[We] hope these inaugural guidelines will help leverage the evidence base …for clear, well-informed treatment guidelines to hopefully improve quality of care….— Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP
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Myeloproliferative neoplasms are a group of blood cancers characterized by significant symptoms and a high risk of transformation into acute leukemia. These cancers—myelofibrosis, essential thrombocythemia, and polycythemia vera—affect approximately 13,000; 134,000; and 148,000 patients in the United States, respectively.
To provide clinicians with the most up-to-date and comprehensive treatment recommendations, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) recently published the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for myeloproliferative neoplasms to specifically outline diagnosis, treatment, and supportive care strategies for myelofibrosis. Myelofibrosis is a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm that is the result—in most cases—of one of three genetic mutations within the JAK2 signaling pathway. Comprehensive recommendations for the management of essential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera will be included in the subsequent versions of the NCCN Guidelines® for myeloproliferative neoplasms.
NCCN Guidelines document evidence-based consensus-driven management to ensure that all patients receive preventive, diagnostic, treatment, and supportive care services that are most likely to lead to optimal outcomes.
“The management of myeloproliferative neoplasms has been variable in the past and largely driven by review articles and individual opinions. The NCCN Guidelines Panel for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms hopes these inaugural guidelines will help leverage the evidence base in myeloproliferative neoplasm care for clear, well-informed treatment guidelines to hopefully improve quality of care and provide better outcomes for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms,” said Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and Chair of the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.
With the publication of the NCCN Guidelines for myeloproliferative neoplasms, the library of NCCN Guidelines now includes 63 clinical guidelines detailing sequential management decisions and interventions that currently apply to 97% of cancers affecting people in the United States, as well as cancer prevention, detection, risk reduction, and age-related recommendations. ■
