Clinical trial indicates safety, fewer cases of life-threatening graft-versus-host disease than expected
Adding a new drug to standard care for stem cell transplant recipients may reduce a life-threatening side effect, according to an early-stage clinical trial conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The trial showed that patients being treated for various blood cancers tolerated the investigational drug — called itacitinib —and experienced lower-than-expected rates of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), in which the donor’s stem cells attack the patient’s healthy tissues.