Recombinant interferon-α may retard progression of early primary myelofibrosis: a preliminary report

Abstract

The limited effects of current treatments of primary myelofibrosis (PM) led us to prospectively evaluate recombinant interferon-␣ (rIFN␣) in "early" PM patients with residual hematopoiesis and only grade 1 or 2 myelofibrosis. Seventeen patients meeting World Health Organization PM diagnostic criteria received either rIFN␣-2b 500 000 to 3 million units 3 times weekly, or pegylated rIFN␣-2a

Recombinant interferon-α in myelofibrosis reduces bone marrow fibrosis, improves its morphology and is associated with clinical response

“…14 Preliminary reports document a role for recombinant interferon-α also in early primary and fibrotic-stage myelofibrosis. [15][16][17][18][19] In early primary myelofibrosis, interferon administration is associated with clinical response or disease stability in 480% of patients. Complete resolution of splenomegaly is observed in the majority of cases, while a significant improvement of bone marrow histology (i.e., reduction of bone marrow fibrosis and megakaryocyte atypia) is documented in 26.7% of patients.…”

“…Complete resolution of splenomegaly is observed in the majority of cases, while a significant improvement of bone marrow histology (i.e., reduction of bone marrow fibrosis and megakaryocyte atypia) is documented in 26.7% of patients. 15 In markedly fibrotic-stage primary myelofibrosis, recombinant interferon-α therapy has produced inconsistent or no significant clinical response, despite a reduction of platelet and white blood cell counts, [17][18][19] and some occasional improvement of splenomegaly. 18,19 This study assessed the histological and clinical effects of recombinant interferon-α therapy in 12 patients with fibrotic-stage myelofibrosis and with residual hemopoietic foci in 430% of the marrow specimen.…”

“…14 Similar results have been recently reported in patients with early-stage primary myelofibrosis, including improvement of marrow morphology in a subset of patients. 15,16 The effects of recombinant interferon-α in myelofibrosis have been less thoroughly investigated. Recent studies suggest an improvement in clinical symptoms and laboratory values in subsets of interferon-treated myelofibrosis patients, [17][18][19] but the effects of this therapy on bone marrow histology have not been reported in detail.…”

Safety and efficacy of combination therapy of interferon‐α2 and ruxolitinib in polycythemia vera and myelofibrosis

“…Sample size calculation: We set the expected proportion of patients achieving the primary endpoint with CT to 0.45 (estimated), the reference value to 0.27 (proportion of patients achieving the primary endpoint with IFNα2 monotherapy30), the power to 0.8 and the type I error rate to 0.05. Accordingly, our sample size should be 41 patients (One‐Sample Proportion Test, One‐Sample, One‐Sided) 31…”

Long-acting interferon for myeloproliferative neoplasms - an update

“…Several single-arm studies since then have demonstrated excellent outcomes, particularly for PV and ET, with responses in excess of 80% [8]. In early MF, IFNs can retard disease progression and reverse marrow changes [9]. These shortacting IFN regimes came at the cost of inconvenient treatment schedules, varying from once-daily treatment to three times weekly for periods of several months to a year or longer.…”