What Is the Impact of JAK2 Allele Burden in Patients With Myelofibrosis?

Julie Braish, MBBCh, a leukemia fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses her study on the impact of JAK2 allele burden in patients with myelofibrosis (MF) presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

“We found out that the JAK2 allele burden does not impact outcome in [MF],” Dr. Braish began. “What impacts outcome is the presence or absence of cytopenia and leukocytosis.”

Ruxolitinib exposure also improved outcomes irrespective of blood counts.

“Even cytopenic patients would benefit from ruxolitinib exposure,” she explained. “Next, we’re going to look at [outcomes] based on leukemia transformation and try to better understand the cytopenic group of patients that actually benefit from ruxolitinib, looking at duration of exposure and the dose of ruxolitinib.”