Dr. Mesa on the Anticipated Utility of Momelotinib in Myelofibrosis

Ruben A. Mesa, MD, director of the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the anticipated utility of momelotinib in myelofibrosis.

The ongoing MOMENTUM trial (NCT04173494) is evaluating momelotinib vs danazol for symptomatic and anemic patients with myelofibrosis who have previously received a JAK inhibitor. Momelotinib appears to be superior to danazol in terms of managing symptoms, splenomegaly, and anemia, says Mesa.

Danazol was selected as the control arm because it has demonstrated some level of activity in managing anemia for this patient population and it is relatively well tolerated, Mesa says. In a randomized phase 3 clinical trial setting, danazol is expected to elicit response rates of around 20% to 30%, as was previously demonstrated in clinical trials.

The partial efficacy observed with danazol sheds light on the need to develop additional agents, such as momelotinib, to treat patients with myelofibrosis-related anemia, concludes Mesa.