Practical approach to treating essential thrombocythaemia: case studies.

A key challenge in the management of essential thrombocythaemia (ET) is to develop an individualised treatment plan that accounts for variability in the clinical course of the disease and patients’ response to specific therapies. Initiatives designed to help clinicians to meet this challenge, which have been described in the preceding articles, include: (i) the consensus definition of hydroxyurea (HU) resistance and intolerance (1) and (ii) treatment algorithms based on risk stratification (2, 3). In seeking to optimise ET management approaches, it is useful to consider case studies that highlight some of the practical challenges encountered in clinical practice. This article summarises key aspects of four ET cases presented to an expert panel at the 2007 New Horizons in Haematology meeting.