Dr. Scherber Discusses Ruxolitinib Failure in Myelofibrosis

Robyn M. Scherber, MD, MPH, physician, The Mays Cancer Center, the newly named center of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses ruxolitinib (Jakafi) failure in patients with myelofibrosis (MF).

Ruxolitinib is currently the only FDA-approved agent for the treatment of patients with MF, so ruxolitinib failure has become a larger issue. Although patients can stay on ruxolitinib for a long time with good response, Scherber says that after 2 or 3 years, response is often lost.

Discontinuation of ruxolitinib treatment is attributed to many factors, Scherber explains. One of the issues is that ruxolitinib failure is still poorly-defined, even though multiple clinical trials have tried to define it. The COMFORT-II, JAKARTA-2, SIMPLIFY-2, and the PAC203 trials addressed ruxolitinib duration. Ruxolitinib use ranged from 14 days to 28 days to 3 months before the treatment could be considered failed, Scherber explains.

Other factors of ruxolitinib failure include spleen size and disease progression.