Dr. Mesa on Ruxolitinib Vs Fedratinib in Myelofibrosis Treatment

Ruben Mesa, MD, the director of the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the use of ruxolitinib (Jakafi) versus fedratinib (Inrebic) in treating patients with myelofibrosis.

Ruxolitinib has been the approved frontline therapy of choice for several years. The FDA approval of fedratinib immediately impacts patients who did not have an optimal response to ruxolitinib or those who lost their response and may benefit moving on to a different agent, explains Mesa.

Currently, there are no head-to-head data on fedratinib versus ruxolitinib. Both had positive phase III studies, but the agents have slightly different toxicity profiles that need to be considered. Fedratinib may benefit subsets of patients with significant splenomegaly or more advanced myelofibrosis, according to Mesa. Each agent will find its niche in frontline therapy as time goes on, Mesa concludes.