Clinical Trial Shows Drug Reduces Risk of Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Stem Cell Transplants
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Adding a new drug to standard care for stem cell transplant recipients may reduce a life-threatening side effect, according to an early-stage clinical trial conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The trial showed that patients being treated for various blood cancers tolerated the investigational drug — called itacitinib —and experienced lower-than-expected rates of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), in which the donor’s stem cells attack the patient’s healthy tissues. The study is online in the journal Blood.
The Phase I trial involved patients who received a particular stem cell transplant — called a “half-match” — in which half of the key proteins of a patient’s immune system matched those of the donor’s stem cells.
The trial included 42 patients, most of whom had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome, among other, rarer blood cancers. All patients in the study received itacitinib before transplantation and for 4-6 months after transplant, in addition to standard care for prevention of graft-versus-host disease.
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