What Causes Myelofibrosis?

Posted on Mon, 11 May 2015

Question: I have a friend with mylofibrosis, is there a specialist at Mayo for this disease? What are the treatment options, she is 70 yrs old. Thank you.

Answered by Dr. S. Samanta (24 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
There are many treatment options!

Detailed Answer:
Hi! thanks for the health query for your friend!

Myelofibrosis is a treatable disease however, the therapy sometimes depends upon the stage and also the type (primary myelofibrosis or secondary to any leukemia, cancer, radiation etc..).

some of the options are:

Ruxolitinib.
Hydroxyurea
Allogeneic peripheral stem cell or bone marrow transplantation.
Thalidomide
Lenalidomide.
Pomalidomide
Splenectomy
Splenic radiation therapy or radiation to sites of symptomatic extramedullary hematopoiesis (e.g., large lymph nodes, cord compression)
Cladribine
Interferon-alpha

You need to attend the department of hemato-oncology department of Mayo clinic; the treatment is available there!

regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. S. Samanta (42 minutes later)

What type of specialty physician should she consult with? She has tried radiation and chemo (pill form) which made her deathly ill, she is having severe pain that started in her foot and has traveled into her knee, she is so tired she can hardly get out of bed. How do you get this dsiease staged?

Answered by Dr. S. Samanta (13 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
It is then better to attend palliative care unit!

Detailed Answer:
Hi! I could understand that she is now suffering from complications of different treatments which is very common.

At this stage she should consult palliative care unit and then hemato-oncologists' unit; the condition actually needs a multi-speciality care.

Staging actually done on the bone marrow biopsy and indicates the degree of fibrosis not spread of the disease like (other) malignant conditions!

Wishing her early recovery,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. S. Samanta (36 minutes later)

She has some bone marrow scarring. Is this a malignant disease? Is the pain a symtom of the disease? Can she survive this disease?

Answered by Dr. S. Samanta (4 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
It should be considered malignant!

Detailed Answer:
Hi! thanks for the follow-up queries!

Theoretically it is malignant as pathology underlying myelofibrosis is like leukemias and some cases convert to leukemias also!

Scarring/fibrosis is the hallmark of this disease.

Pain especially bone pain is generally severe and is a common presentation.

Survival is restricted due to age, underlying poor health and adverse effects of the therapies.

regards,

Note: Do you have more questions on diagnosis or treatment of blood disorders? Ask An Expert/ Specialist Now

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj