Dr. Verstovsek on Efficacy of Pelabresib Plus Ruxolitinib in Myelofibrosis

Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD, United Energy Resources, Inc. Professor of Medicine, director, Hanns A. Pielenz Clinical Research Center for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, chief, Section for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the efficacy of the combination of pelabresib (formerly CPI-0610) plus ruxolitinib (Jakafi) in the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis.

The phase 2 MANIFEST trial (NCT02158858) examined the combination of pelabresib with or without ruxolitinib in patients with myelofibrosis. In one of the 3 treatment arms examined, patients who were already receiving a stable dose of ruxolitinib but had been experiencing suboptimal responses were also given pelabresib. The addition of the agent to ruxolitinib resulted in a significant improvement in the spleen in 29% of patients. Moreover, approximately 38% of patients experienced an improvement in symptoms, Verstovsek adds.

Questions remain with the combination, including the time to response, the duration of response, and whether patients are benefiting from treatment, but not are necessarily meeting the official response criteria, Verstovsek explains. However, the initial data reported with the combination are encouraging, Verstovsek concludes.