While treating myeloproliferative neoplasms, what tests and measurements are used to follow progress?

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RubenMesaMD (Physician - Oncology - Hematology/Oncology (Verified) ) - 08 / 07 / 2012

Impact of therapies on myeloproliferative neoplasms is both in the short term and the long term. In the short term we follow three things: 1) How a patient feels. If they had symptoms to begin with, are the symptoms improved, whether this be difficulties with concentration, headaches, fatigue, itching, etc. 2) The size of the spleen. The goal is improving the size of the spleen. We clearly monitor this by physical examination or on clinical trials with imaging. 3) The blood counts. Is it our goal to decrease elevated blood counts as we would in patients with ET or P vera? Is it to improve low blood counts as we might in myelofibrosis? These are all short-term goals. In the long term, we monitor how the patient is doing, their weight, and we can monitor changes in the bone marrow biopsy. Medical treatments, if they impact the appearance of the bone marrow, are typically a slow process that can only be assessed over several months or even a year to two. Changes in the bone marrow biopsy have been most consistent in patients who have successfully received bone marrow transplantation.
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