Defining Disease Response and Progression: Treatment Resistance, Failure and/or Loss of Response

Several JAK inhibitors are now approved for the treatment of myelofibrosis (MF). Ruxolitinib is considered the standard of care for managing symptomatic MF and, as such, is most often used in the frontline treatment setting. Peer-reviewed literature reflects the pervasive use of ruxolitinib in the frontline MF setting, and the overwhelming majority of data available for study and review in these patients involves ruxolitinib. This data is clear: the majority of patients will either fail to respond or lose response to ruxolitinib over time. Treatment resistance and loss of response can be difficult to identify and define. In this activity, two experts describe risk factors for disease progression, review methods of assessing for and identifying resistance, and how to manage treatment failure.