Ten years of experience with ruxolitinib since approval for polycythemia vera: A review of clinical efficacy and safety

Abstract

The oral Janus kinase (JAK) 1/JAK2 inhibitor ruxolitinib was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014 for treatment of patients with polycythemia vera (PV) who have an inadequate response to or intolerance of hydroxyurea (HU). PV is a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm defined by primary absolute erythrocytosis, bone marrow hypercellularity, and JAK mutations such as JAK2V617F. Patients with PV experience burdensome symptoms and are at risk of thromboembolic events, in particular those with resistance to or intolerance of initial treatments such as HU. Other risks for patients with PV include progression of disease to more aggressive forms with worse prognoses, such as myelofibrosis or blast-phase myeloproliferative neoplasms. This review summarizes the efficacy and safety of ruxolitinib from key phase 2 and 3 trials (MAJIC-PV, RESPONSE, RESPONSE-2, RELIEF, and Ruxo-BEAT), large real-world studies, and a decade of postmarketing surveillance safety data. The authors focus on improved blood count control, rates of thromboembolic events, symptom improvement, and markers of disease modification such as reduction of JAK2V617F allele burden in patients treated with ruxolitinib. They also discuss the well-characterized safety profile of ruxolitinib regarding hematologic and other adverse events of interest. In the 10 years since its approval, ruxolitinib remains a safe and effective standard-of-care treatment for PV. As the treatment landscape for PV continues to evolve in the coming years, the efficacy and safety profiles of ruxolitinib suggest it will remain a preferred treatment as monotherapy and as a potential backbone of future combination regimens.