The Experience of Ibrutinib in Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Patients Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Single Center Experience

Introduction: Chronic graft-versus host disease (GVHD) is a serious complication that develops in 35-50% of patients in the late period after allogeneic hematopoetic stem cell transplantation. About half of the patients are resistant to corticosteroids, which is the first-line treatment of chronic GVHD, and therefore new treatment options that can be effective in chronic GVHD are needed. In the present study, we aimed to share our experience with the use of ibrutinib therapy in patients with steroid-resistant chronic GVHD who have previously received multiple lines of systemic therapy. Methods: The characteristics and clinical outcomes of steroid-resistant chronic patients with GVHD receiving ibrutinib were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 10 steroid resi-stant chronic patients with GVHD who received ibrutinib was included. While 50% of the patients had more than one organ involvement, 50% had a single organ involvement. The most commonly affected organs were the skin and liver. The patients received a median of three lines of systemic therapy before ibrutinib. After a median of 210 days of ibrutinib usage, the complete response rate of patients was 40% and the partial response rate was 40%. Corticosteroids were completely discontinued in 30% of patients after ibrutinib were initiated. Before ibrutinib, patients were given a median of 0.3 mg/kg methylprednisolone. The median methylprednisolone dose after ibrutinib was 0.03 mg/kg. Conclusion: Ibrutinib therapy causes a quite high overall response in steroid resistant chronic patients with GVHD and appears to be a good option in these patients.