Infectious complications in patients on treatment with Ruxolitinib: case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Primary myelofibrosis is a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm that may cause debilitating symptoms, which can be improved with the use of Ruxolitinib, a Janus kinase 2 inhibitor. However, this agent has significant immunomodulatory effects which may increase the risk for infections. METHODS: We searched the literature and our institutional electronic medical record for reported cases of infections in adult patients on ruxolitinib treatment. RESULTS: We found 28 cases in our literature search and 4 cases from our Institution for a total of 32 cases. The most common infection was tuberculosis in 11/32 cases (34%), followed by cryptococcal infection in 3/32 (9%) and hepatitis B virus reactivation in 3/32 (9%). CONCLUSION: Opportunistic infections associated with ruxolitinib use are increasingly reported in the literature; further studies should investigate the role of systematic screening and prophylaxis against infections in this subset of patients.