Another Piece of the Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Puzzle

Myeloproliferative neoplasms are clonal hematopoietic disorders that manifest as expansion of one or more myeloid lineages. The most common myeloproliferative neoplasms are chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and primary myelofibrosis. Whereas the genetic basis for CML has been known for more than 30 years, the specific genetic events that contribute to the pathogenesis of polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and primary myelofibrosis remained unknown until 2005.Our first insight into the molecular cause of these disorders came when the somatic JAK2 V617F mutation14 was identified in the majority of patients with polycythemia vera and in a subset . . .