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.