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Myeloproliferative diseases: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment
Last reviewed: 07.07.2025
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Myeloproliferative disorders are characterized by abnormal proliferation of one or more hematopoietic cell lines or connective tissue elements. This group of disorders includes essential thrombocythemia, myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Some hematologists also include acute leukemia (especially erythroleukemia) and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria in this group; however, most hematologists believe that these disorders are significantly different and do not include them in this group.
[ Symptoms myeloproliferative diseases
Each of these diseases has its own distinctive features or site of origin. Despite some common properties, each disease in this group has fairly characteristic clinical manifestations, features of the course, and is accompanied by certain laboratory changes. Although the clinical picture may be dominated by the proliferation of a single cell line, each of the myeloproliferative diseases is usually caused by clonal proliferation of a pluripotent stem cell, which leads to varying degrees of disturbances in the proliferation of red blood cell, white blood cell, and platelet precursors in the bone marrow. However, this abnormal clone does not produce bone marrow fibroblasts. Myeloproliferative diseases, especially chronic myelogenous leukemia, sometimes lead to the development of acute leukemia. Recently, it has been described that abnormal JAK2 tyrosine kinase (the normal tyrosine kinase is involved in the bone marrow response to erythropoietin) may contribute to the development of polycythemia vera, essential thrombocytosis, and myelofibrosis.
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