MPN Updates – New Resource for Physicians
by David Wallace
As the number of MPN patients continues to grow, the need for innovative, physician-based resources has started to develop. While patient based (and Foundation/non-profit) websites focused on MPNs have flourished during the last few years, our disease tends to get tossed into the general “blood cancer” coverage, buried deep inside the many pages of existing hematology/oncology journals and other media.
MPN Updates is a new physician based newsletter that will be published 3 times a year. It will focus on the diagnosis and treatment of MPN diseases and provide awareness of emerging therapeutic agents and their impact on patient outcomes. While it is sponsored by Incyte through a third-party grant, I found the reporting to be totally non-biased, patient focused and rather informative.
It is encouraging to see a digital newsletter, led by well-respected MPN specialists. With the inspiring array of treatment options in the pipeline, as well as existing medications, there is a crucial need to better educate all hematologists, particularly those at the “local level” who will treat very few MPN patients.
Faculty Includes
- Dr David Henry (Editor-in-Chief) – Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
- Dr Ruben Mesa – Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ
- Dr Jerry Spivak – Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD
- Dr Brady Stein – Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
The premiere issue focuses entirely on Polycythemia Vera, referred to as “The Great Masquerader.” Sections include – Presentation and Symptom Burden of PV, Patient Profile and Effective Management of PV.
Click here or on the image below to view the Issue 1
Key points
- “In addition to a mutation in the JAK2 gene, an unexplainable increase in red blood cells is an indicator of PV.”
- “PV is a progressive disease, and the progression can occur in two ways: myelofibrosis and acute leukemia.”
- “Progression to acute leukemia typically occurs after a patient’s disease has progressed to myelofibrosis.”
- “Manifestations of PV are highly variable, in part because this disease changes its phenotype during its clinical course.”
- “Among the JAK2 V617 positive MPDs, PV is the great masquerader.”
- “The two most commonly employed strategies for preventing and reducing the risk of vascular complications include phlebotomy and anti-platelet therapy.”
- “A significant proportion of patients treated with pegylated interferon experience a decrease of the JAK2 allele burden.”
- “The use of JAK inhibitors is more established for patients with myelofibrosis, but JAK inhibitors are currently being evaluated in clinical studies in patients with PV.”
Summary
I was pleased to discover MPN Updates and share it with the patient community hungry for new sources of information.
Would be nice to have a printed copy in the hands of all hematologists world-wide. Dr Stein’s contribution was noteworthy, and I particularly liked his perspective on the patient profile. I think he is a rising star among young MPN specialists.
