2008.08.26 – Polycythemia vera- Where to go from here
August 26, 2008
Polycythemia vera: Where to go from here
DONALD R. SERFASS/TIMES NEWS Some of the almost 100 local residents who attended a public meeting Monday evening at Genetti’s Best Western Motor Lodge to learn results of a federal investigation into a high incidence of a rare blood disorder cropping up in a three-county area.
A panel of federal ATSDR experts meeting in Philadelphia on Monday has put forth a four-pronged set of recommendations regarding the rare blood disease polycythemia vera:
1) the need to conduct rigorous risk factor studies
2) a long-term clinical evaluation
3) assessment of genetic markers for PV and environmental exposure
4) evaluate other myleproliferative disorders
“It isn’t at the end. It’s sort of in the middle,” said Dr. Stephen Ostroff of the PA Department of Health, regarding the status of the PV cancer cluster affecting our local area.