Risk Factors for Disease Progression in Patients with Polycythemia Vera 

Michael Grunwald, MD, of the Levine Cancer Institute of Atrium Health in North Carolina, discussed the REVEAL study at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition.
The REVEAL study, a prospective, multicenter trial, observed disease progression to myelofibrosis (MF) in 2,510 patients with polycythemia vera (PV) over the course of three years.
Dr. Grunwald and colleagues identified five risk factors for progression to MF, including elevated white blood cell count (leukocytosis), duration of time with PV, a history of thromboembolism, elevated variant allele frequency, and hematocrit ≤45.
“Now that we know these risk factors, we can observe patients who display these risk factors more closely and see if they're developing to myelofibrosis,” Dr. Grunwald said. “Maybe these patients should have more frequent blood counts. Maybe they should be seen more frequently.”