Dr. Bradley on the Challenges Faced in MPNs

Terrence J. Bradley, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Health System, discusses the challenges of treating patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).

Drugs are available for patients with MPNs, but not many therapies are approved, says Bradley. When patients do respond to these therapies, only a subset of these patients achieve durable responses. One of the challenges faced with this disease is that physicians are treating splenomegaly, which is increased spleen size, and blood counts. It is also very challenging because many of these secondary end points that are followed involve symptom burden, which is a subjective tool scored by patients; because it depends on how patients feel day to day, that may affect end points on a study, concludes Bradley.