Does variable allele frequency (VAF) of JAK mutation affect your clinical decision-making in MPN in any scenario?
Does VAF <1% make you want to do a BM biopsy for confirmation?
Answer from: at Academic Institution
The JAK2 driver mutation quantitative allele burden is an important feature in the clinical management of PV, ET, and PMF patients. First, however, some prefatory comments: All MPN driver mutations are classified as variant because they contain a change in their DNA not normally found in the particu...
If they have a very low JAK2 (i.e. <1%) and erythrocytosis or thrombocytosis, I always make sure to look for another possible cause. A bone marrow biopsy may be helpful (and I agree with Dr. @Olatoyosi Odenike that it is a good thing to do in all MPN patients). In patients with erythrocytosis and...
Answer from: Medical Oncologist at Academic Institution
No, the VAF of JAK2V617F does not influence my decision to perform a marrow in MPNs.
I do, however, perform a baseline diagnostic marrow on all patients with a suspected diagnosis of an MPN to be able to accurately sub-classify the disease entity.