Survival in a patient with polycythaemia vera for over thirty years: implications for treatment decisions in younger patients.

Modern treatment has dramatically improved the prognosis for patients with polycythaemia vera (PV). Here a patient is described who has been followed and treated for PV for over 30 years, demonstrating that very long term survival can be achieved in PV. However, effective treatment modalities such as radioactive phosphorus, alkylating agents and, most recently, hydroxyurea, have all been shown to increase the risk to develop acute leukaemia when used in the treatment of myeloproliferative disorders. Hopefully, the prolonged survival of this patient may help to emphasize the need to use non-leukaemogenic agents when treating younger PV patients.