Patients with myelofibrosis should reflect on their personal priorities and quality of life goals, understand the range of available JAK inhibitor treatment options, and openly communicate with their doctor to arrive at a shared decision for managing their disease.
Patients should be directed to resources like the NCCN guidelines and ClinicalTrials.gov and provided with thorough discussions covering frequency of visits, required testing, medication administration, side effects to enable fully informed decisions.
Key patient goals for managing myelofibrosis include improving quality of life by addressing low blood counts and constitutional symptoms, considering disease-modifying therapies and transplant to maximize longevity based on predicted survival, and incorporating personalized priorities through shared decision-making with their doctor when choosing treatments.
Christine Cooper, RN, BSN, explains anemia in myelofibrosis is managed by stimulating red blood cell production with medications, transfusions, and newer therapies that may stabilize red cell counts.