The Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Channel on VJHemOnc is an independent medical education platform, supported with funding from Takeda (Gold) and Kartos Therapeutics, Inc. (Bronze). Supporters have no influence on the production of content. The levels of sponsorship listed are reflective of the amount of funding given.
EHA 2025 | The evolution of treatment options for myelofibrosis: newly available JAK inhibitors and beyond
Marina Kremyanskaya, MD, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, comments on the evolution of treatment options for myelofibrosis. She highlights the impact of the newly available JAK inhibitors, as well as the use of other agents, such as erythropoietin-stimulating agents, in conjunction. This interview took place at the 30th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in Milan, Italy.
These works are owned by Magdalen Medical Publishing (MMP) and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All rights are reserved.
Transcript
So as we think about the treatment of myelofibrosis in the last few years, I think what changed dramatically is the availability of the additional JAK inhibitors. So in the past, you know, we’ve had ruxolitinib, which is a, you know, a great drug, and it’s been available for a while, and it definitely benefits many patients in terms of spleen responses and symptom responses and improved survival but there are definitely some issues with tolerability...
So as we think about the treatment of myelofibrosis in the last few years, I think what changed dramatically is the availability of the additional JAK inhibitors. So in the past, you know, we’ve had ruxolitinib, which is a, you know, a great drug, and it’s been available for a while, and it definitely benefits many patients in terms of spleen responses and symptom responses and improved survival but there are definitely some issues with tolerability. It tends to make patients more anemic as well as thrombocytopenic or often results in decreasing these blood counts which for some patients who already have low counts, maybe makes it difficult to tolerate ruxolitinib. So the newer JAK inhibitors that are on the market now, such as momelotinib and pacritinib, I think allow us to maybe use it more effectively in those patients that have low blood counts. I think for those patients that are starting with cytopenia, such as both thrombocytopenia and anemia, pacritinib is often chosen as the first drug, first-line JAK inhibitor. And then for those patients where anemia is the major issue, momelotinib is a great choice as a JAK inhibitor to improve the splenomegaly and systemic symptoms et cetera. So I think that’s the major change in terms of what’s available as standard of care. In addition, we also have learned that we can support patients through, for example, ruxolitinib treatment with other medications such as erythropoietin-stimulating agents can help some patients maintain their hemoglobin while on ruxolitinib as well as other JAK inhibitors. In some cases, luspatercept is used, danazol. So I think we’ve kind of gained more experience of using these other drugs as well. If we think about what’s available to us right now as a standard of care, the availability of all these medications is new in the last few years.
This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.
Read more...
