Pacritinib could lead to OS benefit for patients with myelofibrosis with thrombocythemia
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
SAN DIEGO — Pacritinib may provide a “unique survival advantage” for patients with myelofibrosis also exhibiting moderate or severe thrombocythemia, according to data from the PERSIST-2 study, presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
A survival analysis led by Helen Ajufo, MD, MS, an oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, found that reductions in symptoms on full-dose pacritinib (Vonjo, CTI BioPharma) was positively associated with OS benefit, a development that had not been previously noted with other JAK inhibitors.
The analysis was performed after recent data from PERSIST-2 found that a reduction in spleen volume at 12 weeks in patients treated with pacritinib was associated better survival outcomes, but similarly was not found in patients on the best available therapy, a cohort within which 82% were on ruxolitinib (Jakafi, Incyte).
The 59 patients treated with pacritinib had a median age of 67 years, 25% of which had a scoring of “high-risk” myelofibrosis on the Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System.
The analysis probed > 20% reduction in physical function symptoms such as fatigue, spleen-related symptoms such as rib pain and abdominal discomfort, and cytokine-related symptoms such as itching, night sweats and bone pain.
Specifically, there were zero deaths out of 35 respondents treated with pacritinib who had reported cytokine-related symptoms, compared with two deaths out of 15 nonrespondents.
Ajufo and her team recommended that future studies examine the potential mechanisms of these observations, noting that pacritinib’s “distinctive mechanism of action” could provide the difference.
Reference:
- Ajufo H, et al. Impact of symptom benefit and transfusion response on survival in myelofibrosis patients treated with pacritinib: PERSIST-2 landmark survival analysis. Presented at: ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition; Dec. 9-12, 2023; San Diego.
Collapse
Meeting News
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts