Recent Advances in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

The concept on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) pathogenesis has progressed from chronic inflammation to aberrant wounding healing and even more to the current paradigms of a multifactorial and heterogeneous disease process. Despite the growth of clinical trials for IPF, most of the results, including N-acetylcysteine combination, warfarin, and bosentan, were disappointing. On the other hand, there have been a number of important developments; the foremost is the licensing of pirfenidone in Europe and Asia. In this article, we briefly review the recent knowledge of pathogenesis of IPF. We also summarize the recent clinical trials regarding the management of IPF.