• Robert Zeiser, Nicola Polverelli, Ron Ram, Shahrukh K Hashmi, Ronjon Chakraverty, Jan Moritz Middeke, Maurizio Musso, Sebastian Giebel, Ant Uzay, Peter Langmuir, Norbert Hollaender, Maanasa Gowda, Tommaso Stefanelli, Stephanie J Lee, Takanori Teshima, Franco Locatelli, and REACH3 Investigators.
• From the Department of Medicine I, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg (R.Z.), and Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I, Universitätsklinikum Dresden, Dresden (J.M.M.) - both in Germany; the Unit of Blood Diseases and Stem Cell Transplantation, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia (N.P.), UOC di Oncoematologia e TMO, Dipartimento Oncologico "la Maddalena," Palermo (M.M.), and Dipartimento di Oncoematologia Pediatrica, IRCCS, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu', Sapienza, Università di Roma, Rome (F.L.) - all in Italy; the BMT Unit, Tel Aviv (Sourasky) Medical Center and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel (R.R.); the Oncology Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (S.K.H.); the Department of Medicine, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Mayo Clinic, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (S.K.H.); UCL Cancer Institute, Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, London (R.C.); the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Onco-Hematology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Gliwice Branch, Gliwice, Poland (S.G.); Acibadem University Hospital, Hematology Department, Istanbul, Turkey (A.U.); Incyte, Wilmington, DE (P.L.); Novartis Pharma, Basel, Switzerland (N.H., T.S.); Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ (M.G.); the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle (S.J.L.); and the Department of Hematology, Hokkaido University Faculty of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan (T.T.).
• N. Engl. J. Med. 2021 Jul 15; 385 (3): 228-238.

BackgroundChronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a major complication of allogeneic stem-cell transplantation, becomes glucocorticoid-refractory or glucocorticoid-dependent in approximately 50% of patients. Robust data from phase 3 randomized studies evaluating second-line therapy for chronic GVHD are lacking. In retrospective surveys, ruxolitinib, a Janus kinase (JAK1-JAK2) inhibitor, showed potential efficacy in patients with glucocorticoid-refractory or -dependent chronic GVHD.MethodsThis phase 3 open-label, randomized trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of ruxolitinib at a dose of 10 mg twice daily, as compared with the investigator's choice of therapy from a list of 10 commonly used options considered best available care (control), in patients 12 years of age or older with moderate or severe glucocorticoid-refractory or -dependent chronic GVHD. The primary end point was overall response (complete or partial response) at week 24; key secondary end points were failure-free survival and improved score on the modified Lee Symptom Scale at week 24.ResultsA total of 329 patients underwent randomization; 165 patients were assigned to receive ruxolitinib and 164 patients to receive control therapy. Overall response at week 24 was greater in the ruxolitinib group than in the control group (49.7% vs. 25.6%; odds ratio, 2.99; P<0.001). Ruxolitinib led to longer median failure-free survival than control (>18.6 months vs. 5.7 months; hazard ratio, 0.37; P<0.001) and higher symptom response (24.2% vs. 11.0%; odds ratio, 2.62; P = 0.001). The most common (occurring in ≥10% patients) adverse events of grade 3 or higher up to week 24 were thrombocytopenia (15.2% in the ruxolitinib group and 10.1% in the control group) and anemia (12.7% and 7.6%, respectively). The incidence of cytomegalovirus infections and reactivations was similar in the two groups.ConclusionsAmong patients with glucocorticoid-refractory or -dependent chronic GVHD, ruxolitinib led to significantly greater overall response, failure-free survival, and symptom response. The incidence of thrombocytopenia and anemia was greater with ruxolitinib. (Funded by Novartis and Incyte; REACH3 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03112603.).Copyright © 2021 Massachusetts Medical Society.

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