Research published in the journal Blood explores the administration of Belumosudil to patients suffering from chronic Graft Versus Host Disease (cGVHD). Patients in this study had all previously undergone two or more rounds of treatment for cGVHD, with this study demonstrating Belumosudil to effectively reduce patients' symptoms (59% and 62% of patients reported a decrease in symptoms) and yielding a high overall response rate (OSS) (74% and 77%, respectively).

Following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, patients are at risk of developing cGVHD, which can result in patient death or relapse. Researchers performed this randomized, multicenter registration study whereby patients with cGVHD were administered either 200 mg QD or 200 mg BID of Belumosudil, a selective ROCK2 inhibitor which regulates the balance of Th17/regulatory T cells, for whom previous lines of ibrutinib/ruxolitinib therapy had failed to improve OSS. Follow-up time with patients was a median of 14 months.

Patient outcomes were positive for both Belumosudil dosage treatments, with a median duration of response of 54 weeks. Further, all affected organs in patients exhibited a response to the Belumosudil therapy, and adverse event rates following administration were in line with those observed in cGVHD patients receiving other immunosuppressants. These findings demonstrate that Belumosudil is well-tolerated and efficient as a treatment for cGVHD.

Reference:

Cutler CS, Lee SJ, Arai S, et al. Belumosudil for Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease (cGVHD) After 2 or More Prior Lines of Therapy: The ROCKstar Study [published online ahead of print, 2021 Jul 15]. Blood. 2021;blood.2021012021. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2021012021

Tags: study, GVHD, transplantation, Therapy, Transplant, chronic