Texas Virtual MPN Workshop

Experts in myeloproliferative neoplasms find janus kinase inhibitors to be particularly important to the armamentarium for the treatment of myelofibrosis. With only 2 FDA-approved agents, fedratinib and ruxolitinib, and the inevitability that not all patients will derive benefit, and some will develop resistance, the option of moving beyond JAK inhibition is widely discussed.

Patients with myelofibrosis have complicated pathology and multiple pathways, creating the opportunity to use multiple targeted agents for treatment, but also leading to greater potential for resistance to monotherapy, according to Lucia Masarova, MD.

Jerry L. Spivak, MD, discusses treating patients with polycythemia vera, which is a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm that can often derive from essential thrombocythemia, particularly among women.

Standard treatment for accelerated or blast phase myeloproliferative neoplasms consists of hypomethylating agents or intensive induction chemotherapy and transplant. However, newer studies have suggested that accelerated or blast phase MPNs, such as acute myeloid leukemia, can be treated with molecularly driven targeted therapies.

Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD, shares his take home message from his presentation on accelerated and blastic phase myeloproliferative neoplasms during the first Annual Texas MPM Workshop.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Ruben Mesa, director, MD, discussed the role of JAK inhibitors in early myelofibrosis and other promising treatment options coming down the pipeline.

During the 1st Annual Texas MPM Workshop, Aaron Gerds, MD, MS presented on the ruxolitinib in the present and future, as well as the possibilities for moving beyond the JAK-STAT pathway.

Patients considered to have early myelofibrosis are a heterogeneous group for whom disease risk, best treatment strategies, and the probability of mortality are best determined individually by looking at patient’s clinical characteristics and molecular markers together.