Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Ruxolitinib Cream for Non-Sclerotic Chronic Cutaneous Graft-Versus-Host Disease

A Pilot, Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blinded, Vehicle- and Comparator-Controlled Trial on Safety and Efficacy of a Topical Inhibitor of Janus Kinase 1/2 (Ruxolitinib INCB018424 Phosphate 1.5% Cream) for Non-Sclerotic Chronic Cutaneous Graft-Versus-Host Disease

The purpose of this study is to compare the safety and effects of ruxolitinib 1.5% cream with those of standard moisturizers in people with non-sclerotic chronic cutaneous GVHD.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Non-sclerotic Cutaneous Chronic Graft-versus-host Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: topical ruxolitinib 1.5% cream; Other: Topical vehicle/moisturizer cream

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 24
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10065
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients (≥ 12 years)
• History of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
• BSA of at least 2% of clinically or histologically confirmed non-sclerotic cutaneous chronic graft-versus-host disease (diagnosed and BSA calculated in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease Consensus for Clinical Trials: I. The 2014 Diagnosis and Staging Working Group Report)
• Patients age ≥ 18 years must provide written informed consent; or patients age ≥12 years and <18 years must provide assent and have at least one guardian provide written informed consent to participate in the study.
• Able to self-administer topical interventions or provide for another person to apply the topical interventions (while wearing nitrile gloves)
• If on systemic therapy for GVHD, systemic therapy must be stable for past 4 weeks; however, any planned systemic corticosteroid taper during the study will be permitted.Changes in systemic therapy during the study period will be allowed for the management of non-skin GVHD.
• Any concurrent topical therapies including topical corticosteroids, topical calcienurin inhibitors, moisturizers, phototherapy (narrowband UVB or UVA1); or excimer laser therapy must be discontinued on Study Day 0.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known history of allergy to any ingredient of the study medication
• Patients with deep sclerotic cutaneous graft-versus-host disease including deep sclerotic subtypes of chronic cutaneous GVHD
• Use of concurrent topical therapy including topical corticosteroids, topical calcienurin inhibitors, moisturizers, phototherapy (narrowband UVB or UVA1); or excimer laser therapy after Study Day 0 up to and including Study Day 28.
• Changes in systemic therapy during study period for the purpose of treating skin GVHD.

• Special populations:

  • vulnerable populations e.g. decisionally impaired (cognitive, psychiatric), terminally ill, prisoners
  • patients who, in the opinion of the investigator have a condition that precludes their ability to provide an informed consent
• Concurrent participation in another topical trial of a drug(s) or medical device, or the subject is in an exclusion period after a previous trial of drug(s) or medical device
• Pregnancy or lactation
• Patients with inadequate liver function (ALT above 4 × upper limit of normal [ULN] for the patient's age or direct bilirubin 4 × ULN for the patient's age and the laboratory abnormalities are considered to be due to underlying liver dysfunction) unless attributed to GVHD (if direct bilirubin is not in the medical record, it is acceptable to use total bilirubin x4 ULN).
• Active uncontrolled infection requiring systemic therapy. Subjects with a controlled infection receiving definitive therapy for 48 hours prior to enrollment are eligible.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Participants with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); Participants will have non-sclerotic chronic cutaneous graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) or you have a condition called superficially sclerotic chronic cutaneous graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after having received an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Drug: topical ruxolitinib 1.5% cream; Patients will be prescribed twice daily use of topical ruxolitinib 1.5% cream (randomized half of face/body) to a maximum of 20% BSA on each side for 28 ± 3 days. Topical ruxolitinib will be provided as topical cream. At the end of the 28 ± 3 days study visit, patients will remain blinded to treatment arms. After trial completion (day 28 ± 3 days), all patients will be offered repeated treatment cycle with topical ruxolitinib or standard of care therapy.; Other: Topical vehicle/moisturizer cream; Patients will be prescribed twice daily use of vehicle/moisturizer (for contralateral side of face/body) to a maximum of 20% BSA on each side for 28 ± 3 days.At the end of the 28 ± 3 days study visit, patients will remain blinded to treatment arms. After trial completion (day 28 ± 3 days), all patients will be offered repeated treatment cycle with topical ruxolitinib or standard of care therapy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reduction in Body Surface Area (BSA) From Day 1 and Day 28	The difference in BSA of non-sclerotic cutaneous cGVHD between ruxolitinib treated side and vehicle treated sides of the face/body at study completion	28 days (+/-3 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Improvement in Physician's Global Assessment of Clinical Condition (PGA) at From Day 1 and Day 28	The difference in the Physician's Global Assessment/PGA of non-sclerotic and superficially sclerotic cutaneous cGVHD between ruxolitinib treated side and vehicle treated sides of the face/body at study completion (day 28 visit). Grade of Rash as follows: Grade 0, Clinical Complete Response, Completely clear; NED (100% improvement); Grade 1-3, Partial Response, from very significant clearance to moderate improvement (>90% to >/= 50% improvement); Grade 4 and 5, Stable Disease, No change to some improvement (,50% to >/=25%); Grade 6, Progressive Disease, Disease is worse than at baseline evaluation by >/= 25%.	28 days (+/-3 days)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Collaborators: Incyte Corporation; Hackensack Meridian Health
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Alina Markova, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 14, 2019
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 6, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 6, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 15, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 15, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): May 17, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 10, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 6, 2026
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Ruxolitinib Cream; 18-412
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Lung Diseases; Bronchial Diseases; Lung Diseases, Obstructive; Bronchitis; Bronchiolitis Obliterans; Bronchiolitis; Organizing Pneumonia; Graft vs Host Disease; Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome; ruxolitinib
• Other Study ID Numbers: 18-412

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center supports the international committee of medical journal editors (ICMJE) and the ethical obligation of responsible sharing of data from clinical trials. The protocol summary, a statistical summary, and informed consent form will be made available on clinicaltrials.gov when required as a condition of Federal awards, other agreements supporting the research and/or as otherwise required. Requests for deidentified individual participant data can be made beginning 12 months after publication and for up to 36 months post publication. Deidentified individual participant data reported in the manuscript will be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement and may only be used for approved proposals. Requests may be made to: crdatashare@mskcc.org.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: SAP; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No