated for more than four weeks with oral cyclophosphamide or had received two or more intravenous doses, Patients who recently received other potentially disease-modifying medications.

Tashkin DP, Elashoff R, Clements PJ, Goldin J, Roth MD, Furst DE, Arriola E, Silver R, Strange C, Bolster M, Seibold JR, Riley DJ, Hsu VM, Varga J, Schraufnagel DE, Theodore A, Simms R, Wise R, Wigley F, White B, Steen V, Read C, Mayes M, Parsley E, Mubarak K, Connolly MK, Golden J, Olman M, Fessler B, Rothfield N, Metersky M; Scleroderma Lung Study Research Group. Cyclophosphamide versus placebo in scleroderma lung disease. N Engl J Med. 2006 Jun 22;354(25):2655-66. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa055120.

Khanna D, Clements PJ, Volkmann ER, Wilhalme H, Tseng CH, Furst DE, Roth MD, Distler O, Tashkin DP. Minimal Clinically Important Differences for the Modified Rodnan Skin Score: Results from the Scleroderma Lung Studies (SLS-I and SLS-II). Arthritis Res Ther. 2019 Jan 16;21(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s13075-019-1809-y.

Kafaja S, Clements PJ, Wilhalme H, Tseng CH, Furst DE, Kim GH, Goldin J, Volkmann ER, Roth MD, Tashkin DP, Khanna D. Reliability and minimal clinically important differences of forced vital capacity: Results from the Scleroderma Lung Studies (SLS-I and SLS-II). Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2018 Mar 1;197(5):644-652. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201709-1845OC. Epub 2017 Nov 3.

Namas R, Tashkin DP, Furst DE, Wilhalme H, Tseng CH, Roth MD, Kafaja S, Volkmann E, Clements PJ, Khanna D; Participants in the Scleroderma Lung Study I and members of the Scleroderma Lung Study II Research Group. Efficacy of Mycophenolate Mofetil and Oral Cyclophosphamide on Skin Thickness: Post Hoc Analyses From Two Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2018 Mar;70(3):439-444. doi: 10.1002/acr.23282. Epub 2018 Feb 9.

Kim HJ, Tashkin DP, Gjertson DW, Brown MS, Kleerup E, Chong S, Belperio JA, Roth MD, Abtin F, Elashoff R, Tseng CH, Khanna D, Goldin JG. Transitions to different patterns of interstitial lung disease in scleroderma with and without treatment. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016 Jul;75(7):1367-71. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-208929. Epub 2016 Jan 12.

Khanna D, Nagaraja V, Tseng CH, Abtin F, Suh R, Kim G, Wells A, Furst DE, Clements PJ, Roth MD, Tashkin DP, Goldin J. Predictors of lung function decline in scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease based on high-resolution computed tomography: implications for cohort enrichment in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease trials. Arthritis Res Ther. 2015 Dec 23;17:372. doi: 10.1186/s13075-015-0872-2.

Tashkin DP, Volkmann ER, Tseng CH, Kim HJ, Goldin J, Clements P, Furst D, Khanna D, Kleerup E, Roth MD, Elashoff R. Relationship between quantitative radiographic assessments of interstitial lung disease and physiological and clinical features of systemic sclerosis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016 Feb;75(2):374-81. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-206076. Epub 2014 Dec 1.

Theodore AC, Tseng CH, Li N, Elashoff RM, Tashkin DP. Correlation of cough with disease activity and treatment with cyclophosphamide in scleroderma interstitial lung disease: findings from the Scleroderma Lung Study. Chest. 2012 Sep;142(3):614-621. doi: 10.1378/chest.11-0801.

Roth MD, Tseng CH, Clements PJ, Furst DE, Tashkin DP, Goldin JG, Khanna D, Kleerup EC, Li N, Elashoff D, Elashoff RM; Scleroderma Lung Study Research Group. Predicting treatment outcomes and responder subsets in scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease. Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Sep;63(9):2797-808. doi: 10.1002/art.30438.

Goldin J, Elashoff R, Kim HJ, Yan X, Lynch D, Strollo D, Roth MD, Clements P, Furst DE, Khanna D, Vasunilashorn S, Li G, Tashkin DP. Treatment of scleroderma-interstitial lung disease with cyclophosphamide is associated with less progressive fibrosis on serial thoracic high-resolution CT scan than placebo: findings from the scleroderma lung study. Chest. 2009 Nov;136(5):1333-1340. doi: 10.1378/chest.09-0108.

Goldin JG, Lynch DA, Strollo DC, Suh RD, Schraufnagel DE, Clements PJ, Elashoff RM, Furst DE, Vasunilashorn S, McNitt-Gray MF, Brown MS, Roth MD, Tashkin DP; Scleroderma Lung Study Research Group. High-resolution CT scan findings in patients with symptomatic scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease. Chest. 2008 Aug;134(2):358-367. doi: 10.1378/chest.07-2444. Epub 2008 Jul 18.

Strange C, Bolster MB, Roth MD, Silver RM, Theodore A, Goldin J, Clements P, Chung J, Elashoff RM, Suh R, Smith EA, Furst DE, Tashkin DP; Scleroderma Lung Study Research Group. Bronchoalveolar lavage and response to cyclophosphamide in scleroderma interstitial lung disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2008 Jan 1;177(1):91-8. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200705-655OC. Epub 2007 Sep 27.

Tashkin DP, Elashoff R, Clements PJ, Roth MD, Furst DE, Silver RM, Goldin J, Arriola E, Strange C, Bolster MB, Seibold JR, Riley DJ, Hsu VM, Varga J, Schraufnagel D, Theodore A, Simms R, Wise R, Wigley F, White B, Steen V, Read C, Mayes M, Parsley E, Mubarak K, Connolly MK, Golden J, Olman M, Fessler B, Rothfield N, Metersky M, Khanna D, Li N, Li G; Scleroderma Lung Study Research Group. Effects of 1-year treatment with cyclophosphamide on outcomes at 2 years in scleroderma lung disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007 Nov 15;176(10):1026-34. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200702-326OC. Epub 2007 Aug 23.

Scleroderma Lung Study I (SLS I) was a clinical research study that compared the efficacy and toxicity of daily oral cyclophosphamide (CYC, also called CytoxanTM) with a daily placebo pill for the treatment of scleroderma-related lung fibrosis.