UPLIFT study - understanding potential long-term impacts on function with tiotropium - and sub-analyses. Bibliographic resume of the obtained results.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a respiratory problem with the highest prevalence and strongest socio-economic impact in the world and whose morbimortality keeps increasing. Treating this disease is a challenge in the field of pneumology since the market now offers a wide range of bronchodilators. Tiotropium bromide, a long-acting anticholinergic bronchodilator, is a drug used to deal with this pathology.

AREAS COVERED: The UPLIFT study was a 4-year (2004-2008) clinical multi-center trial in which tiotropium bromide was compared with a placebo. We present a bibliographic resume covering the multiple sub-analyses published since the end of the clinical trial, between 2009-2015. These sub-analyses analyzed the results obtained in UPLIFT in parallel, provided additional data about safety profiles, exacerbations, hospitalization and mortality rates, and lung function, among others. Expert Commentary: Tiotropium bromide is a significant advance for the maintenance treatment of patients with COPD. The favorable results obtained leave the door open to the possibility of improving the natural history of COPD and confirmed tiotropium bromide as the gold standard drug as monotherapy for treatment of COPD.