ePrints

Definition of subtypes of essential thrombocythaemia and relation to polycythaemia vera based on JAK2 V617F mutation status: a prospective study

Lookup NU author(s): Dr David Milligan, Dr Bridget Wilkins

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

Background An acquired V617F mutation in JAK2 occurs in most patients with polycythaemia Vera, but is seen in only half those with essential thrombocythaemia and idiopathic myelofibrosis. We aimed to assess whether patients with the mutation are biologically distinct from those without, and why the same mutation is associated with different disease phenotypes. Methods Two sensitive PCR-based methods were used to assess the JAK2 mutation status of 806 patients with essential thrombocythaemia, including 776 from the Medical Research Council's Primary Thrombocythaemia trial (MRC PT-1) and two other prospective studies. Laboratory and clinical features, response to treatment, and clinical events were compared for V617F-positive and V617F-negative patients with essential thrombocythaemia. Findings Mutation-positive patients had Multiple features resembling polycythaemia Vera, with significantly increased haemoglobin (mean increase 9.6 g/L, 95% CI 7.6-11.6 g/L; p<0.0001), neutrophil counts (1.1 X 10(9)/L, 0.7-1.5 X 10(9)/L; p<0.0001), bone marrow erythropoiesis and granulopoiesis, more venous thromboses, and a higher rate of polycythaemic transformation than those without the mutation. Mutation-positive patients had lower serum erythropoietin (mean decrease 13.8 U/L; 95% CI, 10.8-16.9 U/L; p<0.0001) and ferritin (n=182; median 58 vs 91 mu g/L; p=0.01.) concentrations than did mutation-negative patients. Mutation-negative patients did, nonetheless, show many clinical and laboratory features that were characteristic of a myeloproliferative disorder. V617F-positive individuals were more sensitive to therapy with hydroxyurea, but not anagrelide, than those without the JAK2 mutation. Interpretation Our results suggest that JAK2 V617F-positive essential thrombocythaemia and polycythaemia Vera form a biological continuum, with the degree of erythrocytosis determined by physiological or genetic modifiers.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Campbell PJ, Scott LM, Buck G, Wheatley K, East CL, Marsden JT, Duffy A, Boyd EM, Bench AJ, Scott MA, Vassiliou GS, Milligan DWA, Smith SR, Erber WN, Bareford D, Wilkins BS, Reilly JT, Harrison CN, Green AR, United Kingdom Myeloproliferative

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: The Lancet

Year: 2005

Volume: 366

Issue: 9501

Pages: 1945-1953

ISSN (print): 0140-6736

ISSN (electronic): 1474-547X

Publisher: The Lancet Publishing Group

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67785-9

DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67785-9

Altmetrics

Share