Dr. Kremyanskaya on the Need for Disease-Modifying Approaches in MPNs

Marina Kremyanskaya, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, hematology, and medical oncology, Mount Sinai Hospital, discusses the need for disease-modifying treatment approaches for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. 

Ruxolitinib (Jakafi) has been the standard-of-care treatment for patients with myelofibrosis, as well as polycythemia vera, since it received regulatory approval from the FDA, according to Kremyanskaya. Patients are often treated with the agent either soon after diagnosis, when they become symptomatic, or when they develop other disease characteristics that provide rationale to initiate therapy, Kremyanskaya adds. To achieve a longer duration of response and disease modification, novel agents are often studied in combination with ruxolitinib, Kremyanskaya says. 

Although ruxolitinib has been shown to improve both quality of life and survival for these patients, it does not modify disease with respect to providing a cure or halting disease progression, Kremyanskaya adds. Newer agents that may provide these benefits are currently being investigated on clinical trials, often in combination with ruxolitinib, to achieve optimal benefit, Kremyanskaya concludes.