A new treatment for an incurable blood disorder proves a worse option for patients' health than an older treatment, according to a study to be presented today during the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).
Essential thrombocythemia (ET), a condition in which too many platelets -- sometimes 10 times greater than normal -- are produced, affects approximately 6,000 new patients in the U.S. every year. The disorder can lead to blood clots, heart attacks, and even stroke.
"The correct management of ET has been a serious problem for hematologists because it has been very difficult to predict which patient will have a stroke or a transient ischemic attack or venous thrombosis, and then to decide on which safe treatment to use to prevent these events," said Stanley Schrier, M.D., Active Emeritus Professor of Medicine/Hematology at Stanford University School of Medicine and President of the American Society of Hematology.
With over 800 patients, most tracked for more than three years, this international, multi-center study is the largest and most comprehensive randomized study of essential thrombocythemia to date. Researchers provided patients with either anagrelide or hydroxyurea, two drugs which lower the platelet count by different mechanisms. Both groups also received aspirin, a common drug used to reduce the propensity of platelets to cause or contribute to clots.