Ghaith Abu-Zeinah, MD, an instructor in medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and an assistant attending physician at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the efficacy of interferon-alpha (IFN) in polycythemia vera (PV).

Findings from a retrospective study revealed that older and younger patients with PV derived an improvement in myelofibrosis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS) with IFN compared with hydroxyurea, as well as phlebotomy alone, said Abu-Zeinah.

Low-risk patients had a 20-year MFS rate of 84% with IFN vs 65% and 55% with hydroxyurea and phlebotomy alone, respectively. Moreover, the 20-year OS rate in these patients was 100% with IFN, 85% with hydroxyurea, and 80% with phlebotomy alone.

Patients with high-risk PV had a 20-year MFS rate of 89% with IFN, 41% with hydroxyurea, and 36% with phlebotomy alone. The 20-year OS rates in this subgroup were 66%, 40%, and 14%, respectively.

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Ghaith Abu-Zeinah, MD, discusses the efficacy of interferon-alpha in polycythemia vera.  



Dr. Abu-Zeinah on the Efficacy of Interferon-Alpha in Polycythemia Vera 

Ghaith Abu-Zeinah, MD, an instructor in medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and an assistant attending physician at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses utilizing interferon-alpha (IFN) in patients with polycythemia vera.

Currently, it is difficult to study survival as an end point in polycythemia vera clinical trials due to the chronicity of the disease, Abu-Zeinah says. Polycythemia vera is a disease that could have a course of several years or even decades, and it is now being diagnosed either earlier or in younger patients, Abu-Zeinah notes. Due to this, it is important that younger patients who are diagnosed with the disease are appropriately treated with a regimen that can provide them with the longevity needed, Abu-Zeinah explains.

Abu-Zeinah and colleagues launched a study to determine whether IFN can prolong survival in patients with polycythemia vera over hydroxyurea or phlebotomy. Interferon-alpha has had a long history of being used to treat patients with polycythemia vera, both in cancer centers in the United States, and globally, Abu-Zeinah concludes.

Ghaith Abu-Zeinah, MD, discusses utilizing interferon-alpha in patients with polycythemia vera.


Ghaith Abu-Zeinah, MD

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