Dr. Cortes on the Challenges of Using Ruxolitinib in MPNs

Jorge E. Cortes, MD, director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University, discusses the challenges of using ruxolitinib (Jakafi) in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).

Ruxolitinib can be challenging for patients who have thrombocytopenia because it can lower a patient’s platelets count. This can create a challenging scenario for patients who already have significant anemia, says Cortes.

If a patient who has thrombocytopenia has a big spleen or a lot of symptoms, ruxolitinib can be given at a lower dose and escalated as needed. Such an approach is based on data which showed that patients who started on ruxolitinib at a dose of 5 mg twice daily instead of 25 mg were able to derive some benefit from the agent. Though patients may not reach the optimal dose, they can still experience some reduction in splenomegaly, therein reducing discomfort and pain, concludes Cortes.