REACH3 Study Demonstrates Promising Objective Responses in Chronic GVHD

Robert Zeiser, MD, professor of hematology and oncology at the University Medical Center Freiburg, discusses the findings from the phase 3 REACH3 clinical trial (NCT03112603) of ruxolitinib (Jakafi) as treatment of patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease with an inadequate response to corticosteroids.

The study demonstrated that treatment with ruxolitinib induced a greater objective response rate (ORR) compared with best available therapy, which was evaluated as the control. At week 24, the ORR with ruxolitinib was 49.7%, and the ORR in the BAT arm was 25.6%, says Zeiser.

Treatment also appeared tolerable, with similar tolerability observed in both groups on the study. No new safety signs were observed, and adverse events associated with treatment were consistent with the known toxicity profile, says Zeiser. The most common toxicities in the ruxolitinib arm compared with the control were anemia (29% vs 12%), hypertension (15% vs 12%), and pyrexia (15% vs 9%).

Zeiser presented these findings from the REACH3 study during the 2020 ASH Annual Meeting.