MF is a Lethal Disease: How Do Patients Die?

In summary, patients with myelofibrosis succumb to many different causes. Largely, this includes transformation to leukemia, thrombosis, the progression of MF without transformation. We know that many of the early deaths are largely due to thrombotic complications, and for this reason it's important to make sure, and unless contraindicated, patients do receive low-dose aspirin. Recent efforts to reduce inflammatory signal in myelofibrosis with JAK-STAT regulation is clearly a source of survival benefit with respect to spleen reduction and symptom management. While the transformation to acute leukemia was the same in both the placebo and the treatment arms in the COMFORT-I studies, abrogation of the risk of transformation to acute leukemia with JAK-STAT inhibition may yet be part of a strategy to avoid transformatio