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Report on the MPD Conference
October 9-11, 1998
San Diego, CA
The MPD Conference sponsored by the MPD Research Center and chaired by its founder and Director, Harriet S. Gilbert, M.D., was referred to as one patient as a "watershed" event. Attended by both patients and physicians, we heard from a number of experts in the field on a wide range of subjects.<
Murray Silverstein, M.D., one of the giants in the field, was to have spoken at this conference. Unfortunately for patients and doctors alike, this esteemed specialist died shortly before the conference. Drs. Gilbert, Silver and Hoagland honored his memory.
Speakers and their topics included:
I. Classification, Diagnostic Criteria and Staging of MPD: The Old and the New
-The Polycythemia Vera Study Group 1967-1997: 30 Year Clinical Research Experiment (Scott Murphy, M.D., American Red Cross USA)
-Diagnostic Criteria of PV (T.C. Pearson, M.D. (St. Thomas Hospital, London, England)
-Diagnostic Criteria of ET, PV and IMF (Jan Jacques Michiels, M.D., University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
>-An Overview of MDS: Where does it Fit in the MPD Schema? (Ayalew Teferri, M.D., Mayo Clinic-Rochester, Minnesota, USA)
II. The Biology and Pathophysiology of the "MPD Clone"
-In Search of the PV Gene: Clonality Studies of MPD (Joseph T Prachl, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama, USA)
-Disappearing the MPD Clone: An Overview of Transplantation for MPD (Jeanne Anderson, M.D., University of Texas Health Science Center, Austin, Texas, USA)
-Familial MPD (Harriet S. Gilbert, M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York)
-Familial "Polycythemia Vera" Like Disorder (Joseph T Prachl, M.D., Universithy of Alabama at Birmingham, USA)
III. Risk Assessment in MPD
-Risk Assessment for Vascular Complications in PV and ET (Guido Finazzi, M.D., Ospedali Riunati di Bergamo, Italy)Ospedali Riunati di Bergamo, Italy)
-Leukocyte Activation and the Hypercoagulable State in PV and ET (Anna Falanga, M.D., Ospedali Riunati di Bergamo, Italy)
-Update on the Effect of Anagrelide on Thrombotic and bleeding events in MPD (M. Robert Pettit, M.D. (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA)
IV. Meet the Professors
-All You Wanted to Know But Never Dared Ask About MPD (entire faculty)
V. The Expanding Armamentarium of Therapies for MPD-The Role of Anagrelide, Hydroxyurea and Interferon
-Hydroxyurea in PV (Steven Fruchtman, M.D. (Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
-Interferon alpha for PV (Richard Silver, M.D., New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York, USA)
-Long Term Treatment of MPD with Interferon Alpha (Harriet S. Gilbert, M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York, USA)>
--Anagrelide for ET (Robert M. Pettit, M.D., Mayo Clinic, USA)
VI. Myelofibrosis and Myeloid Metaplasia
-Where are We Going with the Treatment of MF (Ayalew Tefferi, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA)
-Clinical Manifestations and Pathopysiology of IMF (Jan J. Michiels, M.D., University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
-The Development of Algorithms for the Optimal Treatment of MPD using the New Armamentarium (Harriet S. Gilbert, M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York, USA)
VII. What Makes Patients Run?
-The Myths and Facts of Alpha Interferon Therapy (Lori Stevenson, R.N., Schering, USA)
-The Scylia and Charybdis of Anagrelide Therapy (Ayalew Tefferi, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA)
-The Long and the Short of Hydroxyurea (M. Robert Pettit, .M.D., (Mayo Clinic, USA)
Meet the Professors
-Youth, Pregnancy and MPD (Entire Faculty)
-Treatment Strategies from the USA and European Perspectives. Ongoing Clinical Studies in ET and PV in the USA and Europe: Ongoing Clinical Studies in ET and PV in the USA and Europe (Jan Michiels, M.D.)
-New Advances in the Treatment of MF: Bone Marrow Rangeur with Stem Cell Rescue (Richard Silver, M.D.)
-What is at the Cutting Edge of Transplant in MPD? (Jeanne Anderson, M.D.)
>The last day ended with PV Patient Barb Abernathy and Dr. Gilbert putting on a little act of how not to approach/deal with a doctor you are seeing for the first time, followed by a talk and slide show by Barb giving tips about effectively working with your doctor.
The Conference was taped thanks to a generous donation from a patient volunteer. Work is in progress to edit and convert the masters to VHS so these tapes can be made available to interested patients and physicians. We will place an announcement on the web page and mpd-net online support group telling you how to place orders.
Many thanks to Darrin Scherago, Scherago International, Inc. for his hard work in organizing this conference. Thanks also to Corporate Sponsors Roberts Pharmaceutical Corporation, Schering-Plough and Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company.
Page Last updated February 23, 1999
Direct questions or comments to
Joyce Niblack JNiblack@aol.com