Baseline characteristics and ICS/LAMA/LABA response in asthma: analyses from the CAPTAIN study

Background Findings from CAPTAIN (NCT02924688) suggest treatment response to fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI) differs according to baseline type 2 (T2) inflammation markers in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. Understanding how other patient physiologic and clinical characteristics affect response to inhaled therapies may guide physicians toward a personalized approach for asthma management. Objective To investigate, using CAPTAIN data, the predictive value of key demographic and baseline physiologic variables in patients with asthma (lung function, bronchodilator reversibility, age, age at asthma onset) on response to addition of the long-acting muscarinic antagonist UMEC to inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting β2-agonist combination FF/VI, or doubling FF dose. Methods Prespecified and post hoc analyses of CAPTAIN data were performed using categorical and continuous variables of key baseline characteristics to understand their influence on treatment outcomes (lung function [trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second, FEV1], annualized rate of moderate/severe exacerbations, and asthma control [Asthma Control Questionnaire, ACQ]) following addition of UMEC to FF/VI or doubling FF dose in FF/VI or FF/UMEC/VI. Results Adding UMEC to FF/VI led to greater improvements in trough FEV1 versus doubling FF dose across all baseline characteristics assessed. Doubling FF dose was generally associated with numerically greater reductions in the annualized rate of moderate/severe exacerbations compared with adding UMEC, independent of baseline characteristics. Adding UMEC and/or doubling FF dose generally led to improvements in ACQ scores irrespective of baseline characteristics. Conclusion Unlike previous findings with T2 biomarkers, lung function, bronchodilator reversibility, age and age at asthma onset do not appear to predict response to inhaled therapy.