Prithviraj Bose, MD, professor in the Department of Leukemia at MD Anderson Cancer Center, provides an overview of the different JAK inhibitors currently available for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms.
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0:09 | We have 4 JAK inhibitors approved for the treatment of myelofibrosis in the US. Important to note, pacritinib [Vonjo] is not approved outside the US. There is obviously a lot to say on this topic, especially, ruxolitinib [Jakafi] was approved in 2011, fedratinib [Inrebic] in 2019 and then pacritinib and momelotinib [Ojjaara], more recently, 2022 and 2023. But I think I will just hit some high points.
0:36 | So for ruxolitinib, the first thing I would say about that is that it is the JAK inhibitor with the most clearly demonstrated survival benefit in myelofibrosis. Now, is that an effect just of ruxolitinib and not of the others? We do not know that. It could be a class effect, but the data are the data and the data are that ruxolitinib is the one that has a clearly shown survival benefit. I think that needs to be considered as we use it, and it is usually the most frequently used frontline drug. Now, where you can get into trouble with ruxolitinib is with cytopenias, low blood counts, and this is a drug that you need to be able to dose well in order to get the benefit that you are seeking. The dose can get compromised by cytopenias.
1:29 | That is where I will tie that into the entry of pacritinib and momelotinib. These are easier to use in the setting of cytopenias. In fact, pacritinib has a label for platelets than 50, and momelotinib is for patients with anemia in myelofibrosis. So right there, you can see that they sort of have their place more in that cytopenic population, which could be frontline, or, more commonly, second-line, after ruxolitinib. I think those are great additions in the sense that you can give them at good doses despite low blood counts, which becomes difficult with ruxolitinib, like I just said. [They are] certainly very welcome additions to the arsenal.
2:12 | I will just say 1 last thing about fedratinib, which was the second one approved. This is a good drug, perhaps as good as ruxolitinib from an efficacy stand point, but really with no clear advantage over ruxolitinib. So, I do not use it in the frontline. I do use it, however, in post-ruxolitinib settings, where the blood counts are good. In those proliferative scenarios, as opposed to the cytopenic scenarios, in second-line and beyond, I do find fedratinib to be a useful drug. It has some toxicities that one has to pay attention to. All patients should get thiamine supplementation, stuff like that, but overall, I would say those are the kind of very high level points about the 4 drugs.
The introduction of fedratinib (Inrebic) to the treatment landscape of myelofibrosis (MF) and the challenges that have arisen over deciding between administering fedratinib or ruxolitinib (Jakafi) means more community oncologists should consult specialists when treating these patients, said Andrew Kuykendall, MD.