Dr. Zeiser on Results of the REACH3 Trial in Chronic GVHD

Robert Zeiser, MD, professor, head, Department of Tumor Immunology and Immune Regulation, Clinic for Internal Medicine I, University Medical Center Freiburg, discusses results of the REACH3 trial in chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD).

Results of the randomized, phase 3 REACH3 trial, which were presented ​virtually during the 2020 ASH Annual Meeting ​& Exposition, demonstrated a significantly higher overall response rate with ruxolitinib (Jakafi) vs best available therapy (BAT), at 49.7% and 25.6%​, respectively. Moreover, 6.7%​ of patients achieved a complete response (CR)​ with ruxolitinib compared with 3% of patients with BAT, Zeiser says.

 Furthermore, the safety profiles were similar between arms. The most common ​any-grade adverse effects​ observed with ruxolitinib or BAT, respectively, ​included anemia (​29.1% vs 12.7%), thrombocytopenia (21.2% vs 14.6%), hypertension (​15.8% vs 12.7%), pyrexia (15.8% vs 9.5%), and alanine aminotransferase increase (15​.2% vs 4​.4%). Infections occurred in 64% of patients with ruxolitinib vs 56% of patients with BAT, Zeiser concludes.