1.
Ruxolitinib add-on in corticosteroid-refractory graft-vs-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: Results from a retrospective study on 38 Chinese patients
Dang, S. H., Liu, Q., Xie, R., Shen, N., Zhou, S., Shi, W., Liu, W., Zou, P., You, Y., Zhong, Z. D.
World journal of clinical cases. 2020;8(6):1065-1073
Abstract
BACKGROUND Graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) is a major cause of mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Some patients have steroid-refractory (SR) GVHD. AIM: To evaluate the effect and safety of ruxolitinib add-on in the treatment of patients with SR acute (a) and chronic (c) GVHD. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 38 patients administered ruxolitinib add-on to standard immunosuppressive therapy for SR-aGVHD or SR-cGVHD following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Ruxolitinib was administered 5-10 mg/d depending on disease severity, patient status, and the use of anti-fungal drugs. Overall response rate, time to best response, malignancy relapse rate, infection rate, and treatment-related adverse events were assessed. RESULTS The analysis included 10 patients with SR-aGVHD (grade III/IV, n = 9) and 28 patients with SR-cGVHD (moderate/severe, n = 24). For the SR-aGVHD and SR-cGVHD groups, respectively: Median number of previous GVHD therapies was 2 (range: 1-3) and 2 (1-4); median follow-up was 2.5 (1.5-4) and 5 (1.5-10) mo; median time to best response was 1 (0.5-2.5) and 3 (1-9.5) mo; and overall response rate was 100% (complete response: 80%) and 82.1% (complete response: 10.7%) with a response observed in all GVHD-affected organs. The malignancy relapse rates for the SR-aGVHD and SR-cGVHD groups were 10.0% and 10.7%, respectively. Reactivation rates for cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and varicella-zoster virus, respectively, were 30.0%, 10.0%, and 0% for the SR-aGVHD group and 0%, 14.3%, and 7.1% for the SR-cGVHD group. CONCLUSION Ruxolitinib add-on was effective and safe as salvage therapy for SR-GVHD.