Dr. Dunavin on Treatment Considerations in Myelofibrosis

Neil Dunavin, MD, MS, assistant professor of medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses treatment considerations in myelofibrosis.

Over the past couple years, several scoring systems have been developed to aid in establishing the prognosis of patients, says Dunavin. The scoring system characterizes the patient’s risk, which can help inform their outcome and the need for more aggressive therapy up front.

After the patient’s risk of disease has been established, the patient’s symptom burden should be evaluated, says Dunavin. According to the patient’s disease burden, an appropriate therapy can be recommended or subsequent treatment plans can be adjusted, if necessary.

Notably, allogeneic stem cell transplant is the only curative treatment in myelofibrosis; however, not all patients are eligible to undergo the procedure. The decision of whether to proceed with transplant or not should be based on age and patient comorbidities, concludes Dunavin.