Essential thrombocythaemia treated with recombinant interferon: 'real world' United Kingdom referral centre experience.

Summary: Standard first‐line therapy choice for essential thrombocythaemia (ET) requiring cytoreduction, supported by randomized trials, is low‐dose aspirin with hydroxycarbamide, but the role of recombinant interferon‐alfa (IFNα)‐2a/2b and pegylated (PEG)‐IFN‐α‐2a/2b is increasingly highlighted. Longer‐term outcome data, however, remains somewhat scarce, particularly in the 'real world'. We hereby report on a large, well‐annotated cohort of ET patients from a single referral centre undergoing therapy with either IFNα or (PEG)‐IFN‐α‐2a/2b and demonstrate high rates of complete haematological responses, good tolerability and safety, low rates of thromboembolic events in compliant patients and confirm feasibility of long‐term therapy in a significant proportion of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]