JAK Inhibition for the Treatment of Myelofibrosis: Limitations and Future Perspectives

The 2011 approval of ruxolitinib ushered in the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor era in the treatment of myelofibrosis (MF), and 2019 saw the US approval of fedratinib. The first therapeutic agents approved by regulatory authorities for MF, these drugs attenuate the overactive JAK-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling universally present in these patients, translating into major clinical benefits in terms of spleen shrinkage and symptom improvement. These, in turn, confer a survival advantage on patients with advanced disease, demonstrated in the case of ruxolitinib, for which long-term follow-up data are available. However, JAK inhibitors do not improve cytopenias in most patients, have relatively modest effects on bone marrow fibrosis and driver mutation allele burden, and clinical resistance eventually develops. Furthermore, they do not modify the risk of transformation to blast phase; indeed, their mechanism of action may be more anti-inflammatory than truly disease-modifying. This has spurred interest in rational combinations of JAK inhibitors with other agents that may improve cytopenias and drugs that could potentially modify the natural history of MF. Newer JAK inhibitors that are distinguished from ruxolitinib and fedratinib by their ability to improve anemia (eg, momelotinib) or safety and efficacy in severely thrombocytopenic patients (eg, pacritinib) are in phase 3 clinical trials. There is also interest in developing inhibitors that are highly selective for mutant JAK2, as well as “type II” JAK2 inhibitors. Overall, although current JAK inhibitors have limitations, they will likely continue to form the backbone of MF therapy for the foreseeable future.