Frontiers in Oncology (Oct 2021)

Stiffer Spleen Predicts Higher Bone Marrow Fibrosis and Higher JAK2 Allele Burden in Patients With Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

  • Riccardo Moia,
  • Micol Giulia Cittone,
  • Paola Boggione,
  • Giulia Francesca Manfredi,
  • Chiara Favini,
  • Bassel Awikeh,
  • Anita Rebecca Pedrinelli,
  • Abdurraouf Mokhtar Mahmoud,
  • Maura Nicolosi,
  • Mattia Bellan,
  • Pier Paolo Sainaghi,
  • Mario Pirisi,
  • Gianluca Gaidano,
  • Andrea Patriarca,
  • Cristina Rigamonti

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.777730
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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A total of 63 myeloproliferative neoplasms [MPN; 9 polycythemia vera (PV), 32 essential thrombocythemia (ET), and 22 myelofibrosis (MF)] underwent spleen stiffness (SS) measurement by vibration-controlled transient elastography equipped with a novel spleen-dedicated module. Higher SS values significantly correlated with grade 2-3 bone marrow (BM) fibrosis (p=0.035), with hemoglobin level <10 g/dl (p=0.014) and with white blood cells ≥10,000/μl (p=0.008). Median SS was significantly higher in MF patients compared to ET and PV (p=0.015). SS also correlated with higher JAK2 variant allele frequency (p=0.02). This study identifies SS as a potential noninvasive tool that reflects BM fibrosis and the mutational burden in MPN.

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