Interferon alpha therapy in essential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera—a systematic review and meta-analysis

Long-term treatment with interferon (IFN) alpha therapy may be beneficial for patients with polycythemia vera (PV) and/or essential thrombocythemia (ET), according to a recent meta-analysis and systematic review. In 44 studies comprising 1359 patients receiving pegylated IFN or non-pegylated IFN, overall response rates were 80.6% (95% CI, 76.6-84.1%) and 76.7% (95% CI, 67.4-84.0%) for ET and PV patients, respectively.