Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are a class of chronic hematologic disorders in which there is abnormal production of blood cells by stem cells in the bone marrow. The four classic MPNs include chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF).
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Individualized insights to monitor disease progression
For patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is the second most common type of leukemia, monitoring for measurable, or minimal residual disease (MRD), is a critical component of establishing prognosis and predicting therapeutic response. MRD testing performed at diagnosis as well as after treatment, which can include hematopoietic stem cell transplant, provides physicians key information to:
Cytogenic findings typically revealed through diagnostic testing are most often used to understand disease prognosis. Among patients with genetic alterations, those with an NPM1 mutation in the absence of FLT3-ITD are associated with more favorable prognoses. Identification of NPM1 can help evaluate MRD and therapeutic response following treatment.
When to consider testing
For AML patients identified as having an NPM1 mutation, MRD testing is recommended2 at:
CML is characterized by the fusion of BCR/ABL1. When the abnormality is observed chromosomally, it is known as the Philadelphia chromosome, or “Ph positive.” Qualitative and quantitative BCR/ABL1 testing is recommended as part of a diagnostic workup of patients with a suspicion of CML. In fact, current National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines indicate that a quantitative mRNA transcript level be obtained at diagnosis.
Using our reflex panel (Mayo ID: BCRFX), when a p210 or p190 fusion form is identified, quantitative testing is performed to provide an initial transcript level. This level can be used as a diagnostic baseline to assess response to therapy in follow-up samples. The reflex panel also identifies rare fusion forms. In these situations, initial results are reported, and no reflex testing is pursued.
Diagnosis testing
Follow-up (quantitative) testing
Additional testing
Highlights
David S. Viswanatha, M.D., explains how Mayo Clinic Laboratories' new assay provides rapid, definitive diagnosis of VEXAS, a recently identified syndrome affecting older men. Early diagnosis is key to managing the syndrome, which severely impacts multiple organs and blood.
The assay is now recommended for diagnosing and monitoring patients with monoclonal protein disorders and exclusively available through Mayo Clinic Laboratories– Rochester.
David Viswanatha, M.D., a hematopathologist and co-director of the molecular hematology and complete genome sequencing laboratories at Mayo Clinic, provides an overview of BCR/ABL1 testing, discusses the best testing methods, NCCN/ELN criteria guidelines, why FISH testing is no longer routinely available at Mayo Clinic, and what test to order at what time for CML patients.
The diagnosis of Myeloproliferative Neoplasm (MPN) must include an integrated approach and combine the clinical findings with laboratory results. In our latest “Hot Topic,” Rong He, M.D., discusses the subclassification of MPNs and the use of JAK2, CALR, and MPL mutational analysis in diagnosis and prognosis.
Flow cytometric immunophenotyping method can be useful in assessing myeloid dysmaturation. In this “Hot Topic,” Dragon Jevremovic, M.D., Ph.D., describes a new flow cytometric test to detect aberrant patterns of expression in the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome.
PV, ET, and PMF lack BCR/ABL1 fusion and are known as Ph-negative MPNs. These MPNs have three major driver mutations that provide important diagnostic and prognostic information. Because they are mutually exclusive of each other, these molecular signatures provide a road map to guide proper test utilization during workup of the classical Ph-negative MPN cases.
Our reflexive testing approaches begin with the most common mutation first and continue to move toward the next common mutations in search of an answer. These approaches provide convenient, cost-effective, and clinically relevant information, and they remove the burden of complex molecular test ordering from busy clinicians and pathologists.
Suspicious for ET or PMF
Suspicious for PV