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Laboratory Medicine
FDA approves treatment for chronic graft versus host disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently expanded the approval of Imbruvica (ibrutinib) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) after failure of one or more treatments. This is the first FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of cGVHD.

cGVHD is a life-threatening condition that can occur in patients after they receive a stem cell transplant from blood or bone marrow, called hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). cGVHD occurs when cells from the stem cell transplant attack healthy cells in a patient’s tissues. Symptoms of cGVHD can occur in the skin, eyes, mouth, gut, liver and lungs.

Imbruvica, a kinase inhibitor, was previously approved for certain indications in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, marginal zone lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma The efficacy and safety of Imbruvica for the treatment of cGVHD were studied in a single-arm trial of 42 patients with cGVHD whose symptoms persisted despite standard treatment with corticosteroids. In the trial, 67 percent of patients experienced improvements in their cGVHD symptoms. In 48 percent of patients in the trial, the improvement of symptoms lasted for up to five months or longer.

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