Image courtesy of AFIP
Polycythemia vera
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has released new guidelines for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).
The guidelines include information on the diagnosis and treatment of polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and myelofibrosis.
NCCN Guidelines for Patients® are written in plain language and include tools such as suggested questions for doctors, a glossary of terms, and medical illustrations of anatomy, tests, and treatment.
NCCN also provides accompanying Quick Guide™ sheets, which are short summaries of key points in the guidelines.
The patient guidelines and Quick Guide sheet for MPNs are available to read and download for free from the NCCN website and via the NCCN Patient Guides for Cancer mobile app. Printed editions can be ordered from Amazon.com for a fee.
“As a physician, I find it makes a difference when patients and caregivers have access to the information they need when making treatment decisions, to complement what they’re hearing from me,” said Brady L. Stein, MD, an associate professor at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and a member of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology Panel for MPN.
“Sitting in the hematologists’ office can be an overwhelming experience. These patient guidelines provide the most comprehensive at-home resource available for people with these rare diseases. They cover everything from basic explanations to complicated decision-making around diagnostic confirmation, supportive care techniques, treatment sequencing, adverse effects, and more.”
NCCN also has patient guidelines on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, adolescents and young adults with cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia*, distress/supportive care, Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma*, myelodysplastic syndromes*, nausea and vomiting/supportive care, non-Hodgkin lymphomas, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, and a range of solid tumor malignancies.
*Guidelines with new updates coming soon.