Newly diagnosed Myelofibrosis Stage 2

[Searcher56]

I was diagnosed with ET JAK2+ in 2016. I was on HU for many years but it started to lose its effectiveness. In May this year I had a bone marrow biopsy and it was discovered my ET has progressed to Stage 2 Myelofibrosis. I was put on Ruxolitinib which works well for me and is definitely a much better drug than Hydroxycarbamide.

My only concern currently is that my white blood cell count has gone down a lot and also neutrofils are below normal. This could lead to frequent infections, bacterial, viral and fungal. I am reaching out to the MPN community for their experiences on being on Ruxolitinib.

[hunter5582]

Each of the WBCs (leukocytes) play a different role in immune response. Lymphocytes play a role in fighting viral infections. Neutrophils are the largest number of leukocytes and fight bacterial infections and other purposes too. It is not uncommon to find depressed leukocyte numbers when we use cytoreductive medications. I am taking Besremi and experience mild lymphopenia and borderline neutropenia. The good news is that your immune system can still respond when leukocytes are only mildly depressed. The critical numbers per my MPN care team are NEUT > 1.00 and LYMPH > 0.50.

Suggest you discuss what an acceptable level of each WBC is with your MPN care team. I suspect you are Ok for now but you should be aware of what your care team considers to be an acceptable level for each WBC.

[Otterfield]

I felt very well on Ruxolitinib but I developed Shingles quite early on in the treatment. Later I had a Campylobacter infection. After Shingles I was prescribed a prophylactic dose of Acyclovir. Now I am post transplant, I am on prophylactic antibiotics as well as antivirals.