Dr. Lee on the Results of the REACH3 Trial in Chronic GVHD

Stephanie J. Lee, MD, MPH, professor, associate director, Clinical Research Division, David and Patricia Giuliani/Oliver Press Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, research director, Long-Term Follow-Up, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, professor, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine, discusses the results of the phase 3 REACH3 trial (NCT03112603) in chronic graft-vs-host disease (cGVHD).

During the 2021 Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Meetings, the results of the REACH3 trial were presented virtually. The findings demonstrated a 49.7% overall response rate with ruxolitinib (Jakafi) compared with 25.6% with best available therapy (BAT) among adolescent and adult patients with cGVHD.

Additionally, failure-free survival, defined as the time until the need for additional systemic treatment for cGVHD, relapse, or death, favored ruxolitinib vs BAT in this patient population, Lee explains.

Additionally, symptom improvement was better with ruxolitinib compared with BAT, suggesting that utilizing ruxolitinib could significantly improve quality of life compared with standard treatment options for patients with cGVHD, Lee concludes.