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JAK Inhibitor Before Donor Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Patients With Primary or Secondary Myelofibrosis

JAK Inhibitor Prior to Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant for Patients With Primary and Secondary Myelofibrosis: A Prospective Study

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02251821
Enrollment
61
Registered
2014-09-29
Start date
2014-10-20
Completion date
2026-01-22
Last updated
2026-03-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Primary Myelofibrosis, Secondary Myelofibrosis

Brief summary

This phase II trial studies how well giving a JAK inhibitor before a donor stem cell transplant works in treating patients with myelofibrosis that developed without another condition (primary) or evolved from other bone marrow disorders (secondary). JAK inhibitors are a class of drugs that may stop the growth of abnormal cells by blocking an enzyme needed for cell growth. Giving a JAK inhibitor such as ruxolitinib before a donor stem cell transplant may help reduce symptoms of myelofibrosis such as inflammation and enlargement of the spleen, improve the patient's general physical condition, and prevent complications from occurring after the transplant. Infusing healthy stem cells from a donor into the patient may help the patient's bone marrow work normally and make stem cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Giving a JAK inhibitor before a donor stem cell transplant may help improve transplant outcomes in patients with myelofibrosis.

Detailed description

OUTLINE: PART 1: Patients receive ruxolitinib orally (PO) twice daily (BID) from at least 8 weeks prior to the start of conditioning through day -4 before transplantation, with a taper schedule reducing the dose every 2-3 days beginning after day -4. PART 2: Patients are assigned to 1 of 2 conditioning regimens at the discretion of the clinical provider and Clinical Coordinators Office (CCO). MYELOABLATIVE CONDITIONING: Patients receive fludarabine phosphate intravenously (IV) over 1 hour on days -8 to -6 (umbilical cord blood transplant recipients only), cyclophosphamide IV on days -7 and -6, and busulfan IV over 3 hours on days -5 to -2. REDUCED-INTENSITY CONDITIONING: Patients receive fludarabine phosphate IV over 1 hour on days -6 to -2 and melphalan IV over 15-30 minutes on days -3 and -2. Patients also undergo total-body irradiation (TBI) on day -1 (umbilical cord blood transplant recipients only). TRANSPLANT: Patients undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant or umbilical cord blood transplant on day 0. GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST DISEASE (GVHD) PROPHYLAXIS: Patients receive tacrolimus IV continuously (inpatients) or over 1-2 hours twice daily (BID) (outpatients) or orally (PO) BID on days -1 to +180 (patients receiving related or unrelated stem cells) or days -3 to +180 (patients receiving umbilical cord blood) with taper beginning on day +56 (related donor recipients) or +100 (unrelated donor or umbilical cord blood recipients) in the absence of GVHD. Patients also receive methotrexate IV on days +1, +3, +6, and +11 (related and unrelated donor recipients only) or mycophenolate mofetil IV or PO every 8 hours on days 0 to +40 with taper to day +96 (umbilical cord blood transplant recipients only). After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 6 months, 1 year, and then yearly for 4 years.

Interventions

PROCEDUREAllogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant

DRUGBusulfan

Given IV

DRUGCyclophosphamide

Given IV

DRUGFludarabine Phosphate

Given IV

OTHERLaboratory Biomarker Analysis

Correlative studies

DRUGMelphalan

Given IV

DRUGMethotrexate

Given IV

DRUGMycophenolate Mofetil

Given IV or PO

DRUGRuxolitinib

Given PO

DRUGTacrolimus

Given IV or PO

RADIATIONTotal-Body Irradiation

Undergo TBI

PROCEDUREUmbilical Cord Blood Transplantation

Undergo umbilical cord blood transplant

Sponsors

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Lead SponsorOTHER
Incyte Corporation
CollaboratorINDUSTRY
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

PART 1: * PART 1: Disease criteria * Diagnosis of primary MF (PMF) as defined by the 2008 World Health Organization classification system or diagnosis of secondary MF as defined by the International Working Group (IWG) for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Research and Treatment criteria * Patients meeting the criteria for intermediate-1, intermediate-2 or high-risk disease by the Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System (DIPSS) or DIPSS-plus scoring system * PART 1: Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document * PART 1: Patient must be a potential hematopoietic stem cell transplant candidate PART 2: * PART 2: Meeting criteria for 1st phase as above, at time of initiation of JAK inhibitor, including ability to understand and willingness to sign a written informed consent; patients arriving to our institution for transplant and not enrolled in Part 1 may still be enrolled in Part 2 if Part 1 criteria met; these patients will have Part 1 endpoints transcribed from medical records * PART 2: Received ruxolitinib for at least 8 weeks immediately prior to conditioning and be able to continue until Day -4 pre-transplant * PART 2: Performance status score * Karnofsky \>= 70 * PART 2: Calculated creatinine clearance using the Cockcroft-Gault formula or 24 hr urine creatinine clearance must be \> 60 ml/min * PART 2: Total serum bilirubin must be \< 3 mg/dL unless the elevation is thought to be due to Gilbert's disease or hemolysis * PART 2: Transaminases must be \< 3 x the upper limit of normal * PART 2: Patients with clinical or laboratory evidence of liver disease will be evaluated for the cause of liver disease, its clinical severity in terms of liver function, and the degree of portal hypertension; patients with fulminant liver failure, cirrhosis with evidence of portal hypertension or bridging fibrosis, alcoholic hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, or correctable hepatic synthetic dysfunction evidenced by prolongation of the prothrombin time, ascites related to portal hypertension, bacterial or fungal abscess, biliary obstruction, chronic viral hepatitis with total serum bilirubin \> 3 mg/dL, and symptomatic biliary disease will be excluded * PART 2: Diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) corrected \> 60% normal * May not be on supplemental oxygen * PART 2: Left ventricular ejection fraction \> 40% OR * PART 2: Shortening fraction \> 26% * PART 2: Comorbidity Index \< 5 at the time of pre-transplant evaluation DONOR: * DONOR: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched or 1 antigen mismatched sibling donor * DONOR: 10 of 10 HLA-matched or 1 allele mismatched (9 of 10) unrelated donor * DONOR: Peripheral blood is preferred over bone marrow for non-umbilical cord blood recipients * DONOR: Umbilical cord blood units will be selected according to the following umbilical cord blood graft selection criteria; one or 2 cord blood (CB) units may be used to achieve the required cell dose * DONOR: The CB graft(s) must be matched at 4-6 HLA-A, B, DR Beta 1 (DRB1) loci with the recipient and therefore may include 0-2 mismatches at the A or B or DRB1 loci; unit selection will be based on cryopreserved nucleated cell dose and intermediate resolution A, B antigen and DRB1 allele typing for determination of HLA-match; while HLA-C antigen/allele level typing is not considered in the matching criteria, if available, it may be used to optimize unit selection * DONOR: Selection of two CB units is allowed to provide sufficient cell dose (see below for algorithm to determine single versus double unit transplant); when multiple units are selected, the following rules apply: * The CB unit with the least HLA disparity (with the patient) will be selected first (i.e., selection priority is 6/6 match \> 5/6 match \> 4/6 match); additional CB units then may be selected to achieve the required cell dose, as outlined below; if a second unit is required, this unit will be the unit that most closely HLA matches the patient and meets minimum size criteria outlined below of at least 1.5 x 10\^7 total nucleated cells (TNC)/kg (i.e. a smaller, more closely matched unit will be selected over a larger, less well matched unit as long as minimum criteria are met) * If two CB units are used: * The total cell dose of the combined units must be at least 3.0 x 10\^7 TNC per kilogram recipient weight * Each CB unit MUST contain at least 1.5 x 10\^7 TNC per kilogram recipient weight * Algorithm for determining single versus double unit cord blood transplant: * Match grade 6/6: TNC dose \>= 2.5 x 10\^7/kg * Match grade 5/6, 4/6: TNC dose \>= 4.0 (+/- 0.5) x 10\^7/kg * DONOR: General comments: * Units will be selected first based on the TNC dose and HLA matching * Cluster of differentiation (CD)34+ cell dose will not be used for unit selection unless 2 units of equal HLA-match grade are available; in this case, the unit with the larger CD34+ cell dose (if data available) should be selected * A CB unit that is 5/6 mismatched but homozygous at the locus of mismatch should be chosen over a 5/6 unit with bidirectional mismatch even if the latter unit is larger (has more cells); this also applies to 4/6 units; this is only applicable to choosing units within a given match grade * Other factors to be considered: * Within the same HLA match grade, matching at DR takes preference * Cord blood banks located in the United States are preferred * Up to 5% of the cord blood product(s), when ready for infusion, may be withheld for research purposes as long as thresholds for infused TNC dose are met; these products will be used to conduct studies involving the kinetics of engraftment and immunobiology of double cord transplantation

Exclusion criteria

PART 1: * PART 1: Evidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or known HIV positive serology * PART 1: Uncontrolled viral, bacterial, or fungal infections at the time of study enrollment * PART 1: History of prior allogeneic transplant * PART 1: Pregnant or breastfeeding (only if patients have not been started on ruxolitinib \[Rux\] by their primary oncologist prior to enrollment) PART 2: * PART 2: Uncontrolled viral or bacterial infection at the time of study enrollment * PART 2: Active or recent (prior 6 month) invasive fungal infection without infectious disease (ID) consult and approval * PART 2: History of HIV infection * PART 2: Pregnant or breastfeeding * PART 2: Patients without an HLA-identical or 1-allele-mismatched related donor or unrelated donor or umbilical cord blood units that meet transplant criteria

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
2-year Overall Survival (OS) in Patients With Myelofibrosis (MF) Who Receive Treatment With a JAK Inhibitor Followed by an Allogeneic Transplant2 yearsOS was defined as the time from date of transplantation to date of death due to any cause. In the absence of confirmation of death, survival time was censored to last date the participant was known to be alive. The 2-year survival probability was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and a 2-sided 95% confidence interval (CI).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percentage of Participants With Acute Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) Grade II-IVUp to 100 days post-transplantPercentage of Participants with Grade II-IV acute GVHD in the first 100 days post HCT.
Percentage of Participants With Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD)2 yearsMax grade of chronic GVHD mild, moderate or severe at any time within the first 2 years following transplant.
Percentage of Patients Who Had Relapsed Disease at 1 Year1 yearPatients who had evidence of residual disease by molecular, flow cytometric or cytogenetics/FISH were considered relapsed disease.
Non-relapse Mortality (NRM)Day 100Patients who died in remission between day of transplant and day 100.
Number of Patients Who Experienced Primary Graft Failure/RejectionUp to 42 days post-transplantPatients who failed to achieve ANC \> 500 x 3 or chimerism \> 5% by day 42 post-transplant.
Number of Patients Who Experienced Secondary Graft Failure/Poor Graft FunctionUp to 5 yearsPatients who engrafted with an ANC \>500 x 3 or chimerism \> 5% and then became neutropenic with ANC \<500x3 days or chimerism \<5% without evidence of relapse.
Percentage of Patients With a Max Grade of Moderate and Severe Chronic GVHD at Any Time Before 2 Years Post Transplant.2 years post-HCTIncludes patients who had a max grade of moderate or severe chronic GVHD by the NIH scoring system at any time between day 0 and 2 years post transplant.
Percentage of Participants With Acute Graft Versus Host Disease Grade III-IV GVHD100 daysPatients who had a max grade of III-IV acute GVHD any time between Day 0 and Day 100.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORRachel B. Salit

Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium

Participant flow

Recruitment details

The original accrual goal to reach the primary endpoint was 48 patients. An additional 15 patients were added in order to collect samples for our translational work on GVHD biomarkers (total 63). We stopped our accrual at 61 patients when we opened our current study looking giving Rux in the peri-transplant setting.

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Treatment (Ruxolitinib, Transplant)
Patients receive a ruxolitinib for at least 8 weeks and undergo myeloablative or reduced-intensity conditioning followed by transplant and GVHD prophylaxis; see detailed description.
61
Total61

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicTreatment (Ruxolitinib, Transplant)
Age, Continuous57 years
Conditioning Regimen Intensity
High Intensity Myeloablative
41 Participants
Conditioning Regimen Intensity
Reduced Intensity Myeloablative
20 Participants
DIPSS (Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System) for Myelofibrosis
High-risk
2 Participants
DIPSS (Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System) for Myelofibrosis
Intermediate 1 risk
16 Participants
DIPSS (Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System) for Myelofibrosis
Intermediate 2 risk
41 Participants
DIPSS (Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System) for Myelofibrosis
Low-risk
2 Participants
Donor Source
1 allele mismatched unrelated
4 Participants
Donor Source
Cord Blood
6 Participants
Donor Source
HLA-matched sibling
25 Participants
Donor Source
Matched unrelated
26 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
3 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
57 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
1 Participants
Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) at time of HCT
100
10 Participants
Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) at time of HCT
70
4 Participants
Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) at time of HCT
80
19 Participants
Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) at time of HCT
90
28 Participants
Primary or Secondary Myelofibrosis
Primary MF
36 Participants
Primary or Secondary Myelofibrosis
Secondary MF
25 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
7 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
51 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
25 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
36 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
14 / 61
other
Total, other adverse events
61 / 61
serious
Total, serious adverse events
7 / 61

Outcome results

Primary

2-year Overall Survival (OS) in Patients With Myelofibrosis (MF) Who Receive Treatment With a JAK Inhibitor Followed by an Allogeneic Transplant

OS was defined as the time from date of transplantation to date of death due to any cause. In the absence of confirmation of death, survival time was censored to last date the participant was known to be alive. The 2-year survival probability was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and a 2-sided 95% confidence interval (CI).

Time frame: 2 years

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)2-year Overall Survival (OS) in Patients With Myelofibrosis (MF) Who Receive Treatment With a JAK Inhibitor Followed by an Allogeneic Transplant78.24 percentage of participants
Secondary

Non-relapse Mortality (NRM)

Patients who died in remission between day of transplant and day 100.

Time frame: Day 100

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Non-relapse Mortality (NRM)4.92 percent of participants
Secondary

Non-relapse Mortality (NRM)

Time frame: 1 year

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Non-relapse Mortality (NRM)13.26 percent of participants
Secondary

Number of Patients Who Experienced Primary Graft Failure/Rejection

Patients who failed to achieve ANC \> 500 x 3 or chimerism \> 5% by day 42 post-transplant.

Time frame: Up to 42 days post-transplant

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Number of Patients Who Experienced Primary Graft Failure/Rejection1 Participants
Secondary

Number of Patients Who Experienced Secondary Graft Failure/Poor Graft Function

Patients who engrafted with an ANC \>500 x 3 or chimerism \> 5% and then became neutropenic with ANC \<500x3 days or chimerism \<5% without evidence of relapse.

Time frame: Up to 5 years

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Number of Patients Who Experienced Secondary Graft Failure/Poor Graft Function2 Participants
Secondary

Percentage of Participants With Acute Graft Versus Host Disease Grade III-IV GVHD

Patients who had a max grade of III-IV acute GVHD any time between Day 0 and Day 100.

Time frame: 100 days

Population: Only 58 of the 61 patients had acute GVHD scoring completed

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Percentage of Participants With Acute Graft Versus Host Disease Grade III-IV GVHD17.24 percent of participants
Secondary

Percentage of Participants With Acute Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) Grade II-IV

Percentage of Participants with Grade II-IV acute GVHD in the first 100 days post HCT.

Time frame: Up to 100 days post-transplant

Population: Only 58 of the 61 patients had acute GVHD scoring completed

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Percentage of Participants With Acute Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) Grade II-IV68.97 percent of participants
Secondary

Percentage of Participants With Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD)

Max grade of chronic GVHD mild, moderate or severe at any time within the first 2 years following transplant.

Time frame: 2 years

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Percentage of Participants With Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD)60.66 percent of participants
Secondary

Percentage of Patients Who Had Relapsed Disease at 1 Year

Patients who had evidence of residual disease by molecular, flow cytometric or cytogenetics/FISH were considered relapsed disease.

Time frame: 1 year

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Percentage of Patients Who Had Relapsed Disease at 1 Year8.29 percent of participants
Secondary

Percentage of Patients With a Max Grade of Moderate and Severe Chronic GVHD at Any Time Before 2 Years Post Transplant.

Includes patients who had a max grade of moderate or severe chronic GVHD by the NIH scoring system at any time between day 0 and 2 years post transplant.

Time frame: 2 years post-HCT

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Treatment (ruxolitinib, transplant)Percentage of Patients With a Max Grade of Moderate and Severe Chronic GVHD at Any Time Before 2 Years Post Transplant.44.26 percent of participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 31, 2026