Advair Won't Lower COPD Death Risk: Study

The steroid-plus-bronchodilator does improve patients' quality of life, however

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter

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THURSDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Using Advair, an inhaled steroid combined with a long-acting bronchodilator, does not prolong the lives of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but it could improve their quality of life by making breathing easier.

That's the conclusion from a large international trial that compared four different treatments in people with the progressive, debilitating lung disease.

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The study compared the use of the long-acting bronchodilator salmeterol alone, the inhaled steroid fluticasone propionate alone, salmeterol plus fluticasone in combination (sold as Advair in the United States), or a placebo.

"There were no significant differences in mortality between the component drugs and the placebo treatment," said the study's lead author, Dr. Peter M.A. Calverley, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Liverpool and University Hospital Aintree. However, he did note a 25 percent decline in the total number of exacerbations for patients taking Advair compared to placebo, "and this was also statistically significant, better than either of the component drugs [alone]."

Results of the study, which was funded by drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, are published in the Feb. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. GlaxoSmithKline sells combination salmeterol-plus-fluticasone therapy under the brand name Advair in the United States and as Seretide in the rest of the world.

COPD, a lethal combination of emphysema and chronic bronchitis, is responsible for 2.75 million deaths worldwide, according to background information in the study. Most cases of COPD -- between 80 percent and 90 percent -- are caused by smoking, according to the American Lung Association. There are few effective treatments for COPD, and most treatments cannot reduce the rates of mortality, according to the study.

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