MARTIN GRIESSHAMMER (MINDEN)
INTERFERON ALPHA IN PREGNANCIES OF MYELOPROLIFERATIVE NEOPLASMS
University Clinic for Haematology, Oncology, Haemostaseology and Palliative Care, Johannes Wesling
Academic Medical Center Minden, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
The management of pregnancy during the course of BCR-ABL1-negative myeloproliferative
neoplasms (MPN) is an increasingly relevant problem. This is mostly due to earlier and better
diagnosis of MPN together with the trend in modern society towards delaying pregnancy until
later life. Most data are available for women with essential thrombocythemia and we present
793 published pregnancies. Live birth rate is 68.5% with 31.5% miscarriages. Spontaneous
abortion is the most frequent complication with 26.5%, followed by stillbirth with 4.8%.
Maternal complications are relatively low with 1.8% major thrombotic and 2.4% major
bleeding events. In polycythemia vera the situation is clinically more complex and roughly 150
pregnancy reports are available. There is very limited information in primary myelofibrosis
with less than 20 reported pregnancies. With active management including control of blood
counts, aspirin, low molecular weight heparin and in higher risk cases interferon alpha (IFN)
pregnancy in MPN is manageable with a success rate not far below the normal situation with
80%. In 78 ET and PV pregnancies treated with IFN in 8 publications with ≥3 pregnancies live
birth rate is 94%, the rates of thrombosis and major bleeding are 1.3% and 2.6%, respectively.
In a recent paper about ET and pregnancy without the use of IFN, live birth rate was 60%
(6/10), however, after the use of IFN live birth rate increased to 73.5% (25/34 pregnancies).
Although pregnancy is still listed as a contraindication to IFN, it is currently recommended
based on expert consensus as the safest cytoreductive agent during high-risk MPN pregnancy.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME
SESSION I
OPTIMIZING
CYTOREDUCTION
SESSION II
MANAGEMENT OF CML
WITH TKI
SESSION III
MPN RISK
STRATIFICATION
INCLUDING VASCULAR
EVENTS
DEBATE 1
INTERFERON ALPHA
SHOULD BE FRONT LINE
THERAPY IN ALL ET/PV
PATIENTS
ROUNDTABLE 1
INFECTIONS IN
MYELOPROLIFERATIVE
DISORDERS, INCLUDING
CML
ROUNDTABLE 2
PREGNANCY AND
PARENTING
DEBATE 2
ALLOGENEIC STEM CELL
TRANSPLANTATION
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
THIRD LINE OPTION IN
CHRONIC PHASE CML
SESSION IV
EVOLVING THERAPIES
IN MYELOFIBROSIS
SESSION V
MANAGEMENT OF
ADVANCED AND UNUSUAL
DISEASE (MPN AND CML)
SESSION VI
TREATMENT FREE
REMISSION IN CML
KEYNOTE LECTURE
SELECTED ABSTRACTS
FOR AN ORAL
PRESENTATION
SELECTED ABSTRACTS
FO R A POSTER
PRESENTATION
DISCLOSURES