American journal of hematology
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Ruxolitinib combined with etanercept induce a rapid response to corticosteroid-refractory severe acute graft vs host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: Results of a multi-center prospective study.
About half of patients with severe acute graft vs host disease (aGVHD) show resistance to treatment with first-line steroids. We enrolled 64 patients with grades III-IV SR-aGVHD after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), to assess the efficacy and safety of the combination therapy of ruxolitinib and etanercept. The overall response rate was 87.5% (95% CI, 79.7%-95.3%) at day 28 of the combination treatment, from which 73.4% reached complete response (CR). ⋯ The 2-year incidence of non-relapse mortality and relapse of the underlying malignancy was 26.7% and 15.7%, respectively. Combined treatment with ruxolitinib and etanercept was very effective and relatively safe for severe aGVHD patients, while the various infection complications deserve more attention. This study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900024408).