November 11, 2022
In this video, John O. Mascarenhas, MD, provided an overview of his presentation at 14th International Congress on Myeloproliferative Neoplasms that delved into new treatments, specifically focused on myelofibrosis.
“One theme in myelofibrosis, at least in clinical investigation, is the use of combination therapies, usually with a JAK-2 inhibitor-based backbone — usually ruxolitinib (Jakafi, Incyte) — with agents that have both preclinical rationale and already have emerging phase 2 data,” Mascarenhas, professor of medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, director of Center of Excellence for Blood Cancer and Myeloid Disorders, and member of Tisch Cancer Institute, said.
He said ongoing phase 3 trials are investigating the combination of ruxolitinib, parsaclisib (Incyte), pelabresib (Morphosys) and navitoclax (AbbVie). These agents have been used both as salvage therapy and upfront therapy.
“What we’ve seen from the phase 2 [trial] data that inspired these phase 3 studies is activity that does seem to be above and beyond singular agent ruxolitinib in treatment-naive patients and at least a third of patients in the salvage setting having spleen and symptom responses and even bone marrow fibrosis reduction,” Mascarenhas said.
Another randomized phase 3 study he highlighted explored a primary endpoint of overall survival with the use of a single agent, imetelstat (Geron), in patients with relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis following JAK-inhibitor therapy.
“There is a lot going on in the field,” Mascarenhas said. “It’s pretty exciting to be in it as a clinical investigator.”
References:
- Mascarenhas J. Promising new MPN treatments. Presented at: 14th International Congress on Myeloproliferative Neoplasms; Oct. 27-28, 2022; Brooklyn, New York.
- Pemmaraju N. Combining novel agents for treating myelofibrosis. Presented at: 14th International Congress on Myeloproliferative Neoplasms; Oct. 27-28, 2022; Brooklyn, New York.