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8 treatment settings, 2 with more than one named option. Each section lays out the options the standard of care names, what each is for, the trials behind them with their recorded results, the side effects and cautions on record, and questions to ask. Built from the cancer page's standard-of-care rows; nothing here is advice for your case.
Full blood count, JAK2 V617F and exon 12 testing, serum erythropoietin, and bone marrow biopsy showing trilineage growth; WHO criteria (haemoglobin above 16.5 g/dL in men or 16.0 in women, or haematocrit above 49 or 48 percent). Secondary causes of a high red count (smoking, sleep apnoea, kidney or liver tumours, testosterone) are excluded first.
This setting names no product or technology record yet; the approach above is the standard as written. Ask your team which specific treatments they mean.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Low-dose aspirin unless contraindicated, phlebotomy to a haematocrit under 45 percent (CYTO-PV), and control of cardiovascular risk factors.
Aspirin is not a cancer drug but sits in cancer care in two places: low doses prevent clots in polycythaemia vera and essential thrombocythaemia, and long-term use lowers colorectal cancer in people with Lynch syndrome, while a trial in the healthy elderly found no benefit and possible harm.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Aspirin and phlebotomy alone; ropeginterferon alfa-2b is an option when phlebotomy is poorly tolerated or symptoms persist (Low-PV).
Ropeginterferon alfa-2b is a long-acting interferon for polycythaemia vera that, unlike hydroxyurea, can shrink the mutant clone over years.
Haematocrit at or below 45% without progression at 12 months: 84% vs 60%.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Add cytoreduction: hydroxyurea, or ropeginterferon alfa-2b (PROUD-PV and CONTINUATION-PV), the latter preferred in younger patients and in pregnancy.
Hydroxyurea is a cheap, decades-old pill that lowers high blood counts in polycythaemia vera and essential thrombocythaemia and is also the main drug for sickle cell disease.
Ropeginterferon alfa-2b is a long-acting interferon for polycythaemia vera that, unlike hydroxyurea, can shrink the mutant clone over years.
By 36 months, complete haematological response with improved disease burden and molecular response were both more frequent with ropeginterferon than hydroxyurea.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Ruxolitinib (RESPONSE, RESPONSE-2, MAJIC-PV) for haematocrit control, spleen shrinkage and symptom relief; interferon if not already tried.
Ruxolitinib was the first JAK inhibitor: it shrinks the spleen and relieves symptoms in myelofibrosis and controls blood counts in polycythaemia vera, without eliminating the disease clone.
Composite response at week 32: 21% vs 1%; haematocrit control 60% vs 20%.
Haematocrit control at week 28: 62% vs 19%.
Complete response within 1 year: 43% vs 26%; complete response associated with better event-free survival.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Rusfertide, a hepcidin mimetic given by weekly injection, keeps the haematocrit under 45 percent and removes the need for phlebotomy in most patients (VERIFY).
Rusfertide is the first drug to control polycythaemia vera's excess red cells by restricting iron, sparing patients repeated blood removal.
Response (no phlebotomy eligibility) weeks 20 to 32: 77% vs 33%.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Antihistamines, aspirin for erythromelalgia, interferon or ruxolitinib for severe aquagenic pruritus.
This setting names no product or technology record yet; the approach above is the standard as written. Ask your team which specific treatments they mean.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Managed as myelofibrosis: JAK inhibitors for spleen and symptoms, momelotinib for anaemia, allogeneic stem cell transplant for fit higher-risk patients.
Ruxolitinib was the first JAK inhibitor: it shrinks the spleen and relieves symptoms in myelofibrosis and controls blood counts in polycythaemia vera, without eliminating the disease clone.
Momelotinib is the JAK inhibitor designed for anaemic myelofibrosis patients: it can improve haemoglobin while shrinking the spleen.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.