Prevalence and Its Clinical Correlation of JAK2V617F Mutation in Philadelphia chromosome negative myeloproliferative neoplasms in Vachira Phuket Hospital , Thailand

Philadelphia –negative ( Ph-) myeloproliferative neoplasms ( MPN ) include polycythemia vera ( PV ), essential thrombocythemia ( ET ), and primary myelofibrosis ( PMF ). According to the 2008 WHO recommendation, JAK2V617F mutation is a major diagnostic criterion for these diseases. Prevalence of such mutation, however, has been reported differently in numbers based on a study population; never before in the patients lives in southern of Thailand . This study aims to explore the prevalence of JAK2V617F mutation in Thai MPN patients and examine its correlation to clinical features. Totally 40 patients were composed of 26 (65 %) PV, 14 (35%) ET and 0 (0 %) PMF patients. Prevalence of JAK2V617F mutation was found 65 % (26/40), 69.2% (18/ 26 ) in PV, 57.1 % (8/14) in ET. We found that no difference in gender and frequency of hemorrhage, constitutional symptoms, pruritus, splenomegaly, cytoreductive treatment requirement, between JAK2 V617F mutated and unmutated PV and ET patients. There were no statistically significant difference in Hemoglobin (Hb), Hematocrit (Hct), white blood cells and platelet counts between JAK2 V617F mutated and unmutated ET patients. In PV, white blood cells counts of the mutant was higer than the wild type ( p = 0.007), the other variables were not found different. In conclusion, JAK2 V617F dose exist in Thai MPN patients. Its prevalence is close to other populations. Comprehensive prospective studies are necessary for determining the relationship of the JAK2 V617F mutation with clinical and laboratory findings. Keywords : JAK2 V617F mutation, Essential thrombocythemia, Polycythemia vera